Subject: Note from Donna Shalala
From: Clinton Foundation Press Office <[email-masked]>
To: Clinton Foundation Press Office <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2015 15:26:11 +0000

Many of you have asked how Donna is doing so we are pleased to be able to share the reassuring news that Donna has made great progress and her condition continues to improve.

So much so that on Friday she sent the note below from the hospital to Clinton Foundation staff along with her weekly update on our colleagues’ work.

She asked that we convey her appreciation for your thoughts and well wishes and hopes to see you all soon.

- Craig Minassian
From: Donna Shalala
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2015 6:28 PM
To: Donna Shalala <[email-masked]>
Subject: This Week

Hi everyone,

You didn’t think anything could keep me away from you for that long, did you?  Thanks to the excellent care I’ve been receiving and the tremendous outpouring of love and support from all of you, I’m feeling strong and eager to get back into the swing of things.  I’m looking forward to getting back to work very soon, and until then, just keep being your amazing selves and continue making a difference in people’s lives!

Below find our initiative updates thanks to all of you who submitted them to Kate and Allie. Congrats to CGI team – lots of great Annual Meeting highlights!

This morning, President Clinton joined nearly 1000 guests who gathered on the grounds of the CPC to celebrate the opening of the Center’s newest permanent installation, The Anne Frank Tree.  A partnership between the Clinton Foundation and Sisterhood of Congregation B’nai Israel, and in conjunction with the Anne Frank Center USA’s “Sapling Project," the new installation conveys the complex history of human rights in Arkansas and throughout the world.  Guests at today’s ceremony included more than 700 local school children, family of Holocaust survivors, members of the Quapaw, Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II, and relatives of the Little Rock Nine.  The program included remarks by Stephanie Streett; Lexi Elenzweig, president of Federation of Temple Youth at Congregation B’nai Israel; Ronald Leopold, executive director of the Anne Frank House; and a keynote speech by President Clinton. Find out more and see photos of the installation at this link<https://www.clintonfoundation.org/anne-frank-tree?utm_source=20150928cpcnews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=returning&utm_content=20150928&utm_campaign=cpcnews>.

The 2015 CGI Annual Meeting concluded on Tuesday. Over four days, CGI members announced<https://www.clintonfoundation.org/press-releases/cgi-annual-meeting-attendees-make-123-new-commitments-action-positively-impact-lives> 123 new Commitments to Action, expected to impact more than 15 million lives around the world when fully funded and implemented.

Here are some press highlights from the Annual Meeting:

  *   The Chronicle of Philanthropy<https://philanthropy.com/article/Pledges-at-Clinton-Gathering/233547> wrote extensively on the Annual Meeting, the unique commitment model, and how commitment-makers are positively impacting lives around the world.
  *   A New York Times<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/nyregion/pilot-program-will-gauge-air-quality-in-new-york-nail-salons.html?_r=0> article explained how, through a CGI commitment, the New York City public advocate’s office is working to make sure nail salons are safe to both employees and patrons. Retweet the piece here<https://twitter.com/ClintonFdn/status/648183654225735680>.
  *   A piece for National Geographic<http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/29/launching-blue-guardians/> discusses how a new partnership, “Blue Guardians,” which was formed through a CGI commitment, is helping to “protect oceans and enable blue economies.” CCI is one of the partners on the commitment. Share the piece here.
  *   Quartz wrote about a commitment by Google and Aclima<http://qz.com/511881/google-maps-and-aclima-just-committed-to-mapping-air-pollution-in-california/> to map air pollution in California.
  *   A piece in Fortune<http://fortune.com/2015/09/28/gap-women-training/> discussed a commitment from Gap Inc. to expand life skills training for female garment workers.
  *   Forbes explained how the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning committed<http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/> to develop the neighborhood surrounding their arena “into the first health- and wellness-focused neighborhood anywhere in the world.” Retweet the article here<https://twitter.com/ClintonFdn/status/647138498663817218>.
  *   Vanity Fair explains how supermodel Natalia Vodianova’s CGI commitment<http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2015/10/supernova-natalia-vodianova-shows-us-her-naked-heart>, an mobile app, serves as a “platform that brings the power of social and the digital world to charities to connect with people around the world.”
  *   A coalition of CGI members and others committed to launch the Working Parent Support Coalition<http://fortune.com/2015/09/29/how-nestle-plans-to-prove-that-paid-parental-leave-makes-business-sense/>, a group of companies who are banding together to commit to improve their parental leave and support programs. Fortune explained how Nestle, one of the companies in the consortium, announced “is launching a study that will collect data on the number of employees who  use its parental leave and protection policy and how many of those employees remain at Nestlé six, 12 and 18 months after returning from leave.”
  *   The Huffington Post<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/neil-degrasse-tyson-code-to-inspire-clinton-global-initiative_560983eee4b0af3706dd35c4?cps=gravity_5021_-8136139954870921266> covered a CGI panel in which Code to Inspire founder and CEO Fereshteh Forough and MIT professor and biomedical engineer Sangeeta Bhatia discussed how their organization will teach girls in Afghanistan “how to code and program in a safe place, without fear, and prepare them for future employment opportunities.” Panel participant Fereshteh Forough also penned a piece for Elite Daily<http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/financial-future-women-afghanistan/1229089/> on the topic.
  *   The Huffington Post also covered the CGI Closing Plenary<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elizabeth-holmes-theranos-cgi_560d4afce4b076812700f0cc>, during which President Clinton, AliBaba chairman Jack Ma, and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes discussed how technology can increase economic development around the world.
  *   At the Annual Meeting. VICE CEO and co-founder Shane Smith moderated a “Sustainable Oceans” panel with actor Ted Danson, oceanographer Sylvia Earle, Executive Director of the Mesoamerican Reef Fund Maria José González, and President of the Republic of Seychelles, James Michel. Watch the online broadcast here<https://news.vice.com/article/live-stream-sustainable-oceans-at-the-2015-cgi-annual-meeting>.
In addition to the CCI Blue Guardians Commitment to Action announcement on Monday with DigitalGlobe, SIDS DOCK, the World Bank, Waitt Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and other partners, this week, Dymphna van der Lans gave remarks at the United Nations for over 15 Heads of State and Foreign Ministers at the ratification of SIDS DOCK as a new UN intergovernmental organization. President Clinton and CCI were recognized by several Prime Ministers for providing ongoing support to small island nations through the CCI Resilient Communities renewable energy program, and going forward with the Blue Guardians partnership as well.

On Tuesday, No Ceilings and the Center for Universal Education at Brookings hosted “Accelerating Progress in Girls’ Education,” an event celebrating the anniversary of the CHARGE initiative. The event featured remarks and panel discussions with former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, as well as No Ceilings director Terri McCullough. Thirteen new partners were announced, bringing the total to 50 partners committing $800 million over five years to support girls' secondary education. That morning, No Ceilings and CGI co-hosted “From Access to Assets: Advancing Women’s Financial Opportunity” to discuss how CGI members and industry leaders can identify strategies, mobilize communities, and replicate best practices to increase financial literacy and access for women. Also at CGI, No Ceilings released new data visualizations on noceilings.org that give an overview of the status of gender equality across key indicators on a global, regional, and local scale and allow viewers to compare them country by country.

CGEP’s supply chain enterprise in Haiti, Acceso Haiti’s purchasing activities started in the north last week with average farmer yields averaging more than 900 kg of peanuts per hectare, a 100% increase from typical yields. Season two activities are underway with 588 peanut, 410 sorghum and 262 castor seed farmers contracted. This brings our total farmers trained and contracted for the year to over 3000 farmers.

This week, CDI received an offer from Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), a global manufacturer of farm equipment ideal for smallholder operations, agreed to donate full sets of tractors and equipment to both CDI Malawi and CDI Tanzania. With this advanced mechanization, CDI is expanding its curriculum to present an entirely new set of opportunities to farmers who have now moved well beyond subsistence agriculture and are ready to become small-scale commercial farmers. To date, this equipment is not available in either country, making CDI the first and only organization to demonstrate it. CDI’s goal is to help establish an equipment leasing business that will cater to smallholder farmers in this advanced group.

On September 29th, CHMI's Community Health Transformation program in Houston, Texas convened their Leadership Council which is comprised of 35 executive level stakeholders to help advance goals within our local Blueprint for Action.  Represented at the convening were delivery systems from both major hospitals and community clinics, appointed officials, community based organizations, law enforcement, academia, medical associations, financial institutions, and built environment in public health experts.  As a next step, the Leadership Council, with ongoing support from CHMI and our funding partner GE, will concentrate efforts on addressing systems gaps within the healthcare, healthy eating and built environment sectors. In addition, this week Media Planet featured an op-ed published by CHMI Deputy Director James Kallusky about how access to sports is vital in addressing childhood obesity<http://www.futureofpersonalhealth.com/education-and-research/communities-key-to-curbing-childhood-obesity?utm_source=sf-fb&utm_medium=social>.

Have a great weekend.
Donna