Jonah Wittkamper

Change Agent, Social entrepreneur, Technologist

Jonah Wittkamper is Co-founder and President of NEXUS, the Amazon Investor Coalition (AIC), and the Global Governance Philanthropy Network (GGPN). NEXUS is a global movement of over 6000 young people from 70 countries dedicated to bridging communities of wealth and impact. The AIC advances forest friendly economic development of the Amazon region of South America. The GGPN unites funders to collaborate on trans-national issues, global currencies and global governance innovation. The various networks involve people from many of the world’s most philanthropic families. Previously, Jonah served as the US Director of Search for Common Ground and was part of Distributive Networks Inc., where he helped to build the text messaging technology used by the 2008 Obama campaign. In 2000, Jonah co-founded the Global Youth Action Network (GYAN), a global association of youth organizations dedicated to strengthening youth participation in global decision-making. As the organization grew it merged with TakingITGlobal to form the largest site on the internet dedicated to empowering young leaders, receiving two million hits per day. Earlier in his career, Jonah led an award winning student computing organization, founded two internet startups, and created a corporate social responsibility initiative in one of the world’s largest corporations. He has served as a Co-Founder, board member, or advisor to a number of organizations including Pioneers of Change, the ManyOne Foundation, the L. A. Jonas Foundation, the Millennial Action Project, the Shift Foundation, WISE (Wealthy Individuals – Social Entrepreneurs), and many others. He is an alumnus of Williams College and Camp Rising Sun.

1) Next generation leadership. 2) Responsible management of the global commons 3) Ensuring the ecological integrity of the Amazon forest and the global water cycle 4) Connecting needs with resources.

Idea 1: The Amazon forest is worth more alive and standing, than cut and burned. The investment strategies to reflect such wisdom have not existed until recently. They need to scale in order to prevent the Amazon region from collapsing into a dry grassland ecosystem. Investors, donors and corporate buyers need to work in concert. www.amazoninvestor.org Idea 2: We do not adequately manage the global commons, but we urgently need to. We have no system of world law, but we need one. Citizens from around the world can join forces to fill the void. The philanthropic community can take the lead developing a Global Commons Fund with transaction fees from global payment networks. New systems of international governance can follow. www.ggpnetwork.org Idea 3: Can we inspire a new generation of philanthropy by building a movement to bridge communities of wealth and impact? www.nexusglobal.org

Amazon forest, Blended Finance, Blockchain, Brazil, Corporate Procurement, Cryptocurrencies, Deforestation, Democracy, Global Governance, Impact Investing, Non Timber Forest Products, Philanthropy, Rule of Law, South America, Youth

First time this year.

Listening. Inclusion. Thinking globally.