Millennium Campus Network

The Millennium Campus Network (MCN) is a national, Boston-based non-profit that makes US campus organizations working to advance the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) more effective and sustainable. The MCN brings these organizations together to make the anti-poverty movement a fully cross-disciplinary, collaborative and integrated effort.
Programs
The MCN operates three primary programs: Millennium Campus Conference, Millennium Fellows, and MCN Student Action Grants. The Millennium Campus Conference is an annual fall event that convenes over 1,000 students and global leaders to discuss youth commitments to global public service. Millennium Fellows is a new program being unveiled in the fall of 2013, working with a cohort of ten campus organization leaders across Boston to help improve their organizations over the course of an academic year. MCN Student Action Grants has allocated over $50,000 in support to MCN member organizations since 2010.
At key moments, the MCN also engages in advocacy efforts. The MCN mobilized its members and national partners to engage in White House Youth Roundtables in 2011, and met with President Barack Obama and senior Administration officials in June 2011 to share their work and perspectives. A year prior, the MCN organized Commit in September, a national advocacy campaign to make global development a US foreign policy priority for the fall UN General Assembly Meeting.
To support MCN programs, the MCN offers a series of awareness and fundraising events to engage donors and supporters. Most notably, the MCN hosts the Global Generation Awards during the Millennium Campus Conference weekend.
Member Organizations
The Millennium Campus Network currently operates in four regional districts located in Boston, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.. Historically, the MCN includes 70 member organizations from 30 campuses.
In future years, the MCN will look to expand its membership to include more organizations at the campus and national levels. The MCN is also actively exploring creating international partnerships with similar national youth networks in developing nations overseas.
Staff and Partners
The MCN Board of Directors consists of nine leaders from a variety of disciplines related to global development, campus organizing, and higher education. These leaders manage the overall governance of the MCN and support programs and fundraising. The Board of Directors is chaired by Will Herberich.
The long-term growth and vision of the MCN is supported by a national Board of Advisors, which includes major figures, including Paul Farmer, John Legend, Sakena Yacoobi, Jeffrey Sachs, and Emilia Pires.
The MCN National and District Teams manage national and grassroots operations, respectively. Executive Director Sam Vaghar is full-time staff, and over 25 part-time staff, including Creative Director Nate Millett and volunteers work to ensure the MCN's success.
The MCN has been supported by dozens of sponsors and partners including:
* Microsoft, MCN's 2012 National Partner of the Year
* Better World Campaign
* Jenzabar
* Jenzabar Foundation, MCN's 2010 and 2011 National Partner of the Year
* HP
* Millennium Promise
* MTV
* Semester at Sea
* United Nations Foundation
* United Nations Millennium Campaign
Millennium Campus Conference
The MCN hosts the Millennium Campus Conference annually to bring together 1,000 students and educators around the issues of sustainable development and extreme poverty. The event features prominent speakers, as well as workshops and networking sessions designed to help students learn about the issues surrounding the UN Millennium Development Goals. Some of the keynote speeches from recent MCCs are posted online on the MCN's YouTube page, and some talks have gained particular interest; the talk with singer-songwriter K'naan and entrepreneur Sol Guy has generated over 10,000 views to date.
The inaugural Millennium Campus Conference was hosted by the Global Poverty Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from April 18-20, 2008.
Each MCC brings together more than 1,000 students from across the country and around the globe over three days to discuss, debate, and become engaged in issues of sustainable international development. Notable speakers have included:
* MCN Advisor Dr. Paul Farmer of Partners in Health
* MCN Advisor Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
* MCN Advisor John Legend, nine-time Grammy Award-winner and founder of the Show Me Campaign
* MCN Advisor Minister Emilia Pires, Finance Minister of Timor-Leste
* MCN Advisor Professor Steve Radelet (Georgetown University, former Chief Economist, USAID)
* MCN Advisor Professor Paul Romer of Stanford University
* MCN Advisor Professor Amy Smith of the International Development Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Other notable speakers include Leymah Gbowee (2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner), singer-songwriter K'naan, Dr. Vanessa Kerry of the Global Health Service Corps, Eliza Dushku (actress and activist), Ira Magaziner of Clinton Global Initiative, Ambassador Augustine P. Mahiga of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations, Ms. Henrietta Fore, Administrator of USAID and Director of United States Foreign Assistance, John Wood of Room to Read, Scott Harrison of charity: water, and over 100 other experts.
The Millennium Campus Conference 2008 also included the Millennium Campus Concert featuring Braddigan, the former lead singer of the band Dispatch, which raised money for AIDS treatment in Zimbabwe. The 2008 conference also featured the Millennium Action Challenge, which gave students an opportunity to showcase their ideas about creating sustainable fresh water systems in developing countries.
took place September 14-16, 2010 at Columbia University, on the eve of the UN's major ten year review of the Millennium Development Goals in New York City. Millennium Campus Conference 2011 took place September 16-18, 2011 at Harvard University, and was planned and coordinated by five core host organizations on campus. The annual weekend also featured the inaugural Global Generation Awards, honoring US Secretary of State John Kerry and other global leaders. Millennium Campus Conference 2012 took place on September 14-16 at Northeastern University. Millennium Campus Conference 2013, the fifth annual MCC, took place on November 1-2, 2013 at Northeastern University as well.
The sixth annual Millennium Campus Conference will take place October 10-12, 2014 at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Details will be available online here.
Global Generation Awards
Since the fall of 2011, the MCN has been hosting the Global Generation Awards annually during Millennium Campus Conference weekend. The Awards serve to honor extraordinary leaders who are role models in the movement for global justice. The exclusive gathering of 200 civic leaders has raised close to $100,000 for the MCN since its inception, and exposed more philanthropists to MCN programming. Notable leaders, from US Seretary of State John Kerry and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee to fashion designer Kenneth Cole, have been honored at this special event. The event has been profiled in Glamour, The Boston Globe, and more, and details for the October 11th, 2014 event are online here.
Here is a list of Global Generation Award Winners:
2011 Award Winners
* John Kerry (US Secretary of State) - watch Secretary Kerry's Awards speech here
* Eliza Dushku (actress and activist) - watch Dushku's Awards speech here
* Gillian Sorensen (Senior Advisor, United Nations Foundation) - watch Sorensen's Awards speech here
* Jason Russell (Co-Founder, Invisible Children) - watch Russell's Awards speech here
2012 Award Winners
*Leymah Gbowee (2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner)
*Jeffrey Sachs (world-renowned economist, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University)
* Emilia Pires (Minister of Finance, Timor-Leste)
* Steven Radelet (Chief Economist, USAID)
* Paul O'Brien (Vice President for Policy and Campaigns, Oxfam America) (note: Paul O'Brien was unable to attend due to illness; the award was accepted on his behalf by Oxfam America President Raymond Offenheiser)
2013 Award Winners
*Kenneth Cole (fashion designer and humanitarian)
*Nancy Lindborg (Assistant Administrator, USAID)
*Sakena Yacoobi (Founder, Afghan Institute of Learning)
*Ahmad Alhindawi (UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth)
*GlobeMed at Northeastern University, first-ever winner of the MCN's Collegiate Impact Award
2014 Award Winners
*Paul Farmer (Founder, Partners in Health)
*The 2014 Global Generation Awards will take place on October 11th, 2014 at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. More Award Winners will be announced closer to the date.

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