Prince Harry, actor Matt Damon and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés are scheduled to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative’s 2024 annual meeting in New York on September 23-24, the Clinton Foundation announced Thursday.

The theme of this year’s gathering of political, business and philanthropic leaders is “What Works” – an effort to highlight potential solutions and effective aid in a tumultuous period marked by war, rising income inequality and food insecurity.

Former President Bill Clinton said this year’s Clinton Global Initiative would “redouble our efforts” to improve progress on the climate crisis, global health, gun violence and other important issues.

“We started CGI because we wanted to have a meeting where people wouldn’t just talk about big problems, but where we could roll up our sleeves and make things happen,” he said in a statement to The Associated Press. “It’s more important than ever to be optimistic and realize that we all have the ability to make a difference.”

Since returning in 2022 after a six-year hiatus, CGI has tried to maintain an optimistic tone while developing new ways to help, including last year’s launch of the CGI Ukraine Action Network, a collaboration between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s first lady.

“Bill, Chelsea, and I are deeply inspired by the undeniable impact of the CGI community – 500 million people impacted by programs, partnerships, and solutions that address our climate crisis, economic disparity, equality for women and girls around the world, and more,” Secretary Clinton said in a statement.

This impact allows CGI to attract a wide range of leaders, including Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Guyana President Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani.

The Duke of Sussex plans to discuss the launch of the Archewell Foundation’s Parents Network, an initiative that supports parents whose children have suffered or died because of online harm. He also plans to discuss his nonprofit’s collaboration with the World Health Organization and other organizations to end violence against children, an issue he and his wife Meghan discussed during a recent trip to Colombia.

Water.org co-founder and Oscar winner Damon is expected to discuss the status of the $1 billion plan he announced in 2022 to give 100 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America sustainable access to water and sanitation.

Business leaders scheduled to attend the conference, which runs concurrently with the week of the United Nations General Assembly, include Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, Gap CEO Richard Dickson, IKEA CEO Jesper Brodin, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, Moderna Chairman Noubar Afeyan, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Andrés is expected to explain how he built World Central Kitchen into one of the fastest-growing humanitarian nonprofits, with a focus on feeding people quickly after disasters or the outbreak of war. After seven World Central Kitchen employees were killed earlier this year in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, Andrés said, “Their examples should inspire us to do better, to be better.”

Other philanthropic leaders scheduled to speak include Emerson Collective Founder Laurene Powell Jobs, Ford Foundation Chairman Darren Walker, Hispanic Federation CEO Frankie Miranda, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband, and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Sam Bencheghib, co-founder of Sungai Watch, an Indonesia-based organization, plans to attend this year’s CGI to raise funds for his nonprofit, which places barriers in rivers to prevent pollution from reaching the ocean and then disposes of the collected waste. At previous CGI meetings, he made connections that led to Sungai Watch becoming one of the 2024 Elevate Prize Foundation laureates.

Last year, Bencheghib attended the CGI to pledge to expand Sungai Watch’s work to Jakarta and its rivers. His nonprofit will honor that pledge later this year.

Bencheghib also said he was proud to bring something tangible to this year’s CGI, especially given the theme “What’s Working.” He will showcase furniture made from plastic bags recovered from polluted rivers through his new social enterprise Sungai Design.

Company turns 500 plastic bags into bench; 2,000 plastic bags become a lounge chair.

“The fight against plastic pollution seems never-ending,” Bencheghib said. “Forty percent of the waste we collect is plastic bags and they’re not recyclable in this country… We were looking for a way to transform plastic bags into something a little more aesthetic, something that would be a great conversation starter, that would raise awareness of what that plastic bag can become if you don’t throw it in the river and if the right measures are put in place.”

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