The Boston Pledge organized its annual conference titled” Paying it Forward: Harnessing the Power of Micro-movements in an Era of Economic Turbulence” on December 4th at Tufts University with more than 225 people in attendance.

Partha Ghosh, the master mind behind the initiative, talked about the serious challenge humanity has ever faced to create a more equitable and sustainable future. “We all talk about the pyramid where the top are facing new challenges with respect to resources while the bottom is increasingly pushed into despair. However, the base cannot be weak for the economic pyramid to survive. As such, micro finance, social entrepreneurship and AID programs are necessary but not sufficient, we need a new apprach - what I call direct engagement. In this world there are about 5 billion low-income people or approximately 65% of global population, who have a per capita income around $500, in a world where the average per capita income is about $10K/year. Therefore it is necessary to invert the pyramid where micro volunteering, micro mentoring and micro finance with micro venturing are the norm, and people at the top of the pyramid should directly engage in micro mentoring with the "pay it forward" spirit” said Ghosh. He expects The Boston Pledge to help spread this movement.

He was followed by world famous economist Dr. Jeff Sachs Director Earth Institute at the Columbia University (who joined the meeting virtually) discussed the Unitied Nation's Millennium Challenge. He high lighted the need for people to get involved in edradicating poverty in this century. Building on Ghosh's approach he emphasized how initiatives like The Boston Pledge should work with the Millennium challenge to enable bottom up entrepreneurship.

“There are three kinds of people who say: that is impossible, anybody can do it, and finally nobody is going to buy it. Once you get past it, you build value,” said Eric Giler, CEO, WiTricity. There are 1.5 billion people who do have access to electricity. While everyone uses disposable batteries, they are a hazard to the environment and cost about 3000 times more per Kwh as compared to the one from the grid.

Raj Sisodia focused on the concept of Conscious Capitalism and our Higher Purpose. “Humanity is one spirit, natural resources are finite while our inner resources are infinite,” said Sisodia. Other members of the Idea to Reality panel included Kimberly Wilson, Lecturer, The Fletcher School, who spoke on the art of micro-finance; Dilip Mathur, who talked about The Dream Weavers which uses a unique village business architecture and the partnership with Jaipur Rugs; and Pamela Goldberg, Director, Tufts Entrepreneurial Leadership Program.

The panel Dreaming and Making it Happen was moderated by Mary Viola, Director of Engineering Management at Tufts University. Chitro Neogy, General Secretary of TBP, talked about the ESP India program which organizes Inspiration Workshops and Core MBA Clinics about how to operate a business. Jenna Sirkin talked about Breaking the Poverty Cycle. Apparao Karri and David Mok gave an overview of the Power of Social Media which bring anyone who ‘likes’ or ‘follows’ your cause. David emphasized that it can be used to improve visibility, familiarity, credibility and build relationships.

An inspirational conference in which Jerry Brightman, President, The leadership Group and the Master of Ceremonies kept every one engaged.

|