From the CEO

Settling on this year’s theme of “Shaping a Shared Future” for our 27th Global Conference was deliberate, with a focus on our collective ability to actively forge the future we want, even as the world seems more fractious and more interconnected at the same time.

When I wrote last year’s letter, we’d just crossed the one-year mark of the Russia-Ukraine war and were watching an unfolding banking crisis, fearing the contagion of collapse. While a banking crisis has been averted, geopolitical crises have not, and we find ourselves observing conflicts unfolding in the Middle East and elsewhere, again hoping the contagion does not spread.

Our complicated world presents us with both opportunities and challenges simultaneously. Just when pandemic-related supply chain disruptions seemed to be easing, two of the world’s busiest trade thoroughfares are now being upended – the Suez Canal because of conflict and the Panama Canal due to drought. Earlier this year, a genetic treatment successfully targeted a congenital deafness that allowed an 11-year-old boy to hear for the first time, at the same time gun violence is the number-one killer of children and teens in the United States. The promise of AI and bioscience in developing breakthrough therapies across a spectrum of disease exists side by side with the fact that fentanyl is now the number-one killer of young adults, killing 112,000 Americans in 2023 alone.

While all of this can seem overwhelming, it also needs to spur us to action. If we can replicate the successes and view the problems as challenges needing to be solved, we can together move the innovation and financial capital required toward crafting solutions. That’s what this conference is about: fostering frank, civil and constructive dialogue to address these global issues.

“Shaping” is an action verb, and the attendees at the Global Conference and our convenings throughout the world can catalyze the progress we wish to see. I remain optimistic we can create a more balanced and prosperous future, and am happy you’ve joined us on this journey.

Richard Ditizio, CEO