Story by Nina Strochlic
As the guests began to filter in, a fellow volunteer raised her eyebrows at me and whispered, “You noticed him, right?” I had no idea who she meant, until, following a twitch in her head, I realized that I’d been standing next to Matt Damon the entire time. He was the first of a string of celebrities meandering through session rooms and hallways during the week that I never would have expected to be in attendance. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher held private meetings for their foundation; Brad Pitt hosted a session on Hurricane Katrina that over-filled the house; and Jessica Alba thoughtfully discussed current events in breakout sessions.
Attracting hundreds of the world’s most important decision makers, businesspeople, humanitarians and even celebrities, this year’s Clinton Global Initiative focused on addressing four major global issues: education, global health, climate change and poverty. In the five years since its establishment, President Clinton’s vision to turn “good intentions into results” has already affected the lives of more than 200 million people across 150 countries.
During CGI’s annual meeting, members gathered in New York to learn and discuss current issues, create plans and stipulate goals for the upcoming year. Working with sponsors and other members, these plans ranged from building wells to creating micro-loans, but no matter what they are, they must be complete by the next meeting. This summer, I was privileged enough to walk across Times Square every morning and step in Manhattan’s Sheraton Hotel with a blue-patterned CGI scarf around my neck and a nametag that read, “Volunteer.”
The day before the conference I disembarked my train from upstate New York and dragged the bags I had been living out of for the last month to the Hell’s Kitchen apartment of a family friend I would be staying with. That night, I navigated the noisy streets back from orientation at the Sheraton, laden with papers of rules, notes, maps and schedules. What quickly captured my attention was the demonization given to the attending members of the press, who numbered over a thousand. As a journalism student I was shocked to watch the volunteer coordinator plant her legs to the side and spread her arms in portrayal of how to keep an unescorted press member from where they were trying to go. Otherwise, I couldn’t wait to begin, especially after hearing a preview of the impressive guest list.
Staff and volunteers used our own back entrance and lounge where we would gather every morning and divide into shifts for the day. I worked with Access and Hospitality, manning the entrances and the sessions, checking badges and attempting to remember which meetings took place where. The meeting got off to a whirlwind start with President Obama speaking at the opening plenary. I was assigned to check badges at the doors and of course, not allow any unescorted press past my watchful gaze.
It was embarrassing to realize how easily I recognized someone like Usher, but wouldn’t have had the faintest idea if the president of Ghana walked right past me (which he did). Soon I learned to watch for the badges with red stripes because it meant the wearer was a diplomat or head of state, and was allowed to do anything and go anywhere. Scanning badges in front of session rooms became my favorite assignment since it gave me an excuse to read their nametag, without awkwardly squinting at it as they walked by. The other volunteers and I would compete when the crowds thinned out. “I just scanned in the former-presidents of Peru and Portugal,” I said smugly to the guy working the other line. “Well I got Jesse Jackson and Madeline Albright,” he responded.
I secretly liked the feeling of having a purpose in this enormous, anonymous city. I worked until almost nine every night, making some days into fourteen-hour shifts, but I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather be doing. Though the work I did wasn’t thrilling or challenging, it was the people I met who shaped my experience at the event. Above all, what stood out was the instant comradery between volunteers. I was relieved to note on the very first day that the volunteers were mostly around my age, and their hometowns spanned the country and the world. Each of them had fascinating back-stories, from interning at the UN to spending months developing sanitation projects in rural India. Standing around checking badges and giving directions provided ample time to talk with other volunteers and staff. I chatted with a federal agent, who was waiting on one of the speakers, and learned all about his globetrotting adventures while protecting the leaders of our nation. Later, I manned the back entrance to a Northern Ireland session hosted by Bill Clinton and listened while security guards passed around pictures and were briefed about an attendee who had been acting “suspiciously interested” in the Clinton family. Soon after, to my amazement, President Clinton and his entourage came out and mingled in the back hallway, just feet from where I stood star-struck.
The sessions hosted an array of incredible speakers and panelists. While I never had the chance to stay for their entirety, I heard snippets of the work being done on issues from education, nutrition and global warming. Figures like Al Gore and Diane Sawyer hosted panels and outlined current and prospective projects. Luckily, I was able to watch the entirety of the awards ceremony—with tickets going at a thousand dollars at the door—and the closing plenary.
What stuck in the back of my mind through that hectic week was amazement in the fact that such important people had taken a large chunk of time out of their busy schedules to work hands-on to tackle major global issues. I was even more shocked to be working in the very spot these decisions and initiatives were being created. The genuine intentions of the people I met that week were unshakable, and the citizens of the world are lucky to have CGI members and sponsors diligently working for the betterment of their lives.