WASHINGTON, DC—Professionals from 200+ organizations will converge at The Mead Center for American Theater on June 14, 2016. The first global development event of its kind, Devex World is a full day of inspiring, interactive, collaborative sessions encouraging attendees to discover new technologies and innovations, build new partnerships and chart the future of global development.
Devex covers the most pressing issues, from the rising inequities, to the warming planet, and the growing conflicts that characterize our world today. To advocate for increased development in highly fragile states, Devex has invited Nuru International Founder and CEO Jake Harriman to deliver a talk during the opening assembly (8:30–10:30 AM) in the Fichandler Theater.
“While Africa made good overall progress against the Millennium Development Goals, fragile states on the continent—and globally—have regressed,” says Jake Harriman. “The OECD predicts that if this trend continues, more than half of the world’s poor will be living in fragile states within a few years. The vast majority of assistance reaching fragile states is humanitarian aid or military intervention, neither of which is on its own capable of catalyzing long-term sustainable development. To empower people living in extreme poverty to make lasting, meaningful choices, development programs need to have both the security savvy to operate safely and the integrated interventions to tackle the complex challenges of poverty.”
Jake founded Nuru International after experiences during his seven and half years of military service convinced him that the “War on Terror” wouldn’t be won on the battlefield alone; that the contributing causes of terrorism—specifically extreme poverty—must also be eradicated. Since 2009, Nuru International has enabled over 85,000 people in Kenya and Ethiopia to lift themselves out of extreme poverty. Nuru credits its success to equipping local leaders to identify the needs of the community, design solutions to address those needs and effectively and efficiently implement and scale solutions. Nuru’s vision is to create a world where every person—especially those living in fragile states—has the ability to make meaningful choices to improve her life in a lasting way.
Following the opening assembly, Devex World is hosting 35 sessions with global thought leaders to discuss how business is transforming development; what it means to innovate at scale; the challenge of not just telling stories but building movements; and what new models of funding will mean for a fast-growing and dynamic ecosystem. These sessions span five streams essential for every development professional:
Data Revolution: Impact, results and proven successes are essential to set your work apart. Devex World will explore how data is fundamentally transforming monitoring and evaluation, and doing so much more: revolutionizing interventions in every sector and changing the way all projects are designed.
From Storytelling to Movement Building: Don’t “communicate” at me. Tell me a story. It’s a way of thinking about advocacy that’s fit for this era of social media conversation. And the potential — including to build a movement around your mission — is real. Hear from those at the vanguard of a whole new way of communicating.
New Funding Models: Financial innovation isn’t just for Wall Street. It’s driving a whole new way of doing development that’s reaching the poorest. Gain a new level of fluency in the language of social enterprise, impact investing, and blended finance, and translate the latest thinking into opportunities in your own work.
Innovating at Scale: It’s the most overused word: innovation. But scale adds a new dimension that changes the whole idea. Delivering real, measurable change to people in need today by the millions is no buzzword — it’s the future of global development. We’ll uncover — together — the opportunities for your mission.
Business Transforming Development: The intersection of business and global development is rich terrain. We’ll mine it together. New business models and new imperatives around climate, health, and supply chains are converging. Creating real business opportunities and lasting change — a transformation for our world and the way all of us work everyday.
Follow the event on Twitter at #DevexWorld.
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About Devex
Devex (devex.com) is the media platform for the global development community. A social enterprise, we connect and inform 700,000+ development, health, humanitarian and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding and career opportunities so you can do more good for more people.
About Nuru International
Nuru International (nuruinternational.org) is a U.S.-based social venture on a mission to end extreme poverty in remote, rural areas. It establishes sustainable community development projects, such as Nuru Kenya and Nuru Ethiopia, to deliver high touch, holistic programming – in Agriculture, Financial Inclusion, Healthcare and Education – to engage all household members in building resilience and ending intergenerational poverty.
To learn more about Nuru International:
- Like facebook.com/nuruinternational
- Follow @IAmNuru
- Follow linkedin.com/company/nuru-international