The Fortune Forum Club comprises; influential entrepreneurs, heads of foundations, global leaders, captains celebrity activists and academics. The club hosts key leaders from business and philanthropy for a series of intimate discussions amongst fellow luminaries.

The club informs of philanthropic issues and provide opportunities to network, and learn of strategies from other peers. We also present forums with leading experts to assist influential decision-makers formulate more informed choices in specific areas of interest. The club hosts special private dinners. This presents a perennial opportunity to interact, discuss, debate and to map out initiatives to contribute to the pressing issues facing humanity.

‘Catalysing Climate Change Action’

Wednesday 15th January, 2014
The Dorchester, London

	Renu Mehta updated the audience on the progress of the UK implementation of the MM Model hallmark ideas pioneered with Nobel Laureate Economist Sir James Mirrlees back in 2008 which have now gone on to influence UK Aid policy resulting in almost one quarter of a billion new pounds administered through trusted channels such as charities as decided by individuals and foundations which will impact in the region of 50 million lives. She said 'this will fund aid programmes in ways that we know that can lift people out of poverty; getting people and systems ready for employment the real driver of economic growth.'

Amanda Holden conveyed that she was delighted to have this important conversation on an issue that will impact all of our lives in the not too distant future. 'This year The Climate Group celebrates its 10th birthday. The Climate Group is an international not-for-profit, established in London that works with top leaders in business, government and civil society to help tackle climate change.' She stated. www.TheClimateGroup.org.   She was honoured to introduce His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco and the work of his Foundation. 'The Foundation supports sustainable and ethical projects especially in the Mediterranean Basin, the Polar regions and the world's least developed countries. It focuses on three main challenges: climate change; combating the loss of biodiversity; and water management. Since its inception, close to 300 projects have benefited from Foundation grants totalling more than $US30 million.' She remarked. www.fpa2.com.

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco shared with the audience that he came from a family concerned about environmental matters, following in a family tradition starting with his great grandfather Prince Albert I who established The Oceanographic Museum and his father who later spearheaded a lot of different initiatives to better protect the Mediterranean and other seas and oceans. His Serene Highness Prince Albert II became involved with all issues concerning the environment 'I don't think there is a more compelling issue right now than to try and find ways to mitigate the effects of climate change' he said boldly.

Mark Kenber, CEO of The Climate Group, went on to say that 'Companies and regions have done rather well out of taking climate change seriously; Companies save money, increase market share, attract the best talent. The Climate Group where he is CEO set about changing the way people think about climate change- to make this an exciting opportunity for companies to put climate change at the heart of their business strategies.' He said that they 'see their role in convening and catalyse the world's top leaders'. Mark commended The Prince Albert II Foundation's collaboration around electric vehicles, clean mobility, transportation, energy transition, energy transition, energy efficiency and electric lights.

His Serene Highness praised The Climate Group on their tremendous commitment and dedication to issues of climate change and issues on the periphery as well. HSH said 'We are in the process of testing LED public lighting for the whole principality starting with a small section of it'. He went on to say that 'the ability to convene and create discussion around the issue was important'. HSH further stated that 'India and China are very important countries in our world today and can be a great example for others. It's not going to be a one solution game- it's a mix of solutions, a mix of renewable energies- if we can offer a mix of renewable solutions for different economies especially developing countries we can have a more sustainable way of living. It's going to require a lot of imagination and scientific research and development.' HSH concluded with optimism 'We are on a good path and that tremendous results and progress in the last few years. Government and their decision makers,' he added 'can put climate change at the forefront of the world agenda'.

	Amanda set off their 10 year their celebration in style by asking Mark to reflect on some of their greatest achievements 'Pushing through ground breaking legislation such as California's Assembly Bill 32; helping to create the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), now the most popular global standard for voluntary offsetting; delivering China Redesign, a flagship project which is boosting low carbon growth in China's cities; leading the largest coordinated trial of outdoor LED installations in 13 major cities worldwide.' Mark cited.

'The only way we can succeed in bringing down global emissions is by having an impact in the US, China and India. Our presence in China makes us unique and is one of our greatest USPs, but as you will appreciate, there is not a culture of philanthropic giving in China like there is in the US and UK. One of our greatest challenges and opportunities is to generate the funds we require to deliver impactful programmes and convene leaders in these regions.' Continued Mark.

Renu Mehta closed the evening by imploring: "Individuals like Prince Albert II stepping up to address these colossal global problems is a tradition well worth amplifying. With concerted action between the people like The Climate Group who craft policies and leaders who are inspiring philanthropic action, a low carbon economy can be realised." Renu urged the audience of tycoons to open their portfolio and passion to a bit more game changing policy work.

 

‘Advancing social change in a challenging economy’

Tuesday 13th October, 2009
The Dorchester, London

Renu Mehta introduced Annie Lennox as ‘the woman who can heal with her voice and her heart’. Annie opened her talk by stating that after 27 years of us knowing about Aids, today in South Africa, around 1000 people die daily from it and 1 in 3 pregnant women are carrying the HIV virus. She made a powerful and passionate call to the audience to help promote widespread medication; life sustaining treatments and good nutrition to women and girls. There was short film which showed this type of work being carried out by the SING campaign, which she founded in 2007. www.annielennoxsing.com

The British Red Cross CEO Sir Nicholas Young joined Annie to raise awareness of the Aids crisis. Annie posed some challenging questions to Nick about the global pandemic. Nick said that one of the characteristics of the virus is that it is ‘underground’ or hidden because of the stigma attached to it. He praised Annie’s efforts for giving a voice to the victims. Nick said that “parents are dying at the feet of their children and grandparents are facing the challenge alongside the child-headed families.” Nick went on to talk about "the life saving work being carried out by the Red Cross; in communities there are education programmes for prevention via safe sex which are also addressing the stigma. Volunteers are playing their part too." http://www.redcross.org.uk

Appointed by the Prime Minister as the Government's Ambassador for Philanthropy, Dame Stephanie Shirley said that her top priority was to engage philanthropists and encourage them to come out and share their experiences and motives to give by giving them 'a voice' by video casting them on http://www.ambassadorforphilanthropy.com. She talked about the pleasure she receives when she sees her philanthropic gifts in action. She called it “A pleasurable act of desire and compassion to help change any aspect of society by raising the bar on our capacity to be generous”. Dame Stephanie will be making recommendations to the Government on what part they can and should play to further incentivise citizens to invest in charities and ideas serving society.

Sir Trevor Chinn, Chairman of The Mayor's Fund for London highlighted the problem of massive child poverty in London – currently there are 600,000 young people living in poverty. Trevor said that “the over-ridding way out of poverty was getting a decent job.” The fund is based on three principles; 1. Partnership: to partner with local authorities, communities, employers, central government, other funders and the voluntary sector to improve overall performance on child poverty. 2. Connectivity: It will develop connected services and projects providing a better customer experience for those children and families. 3. Evidence: the Fund will base its work on evidence not opinion - both in terms of what is needed in the first place and who is best to deliver identified services. http://www.mayorsfundforlondon.org.uk/

Keynote speaker Boris Johnson, Mayor of London Johnson who is the Patron of the Mayors Fund for London made a plea to the audience to invest in London’s human capital, particularly its young disadvantaged people; “those without fathers, those without hope those who are told everyday by society that they are useless leaving them without self-esteem. It is no wonder that these children find consolation in crime, delinquency which is not only catastrophic for them but for their families and wider communities.  This exacerbates the underlying fears and insecurity that causes violence. Targeted and intelligent intervention from the Mayors Fund for London urges the top of the society to help those at the bottom through no fault of their own. In these tough times, we should be generous about what we can achieve together”

Sir Ben Kingsley made a wonderful introduction to Ruby Wax and hailed her as “one of the greatest wits of our civilisation”. Ruby brought to fore the important issue of cognitive neuroscience and the proven relationship between the mind and body. She cited that “Mental illness is responsible for 50% of the UK’s disease burden leading to problems such as cardiac disorders, breakdown of the immune system, diabetes, respiratory problems and cancers.” She called for further research in to the issue because, put in a wider context, 1 in 4 of the population would have problems stemming from mental illness. As Ruby puts it ‘the brain is the mothership and that is where most of societal problems stem from and should be addressed at the core.’

‘Doing well and Doing Good’

Wednesday 2nd July, 2008
The Dorchester, London

It was a great honour for Renu Mehta to introduce Yusuf Islam as 'one the noblest spirits she has ever met'. Yusuf talked about a Small Kindness charity which he founded to help sustain the lives of Orphans and Families who are the casualties of war. “The mental scars inflicted on such innocent souls can take years to heal. the problems we face as human beings is the fulfilment of our duty to give help to those less fortunate than ourselves on this increasingly shrinking planet - The sight of bloodied faces in war scenarios, the pictures of fatherless children, roofless homes and the tragedies which beset our world with riveting punctuality, like an endless TV series, are always there to inform us.” Yusuf also spoke about tangible work that A Small Kindness is doing on the ground to help young adolescent girls who need education are also high on his priority list with Projects that help provide them skills and career opportunities for life. He treated the audience to rare and impromtu performance at the lecturn! http://www.smallkindness.org/

Supermodel Petra Nemcova talked about her work at The Happy Hearts Fund which she founded to improve children's lives through educational and sustainable programs in natural disaster areas. Nearly 300,000 people lost their lives in a tsunami that hit on December 26, 2004. Happy Hearts Fund was launched in 2006 with the ultimate objective of uniting people under the same umbrella of providing hope and opportunity to disaster-struck areas worldwide through the creation of educational and sustainable initiatives for children. “As we reflect on the past few years and look to the future, we quickly become aware of the growing need for our collective support in communities globally who are affected by natural disasters and our resolve to achieve real and measurable results by educating children and empowering communities through our sustainable programs only grows stronger by the day.” http://www.happyheartsfund.org/index.php

ICE Circle hosted the panel discussion ‘Doing well and Doing Good’ where fine examples of advancing green principles were being explored.

		Our moderator John-Paul Flintoff, Chief writer at The Sunday Times generously held court and invigorated the discussion. Robin Birley, Founder of Envirotrade and African Renaissance. Robin expressed how it is possible to plant trees and to build local livelihoods that address both poverty as well as bio-diversity? http://www.envirotrade.co.uk/html/home.php

Johan Eliasch, Chairman of Head HVand the British Prime Minister's Special Representative on Deforestation and Clean Energy. Johan communicated how we can assist the efforts of halting deforestation. http://www.coolearth.org/. The speakers included; Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannau, Founder of Easygroup and Serial Entrepreneur. Stelios gave examples of how one can integrate green models within one’s respective business.

		Pierre Lagrange, Founder of GLG Partners How can we make wise financial choices and propel the transition to clean energy technologies? Think about the trillions of philanthropic capital tied up in endowments that are only delivering in one dimension that is financial. Pierre described how there could be an integrated environmental and financial bottom line. David de Rothschild, Founder of Adventure Ecology. David articulated how is it possible to address climate change by combining Adventure, Education and Creative Art. http://www.adventureecology.com/

Essentially, all of the speakers on the panel conveyed that you can make great investments and propel sound values.