Take a Journey with me through UN Global Goals Week & Climate Week NYC

This year Evolution University became a UN Global Goals Week Partner. This wonderful opportunity keeps opening doors for meaningful collaborations, as well as an invite to the SDG Action Weekend. Upon arrival on Sunday, September 17, I hit a bucket list item to be in the SDG Plaza, take in the conference, and meet people I'd only met virtually until now.

Off to some festive gatherings! One hosted by We Are Human to kick-off UNGA (United Nations General Assembly), celebrate diverse change champions, and connect with an array of leaders dedicated to advancing a better world. A special thanks to the hosts, Claudia Romo Edelman and Richard Edelman.

Then to a Nightcap - From India to Brazil hosted by Goals House at Tavern on the Green, signaling the transfer of hosting the G20 with an evening of cultural celebrations from the two countries. Again, meeting incredible people, sharing stories, and finding ways to support one another.

A highlight for me was meeting Tara Stoinski, Ph.D., President & CEO/Chief Scientific Officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. The advancements in Rwanda and the new Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Fund are heartwarming and show what can be done when people never stop caring for these beautiful, intelligent, and peaceful animals. I was also able to share my story of trekking through the jungle to observe the gorillas in 1996 at a time when Rwanda was unstable and it was not exactly safe to visit, especially for an American. Meeting the gorillas, however, was truly "mist-acle." (Think movie titles!) 

A gathering to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US government organization that partners with developing countries in a competitive and strategic way to reduce poverty and increase economic growth. The event was co-hosted by the UN Foundation which is my connection to the event as a GGW partner. Speakers included His Excellency Lazarus Chakwera, President of Malawi, His Excellency, José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and President of Timor-Leste, who shared their success stories, as well as Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, who prompted us to keep going on the SDGs despite setbacks, and the host of the evening, Alice Albright, CEO, Millennium Challenge Corporation. 

It was a special evening to hear inspiring stories from people who have been working for decades as activists and leaders to bring greater freedom and economic prosperity to more people. It was clear that many in the room have known each other over long careers in various roles. 

On my end, I was reminded of a story that I had the opportunity to share with Alice Albright about her mother, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, from my earlier career days when I worked at the US Embassy in Romania. It was in the winter of 2001 and I was working in the executive wing on a project to help facilitate a Merck pharmaceutical program aimed at bringing medicine to help children with HIV who were infected through a communist-era tainted blood supply. I worked for Merck as a pharmaceutical rep for five years and knew this to be a sincere and ethical program. To my dismay, a person who was leading a NGO was convinced that Merck's intentions were to do harm and run lab experiments on the children. After trying to assure her that was not the intention, I was removed from the program by the embassy leadership at the time for being biased! Now that we've all gone through Covid together, I think it's easier to see how these situations can play out, sometimes in unfortunate ways.

My six-month embassy contract as Special Assistant to the US Ambassador ended, a new ambassador arrived, and I started up a software programming services company in Bucharest. Years later in January 2004, I was sitting at my desk and saw an article in the Romanian news featuring Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was sent by Merck to Romania to announce the success of the HIV/AIDs program and how it became a model for other countries to follow. I was thrilled to know that people kept the program going and made it a success. And for me, there was no one better to be vindicated by than Madeleine Albright. 

I was not able to find the exact article I saw that day, however I did find a briefing as you can see in the pics below. 

My time to present! ICSD is the top academic international conference for discussing sustainable development issues. It's hosted by the UN SDSN - the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Global Association of Master’s in Development Practice programs, and Columbia University. I was thrilled to be selected to present Transforming Higher Education with the EVOLVE Sustainability Framework. I had 15 minutes to make the case for using one framework for every degree program, breaking down knowledge silos, and  inspiring university-wide innovation and problem solving for the SDGs. I believe I successfully demonstrated how this can happen with the EVOLVE Sustainability Framework and corresponding eBook. People have asked for the presentation and I will record one soon and share it out.

So much going on here! The Nest Climate Campus was full on for three days with multiple event venues (click link for main stage recordings). I made it for half of the programming hours and wish I could have been five people at once to take it all in. I caught the keynote with Dr. Jonathon Foley of Project Drawdown, met Governor Jay Inslee, Frank Niepold of NOAA, and many more.

Besides the conference, what was incredibly impressive is the rooftop garden. From the Javits Center: the "6.75-acre green roof, one of the largest in the United States, is a wildlife sanctuary for dozens of local and migratory bird species, several bat species and thousands of insects." For lunch, I had a salad made with vegetables from the garden grown just a few feet away from the kitchen! 

In addition to energy savings through building efficiencies, Javits has a solar farm that provides at least 10% of its energy consumption from a renewable source. And this is on a building constructed in the 1980s. More of all of this, please! 

At its design studio in Manhattan, the INGKA Group hosted the Action Speaks Summit during Climate Week NYC. With a deep interest in indigenous wisdom, I attended a fascinating talk, From tradition to transformation: Embracing cultural practices and indigenous innovations. Some of the key takeaways are that indigenous people do not think in 15-year goals as the SDGs are set up to be achieved, they draw on the wisdom of the seven generations before them and make decisions for the seven generations ahead of them. Another is meetings are held in circles, showing that everyone is equally important. They are the master stewards of nature and biodiversity, recommending we leave the remaining natural forests in their hands without further encroachment from the industrialized world. 

You can watch the recorded session from Thursday, September 21, and others from the summit, here.

A foundational mindset of Evolution University is compassion and our courses are grounded in the teachings of nonviolent communication. We believe this is the most effective way to #flipthescript and raise the standard of what is possible in business and life. On the UN International Day of Peace on September 21, we CELEBRATED by finding ways to APPRECIATE the good in our lives and manage the FRUSTRATIONS responsibly. We know that conflict can devastate relationships, society, nature, and the world-- or it can provide us an opportunity for authentic connection. We look to see where we can bring light to the dark.

Peace painting and non-violence sculpture, the Knotted Gun, at the United Nations NYC. 

Some free time on Thursday evening in Central Park, which is more beautiful than I realized, followed by an enjoyable dinner with my childhood and Michigan State University swim friend's daughter, Zoe, who just arrived in NYC for a new job in political fundraising. She hopes to work with the UN one day and have a future career in building sustainable cities. Her father surprised me by treating us to dinner from Michigan! So thoughtful! 

When you unexpectedly bump into the same people in a big city with hundreds of events happening, you have to wonder if serendipity is at play. That's how it felt with Blue Planet Alliance and Peace Boat US so I changed my Friday night plans to attend their Climate Impact Talks and dance party at Hard Rock Hotel and I am so glad I did. The presentations from island states on how they are working towards100% renewable energy, circular economy to reduce landfill waste, and innovating for change is inspiration in action. 

On top of meeting the energetic and visionary founder of Blue Planet Alliance, Henk Rogers, I also got to meet Josephine Catuogno for the first time in person! Josephine worked with me starting as an intern with Kean University just over the state line in New Jersey while I was her online business professor and stayed on for 1.5 years. She managed the social media for Evolution University and you may have noticed the cadence has dropped since she left. I miss her dearly and it was an absolute joy to meet up. 

On top of that, it was a fabulous party with dinner, drinks, music, and dancing.

Life is good!

After seven days of events across Manhattan, catching public transportation to all of them, along with 44 miles of walking, I was ready to head home to Jax beach and get my feet in the sand. However, life had one more bucket-list event in store for me as I was gifted a surprise VIP pass to the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park! Continuous rain from storm Ophelia didn't stop 60,000 changemakers from all over the world who took action to End Extreme Poverty NOW: For the Planet, For Equity, For Food, and For Jobs, and won a ticket through a drawing.

The Global Citizen Festival brilliantly demonstrates what can be done to inspire people to end extreme poverty and the major issues perpetuating it such as climate change, gender inequities, the global hunger crisis, and more by combining the excitement of an artist, celebrity, and activist infused festival in NYC Central Park with the enthusiasm and real-world actions of changemakers around the world. 

It’s definitely a unique experience with celebrities, world leaders, activists, and artists rotating on the stage and an international crowd loving every second of it. It’s the best way to do good, have fun, and connect with amazing people.

Let's keep this party going all year long with Evolution University. Global Goals Week is just one of 52 weeks of action-taking and continuous evolution. 

Coming up next we have the EVOLVE Sustainability Journey for Climate Action starting October 29 and going for 6 weeks to COP28. This program transforms the way we do business and empowers you to lead projects and take action for the SDGs. 

To gain insights into the course and framework, join me for complimentary EVOLVE Sustainability Highlights sessions October 17 and 24. You will walk away with an overview of the framework and tips to get started today.

On World Kindness Day, November 13, we will be celebrating the third anniversary of Evolution University with a complimentary session Be a Light and Be the Change that draws from the MOREcompassion for People and the Planet course. Sign up for the free course and invite your friends to join you!

I can't wait to connect with you soon! 

Joni Roberts
Founder & Chief Evolution Officer

How did I come up with 80,000 people showing up in NYC? Here are the numbers:

United Nations: 4,000 passes distributed (most likely more)
NYC Climate Week: 580 Events (previous years = 400) and an unknown number of total attendees
Global Goals Week: MANY events held locally & globally!!
Private Events: unknown number of attendees
Global Citizen Festival: 60,000 attendees
March to End Fossil Fuels: 75,000+ participants 
The Climate Nest Campus: 6,200 attendees

That's over 145,000 known event attendees, plus 1,000s more attending private, corporate and government events across the city. Taking into account some people went to multiple venues, like myself, I think it's reasonable to estimate 80,000 unique participants in UNGA, Global Goals Week, and Climate Week NYC! I'd like to challenge the City of New York to come up with a more precise number.