Look To The Stars News: Jeffrey Sachs

Tavis Smiley To Put A Face To Poverty

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Tavis Smiley will put a human face on the alarming new data about poverty in America with special programming on both his national public television and radio programs.

With nearly 50 million Americans, or one in six, now living in poverty, “The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience” will kick off with a roundtable discussion on The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI on Friday, October 7 (check local public radio listings), and be the focus of five special episodes on the PBS program Tavis Smiley Monday, October 10 through Friday, October 14 (check local listings).

Tavis Smiley is a co-production of THIRTEEN and The Smiley Group, Inc. in association with WNET New York Public Media. For nearly 50 years, WNET has been producing and broadcasting national and local documentaries and other programs to the New York community.

John Legend Supports Millennium Campus Network

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:30:00 +0000

John Legend and Jeffrey Sachs are supporting the Millennium Campus Network, a national network of university student organizations working to reduce extreme poverty and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Both Legend and Sachs are on the Board of Directors of the MCN, which provides networking, funding, and national campaign opportunities to students across the United States. They both spoke at the organization’s inaugural conference, and John has also tweeted about the MCN, and has twice given grants to interns to work with the MCN during the summer as Fellows through his Show Me Campaign. The United Nations Millennium Campaign and United Nations Foundation have also been key donors for the network.

“This is a message for college students,” says John Legend in a recent video he made for MCN. “It’s easy to take things for granted when you get caught up in the stress of exams, deadlines and campus life. But as busy as you are, your generation is doing great things. Your generation helped elect a president, your generation helped connect the world through Facebook, and now we need your generation to do one more incredible thing – end extreme poverty. Please take one minute to visit CommitInSeptember.com and tell President Obama and Congress that you are passionate about global education, global health and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Campus Network has already collected thousands of signatures.”

Madonna Returns To Malawi

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Madonna took David – the son she adopted in 2006 – and Mercy, the daughter she adopted in 2009, back to to visit their homeland of Malawi last week.

The family arrived on Monday, April 5th and stayed for five days. Madonna says that she wants to make sure that her children maintain their emotional ties to their homeland. She’s also promised to take family trips to Malawi twice a year.

“Malawi has become my second home,” Madonna said during a farewell event organized by members of Raising Malawi, a charity she established in Malawi. “I will be coming here twice every year.”

Madonna Launches Digital Learning Programme

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:12:00 +0000

Madonna has launched an exciting new global education initiative called Connect To Learn.

Madonna, Connect to Learn’s global spokesperson, was joined at the launch by Millennium Promise co-founder Prof. Jeffrey Sachs and Ericsson CEO and President Mr. Hans Vestberg, during a visit to Malawi.

The initiative, a collaboration between The Earth Institute, Ericsson, and Millennium Promise, will focus on advancing the global breakthroughs needed in secondary education, especially for girls, and the extraordinary opportunities that new information and communications technologies are making possible for improving educational quality around the world.

Madonna Laying the Foundation for Girls in Malawi

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:31:00 +0000

Madonna is currently visiting Malawi to lay the first brick in the construction of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls.

The singing sensation writes in her blog on the Raising Malawi site about how she felt when she first visited the poverty-stricken nation, and how much it means to her to be able to support the orphans through her work with the charity.

“Our academy will educate, protect, and empower 450 young girls who are Malawi’s hope for the future. We will stop the brain drain happening in so many African nations—our students will receive an internationally competitive education while incorporating local values.”

John Legend To Speak Charity At University

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Singer John Legend will speak in Goldstein Auditorium at Syracuse University in New York on September 23 to inspire students to get involved with charities.

Legend will perform songs and talk about his work with the Show Me Campaign, an organization he created to encourage social, economic, personal and educational growth of individuals, families and communities.

“John is hired as a speaker, so the event will be closer to a speech than a concert,” said Drew Sullivan, the performing arts director for University Union. “But he knows people love his voice and his music, so he will be performing songs throughout the evening.”

John Legend Performs For Show Me Campaign

Thu, 21 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Singer John Legend hosted a benefit for his Show Me Campaign on Tuesday, May 19, that raised over $300,000.

Along with Wyclef Jean, Jeffrey Sachs, former New York Giants player Tiki Barber and many others, Legend rocked a rooftop performance to raise support of the campaign he started two years ago to encourage social, economic, personal and educational growth of individuals, families and communities.

“Our organization by itself can’t do it, but we believe we can be part of the solution and we don’t want to wait around for everybody else to do it,” he said. “We’re funding a village in Tanzania and we’re seeing positive results on the ground that show that our work is making a positive impact over there, and if we were just to replicate that throughout the world, we can see a lot of progress made.”

Madonna’s Malawi Efforts Get Multiple Recognition

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:30:00 +0000

Malawi is awarding Madonna with citizenship in honor of the work she’s done through her charity, Raising Malawi, for AIDS orphans of the impoverished country.

However, Malawi’s government offices aren’t the only ones noticing Madonna’s work. Michael Moore asked to show her new film, I am Because We Are, at the Traverse City Film Festival and for her to attend the showing in person.

“She said she’d be thrilled to come here and be part of the film festival,” said Moore. “We were pleasantly surprised.”

Legend, Doolittle Honor Sachs and Soros

Mon, 19 May 2008 10:56:00 +0000

The Millennium Promise and Malaria No More Annual Benefit took place last week at The Tent at Lincoln Center, raising over $2 million for the fight against extreme poverty and disease. The event honored the charities’ founders, Raymond G. Chambers, Peter Chernin, Professor Jeffrey Sachs and George Soros.

Grammy-winner John Legend presented an award to Jeffrey Sachs. Sachs’ book, The End Of Poverty was a catalyst in Legend’s forming of the Show Me Campaign. American Idol’s Melinda Doolittle presented an award to Peter Chernin, and performed “Amazing Grace” as part of the evening’s entertainment. Ann Veneman, the Executive Director of UNICEF, and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director of the World Bank, presented awards to Ray Chambers and George Soros, respectively.

Millennium Promise is on a mission to end extreme poverty by 2025. They have begun by taking steps to achieve the eight globally-endorsed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa by 2015.

Editorial: What Motivates Giving?

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 12:16:31 +0000

What motivates giving? This question has been asked of a number of philanthropy websites as part of this month’s Giving Carnival, and Look To The Stars has been invited to join in the discussion.

Hope is what motivates giving. People need to have hope for a better future. Once they feel hope for the future they are more free to explore ways in which they can help. I constantly come across charities and causes while working on Look To The Stars, and the ones that really grab my attention are not those that say, “We are desperate for help!”, but those that say, “We have done so much already, and here is how you can help us solve this problem.”

Picture a child looking at a messy room. He sees an unending and exhausting future. What the child needs is help to see that the task isn’t impossible, and that progress is inevitable. Once he sees that, he has hope, and he can start taking steps to clean things up.

Angelina Jolie - Helping Her Heroes

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:34:29 +0000

She may be known for her various roles on the silver screen that have earned her Golden Globes and an Academy Award, but perhaps Angelina Jolie’s greatest role is that which she plays in real life – Global Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. And it is exceedingly clear that the dedication that she shows in her acting is reflected in her work for humanitarian causes around the world.

The 32-year-old actor has just returned from a visit to Iraq, in which she met with top political officials to discuss people displaced by the war.

“There are over two million displaced people and there never seems to be a real coherent plan to help them,” she told CNN on her return. “There’s lots of goodwill and lots of discussion, but there seems to be a lot of talk at the moment and a lot of pieces that need to be put together.”

A Legendary Evening In The Fight Against Poverty

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:59:30 +0000

It was a large and enthusiastic crowd that filled the Roone Arledge Auditorium at Columbia University on Monday night, and anticipation crackled through the air like electricity. Over 1,300 students and members of the public packed the building, looking for a good time, an entertaining time, and an informative time.

“I know you all came here to hear me sing, right?” joked Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs as he took to the stage with Grammy Award winning recording artist John Legend.

But they weren’t. They were there to learn how they could change the world.

Musicians Start The Year With Generosity

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:45:39 +0000

2008 has only just begun, but already celebrities are straining at the leash to spread generosity among those who need it. And a host of musicians have kicked off the year with donations and events to raise money and awareness for a number of good causes.

Pop group OK Go are set to release a charity EP on iTunes on February 5, with all proceeds going to victims of Hurricane Katrina. The 5-song release, “You’re Not Alone”, will coincide with Mardi Gras 2008, and will benefit New Orleans-based musicians displaced by the 2005 disaster.

“New Orleans is one of the last places in America where music is truly a fundamental part of everyday life,” said OK Go singer Damian Kulash, whose hits include “A Million Ways” and “Here It Goes Again”. “People get together on the weekends and parade through the streets just playing songs; 12-year-old-kids learn funk on the tuba; everyone dances. Life elsewhere in the world simply isn’t as celebratory. If we allow the culture of New Orleans to die by leaving its musicians marooned around the country, America will have lost one of its great treasures.”

John Legend says ‘Show Me’

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:55:28 +0000

R&B singer John Legend’s song “Show Me,” presented some heavy questions to God about life, death and suffering. Then, after reading Jeffrey Sachs’ book The End of Poverty, Legend extended those questions to his fellow man, and to himself.

The book made him realize how possible it could be to set impoverished villages into an uphill spiral of self sufficiency and progress, so Legend created his own Show Me Campaign to raise the required funds, and partnered with Sachs’ Millennium Promise to serve needy African villages.

Rather than doling out money to destitute villages though, the organizations are doing practical things like providing mosquito nets to curb the millions of avoidable deaths from malaria, free meals to children attending school which raises attendance rates and health, safe water points, local clinics and fertilizer to improve crop production and eradicate food shortages.

Vanity Fair Charity Issue Edited By Bono

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:35:00 +0000

Bono is putting his philanthropic energy into Vanity Fair’s July 2007 special issue about Africa. The issue has 20 different cover photos of high-profile individuals, all taken by renowned photographer Annie Liebowitz.

The magazine includes information about the issues and charities supported by actors, athletes, models, politicians, musicians, activists, and billionaire philanthropists, all of whom are using their celebrity status and the publicity they receive to bring attention to the complex set of problems faced by the inhabitants of Africa.

Africa is a continent with great need, and has been given a disproportionately low amount of attention and aid from wealthy nations. It is the first Vanity Fair issue to have a guest editor, and Bono’s highly publicized commitment to aiding Africa makes him an obvious choice for editor of this issue. In recent years, celebrities have used their status to bring a great deal of attention to Africa.

Sachs Appeal - Who is Jeffrey Sachs?

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:48:00 +0000

Brad Pitt sang his praises at the ONEXONE fundraiser, and George Soros donated $50 million to the program which he directs, the UN Millennium Project. Bono and Madonna are also big supporters, and Angelina Jolie has filmed an MTV special promoting his work.

So who is this man that so many stars are looking up to? Jeffrey Sachs is considered the leading economic advisor of his generation; he has been called “the most important economist in the world” by The New York Times Magazine. He is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan regarding the Millennium Development Goals; has worked as an economic advisor to governments in Latin America, Eastern Europe, the former Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Africa; and has advised organizations such as the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations Development Programme. He is the Director of The Earth Institute, and President and Co-Founder of Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty.

But what really has people talking is the Millennium Villages he is helping to create as part of the UN Millennium Project. In 2004 the project implemented a plan to greatly reduce poverty by using practical, affordable means and empowering the people most affected by the condition.