[applause] thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Please, everybody have a seat. Weve got work to do. Thank you bill for that introduction, more importantly, thank you and melinda for your tireless efforts toward making a better world. I have been reading about these goalkeepers. These guys are pretty inspirational. I am excited to be here with you, whether its Girls Education are Global Health or Climate Change, you are setting a standard for the sorts of innovations and persistence that the world desperately needs right now. Thats what im going to talk about very briefly. We want to talk about changing the world. We sat down in paris a couple years ago where the world was coming together to hammer out an agreement, a small agreement to save the planet by taking meaningful action to tackle Climate Change. Its a threat that may define the contours of the century more than anything else. Here is the interesting thing. Bill saw this not only is a challenge but also has an opportunity. I remember him in sort of a matteroffact way thank we will have to go ahead and invent some new technology. I said i agree, lets do that. Although he knows more than me about inventing new technologies. His tone was yes, this is hard, but we can figure it out. Its hard, but it can be done. That spirit that says, to quote myself, yes we can, that spirit rather than the spirit is the motor by which we can see progress reducing carbon emission and even at the current moment, they are not as engaged in these efforts as i would like but progress continues because of a whole host of entrepreneurs and universities and cities and states. They are making change around Energy Policy in america, separate and apart from what government is doing. That gives me confidence that we can continue to make progress. My broader point is that you tend to believe when bill says we can do something, that we can do it, and when all of you stand up and say this is something we can do. That spirit is infectious and its exactly what we need right now. We do face extraordinary challenges. Weve heard of many of them in our discussions today. You know the nature of these challenges from your work. Growing economic inequality, changing climate, terrorism, mass migration, too much extreme poverty, too many girls denied an education, the rise of nationalism and the new phobia and politics that say its not we but us and them. Politics that turned good people away from the collective action that has always driven Human Progress. These are real challenges and we cant sugarcoat them. They will take a long time to solve. I cant discourage any of us from the belief that individually and collectively we can make a difference. We can make things better. Those challenges should inspire us and excite us because it gives us an opportunity to make our mark in the world in ways that we havent even scratched the surface. We have to reject the notion that we are suddenly gripped by forces that we cannot control. We have to embrace the longer more optimistic view. By just about every measure, america is better and the world is better than it was 50 years ago or 30 years ago and even ten years ago. I know that statement doesnt jive with the steady stream of bad news and cynicism that we are fed through television and twitter, but think about it, i was born, i know i have gray hair but i dont consider myself that old, but i was born at a time when people of color were systematically, routinely excluded from enormous portions of american life. Today women and minorities have risen up the ranks of business and politics and everywhere else. Even if we still had miles to travel and innumerable lives and hearts to change, the shift in what this country is and what it means is astonishing. When you measured against the scope of Human History you can see it in an instant. Just since i graduated from college, teen birth rates, dropout rates. Despite a massive global recession in the final years of my presidency, it reached a new low. Worldwide, our progress is even more remarkable and bill can rattle off the statistics better than i can. Over the past 100 years, weve come from a world were only a small fraction of women can vote to a world where almost every woman can. Since the 1950s the global average Life Expectancy has grown by more than 20 years. Since 1990, we have cut extreme poverty and childhood mortality and half, keep in mind, i was in law school in 1990. It seems like yesterday. Since 2000 weve evolved from a World WithoutMarriage Equality to one where its a reality of two dozen countries. All of this has happened in such a steady march that sometimes we have a tendency to take it for granted. I often ask when i meet with young people, if you had to choose any moment in history in which to be born, and you didnt know in advance, whether you going to be male or female or what country you would be from, what your status was, you would choose right now because the world has never been healthier or wealthier or better educated or, in many ways more tolerant or less violent than it is today. Fewer people are dying young and more people are living longer and better and more adults can read and more children get the vaccines they need despite the enormous things that break our heart around the world. Fewer people are being killed in wars and conflicts than ever before. This would be the time you would want to be. Showing up on this planet. They dont make us complacent but they spurious for action because it shows countless people like you toiling for many years chose to make this progress. Some have enormous wealth and influence. Others like Justin Trudeau have former political offices. Those who made these advances were citizens, doctors, nurses, entrepreneurs, clergy , community leaders, activists who mobilize and voted and innovated and push the change. They knew what every step of the way that they would not get everything they wanted as fast as they wanted, they know that progress requires struggle and perseverance and discipline and faith. They knew that sometimes, for every two steps forward you will take a step back but they made things better and this was something i always had to emphasize to my staff, better is good. You laugh, but sometimes people forget that i will take better every time. Thats whats needed every time. The engagement of everyone who wants to see a Better Future for our children. It can be frustrating. I will take an example, here in the United States thousands upon thousands of americans threw themselves into the collective effort of reforming our healthcare system. They are trying to figure out what the controversy is. I am too. These people, it wasnt just policy or politicians, it was moms and dads, people who have the experience of a sick child or questioning medical bills that threaten to bankrupt them, maybe a parent who has lost to cancer that had that person gotten a regular checkup, mightve been caught early. Those voices from every walk of life in every corner of the country against all odds made a difference. For the first time more than 90 of americans know the security of health insurance. Theyre paying more for insurance are being denied insurance because of a preexisting condition or because you are a woman, that is not a thing anymore. We got rid of that. People are alive today because of it and thats progress. The legislation that we passed was full of things that still need to be fixed. It wasnt perfect, but it was better. When i see people trying to undo that progress for the 50th or 60th time with bill that would raise costs or reduce coverage or rollback the sections for Older Americans or people with preexisting conditions, the cancer survivor, the expecting mom or the child with autism or asthma, it would be almost unattainable to have coverage, it is aggravating. All this being done without any actuarial or plain common sense rationale, it frustrates and it certainly frustrating to have to mobilize every couple months to keep our leaders from him for acting suffering on our constituents. But, typically thats how progress is one. Thats how progress is maintained. Every issue, we have to stand up for each other and recognize that progress is never inevitable, that it often can be fragile, its in need of constant renewal and her individual progress and collective progress depends on our willingness to roll up our sleeves and work. And not be afraid to work. In conclusion, each of us can make a difference, and i know im preaching to the choir because otherwise you wouldnt be a goalkeeper, but many of you are young and maybe have only seen Forward Momentum and may not have seen backward momentum yet. Many of you may confront hurdles and roadblocks and disappointments in the future , and when that happens, that is the test. The test is not how do you feel when things are going good or when you are at a cool conference in new york with bill and Melinda Gates and will i am, test is when youre in the field and youre on the ground and you are doing work and people are resisting or misunderstanding or purposely undermining efforts that you know can make a difference, and how do you respond to that . What im suggesting here today is that response has to be to reject cynicism and push forward with optimism. Not blind optimism, not one that ignores the scale and the scope of challenges but that hardearned optimism thats rooted in the stories of very Real Progress i have occurred throughout Human History. And the recognition that our successes, even though sometimes they are small or incomplete accumulate. They build and they create a trajectory that is better. It will mean some girl somewhere getting an education that otherwise she wouldve gotten. It will mean some farmer being able to feed his family and if enough of them do it, feed the nation. Thats what youre fighting for every moment because each new generation stands on the success of the previous generation. Its like a relay race that we are running. Each generation reaches us standing on that previous generation and that bens history in the direction of freedom and more opportunity and more justice. Thats why i spend so much time when i was president convening Young Leaders on every continent that i visited, thats why in my post presidency my emphasis will be on training the next generation of leaders to take their own crack at changing the world through the Obama Foundation which will be based in chicago, but will have projects and programs and Digital Networks all across the globe. Im hoping i get a chance to work with some of you because i have great faith in you. Just as i know bill and linda have great faith in you. But he started the movement with a community organizer. You understand the power of moving people along. So talk to us how you think of movements around the of world and what you have learned from them . A couple of observations. Number one that most big change or Human Progress is driven by young people who dont know any better and say why cant we do Something Different . Older people get comfortable or cranky or overprotective of their status or set in their ways there is the reason why here in United States the Civilrights Movement the leaders were in their 20s. Martin luther king started in his 20s and 39 when he was killed. Often times that is the of the tests of people asking in ways that if they are familiar to many not why but why not . So that is one and number two because most of us now with in those countries that purport to be because governments or the common efforts have to be rooted in the legitimacy. There is more power for people to stand together and push for those initiatives and something for most of Human History is unimaginable and you will notice even with those autocracies today at least that pretense of democracy those that are rooted in people are more legitimate to make real wherever we can. Number three and in most places to get something done with smarter Climate Change policy or health care for people or more funding for Girls Education to have a majority of people support to have the allocation of resources with mobilization it is a game of addition rather than and subtraction. The internet now has turbocharged that capacity in a way that we have not imagined before. So the last saying that i will say that it doesnt sound like the idea still filibustering in the senate. [laughter] that it is a smaller point but profound to reinforce with written staff with my publicworks and i continue to organizing and mobilizing that starts with the story you cannot create a story that moved large numbers of people unless you are able to listen and didnt listen to this story next to you. Of your neighbors or coworkers or community of people who were not like you so one of the of things that is important to listen and learn how it is to be who we are because thats understanding of other peoples stories is how you forge bonds to create the glue and with every Great Movement and it started with his understanding to see indians in south africa discriminated against and realizing there was power in those stories to drive out the most powerful empire and increasingly that was the case if you want to move forward with that Sustainable Development goals. To tell that story to tell those donors or politicians those that may feel i have my own problems why should i worry about somebody on the other side of the world . When we got into philanthropy and Global Health, we were stunned and had no idea. It is amazing even very well educated asking what has happened with vaccination vaccination, hiv, and that the news will space focus on the setback in even people who raise money say even that material that we create talks about the peace that remains as it has never improved so how we get more positive sense of progress . How do we get that word out out . You are talking to somebody who seven years tried to get the word out. [laughter] forty of the country did not believe me. [laughter] until i saw them then they believed in me. [laughter] so with that caveat, i make a couple of observations the nature of the media that is to fasten on what is wrong and i am not sure we can change that visual display of fire that is much more interesting than a building sitting there. People are walking their dogs in front of them so i dont think we can count on an conventional media but this is where the power of the internet has not been harnessed to the way that it needs to be. But my daughters consume information differently than i do. And those of us that have been involved with policy work are still putting out the reports and that is not interesting to them. But stories and visual representation show progress and can go by rollout there is day hunger for it so when the three of us were talking that area i am deeply interested is how do we have a digital platform where people can go to find out what is happening moving the progress on issues because i heard somebody say an important point im interested on how online communities or this incredible power to convene with the tweet that leads to people meeting and talking to each other. That is the way we have not fully tapped as a way to spread the word about progress. It is important for us with some friendly pressure on leaders and to make sure were not so rigid in our partisanship for ideologies we will not acknowledge or share with the political persuasion emi shortterm political interest. As if me and my predecessor through but far that we needed to sustain and build up. Is somehow to say someone from another Political Party . I feel as if these days in a political circle. [applause] one of the things we had the great privilege with casual time on a saturday night so our daughters here in the front row. That is our job to embarrass you. [laughter] but she is about the a judge your girls so how have you thought about talking to your children . With what needs to be done . We have done our entire lives when they were small. [laughter] and negative you get older your responsibilities grow. The part ofwhat we try to communicate is being responsible as an enormous privilege. As a fully grown human to have influence and make your market you do something well from peoples lives with those values we try to instill. With those basic homespun values. With empathy and hard work they are tools to shape the world around them so what we try to encourage that this is not somebody elses job it is your job. That is the epic they have embraced. With those temperaments and strengths that we sometimes make to think theres just one way to make a difference. If you are a brilliant engineer you dont have to make a speech. You can create the app of the amplification or to scale up and somebody you dont have to go out and to mentor kids. And with that health clinic. And the way to make a contribution and we try to emphasize that. But the what we also tried to talk about that i mentioned in maya earlier remarks that you have to be persistent i always tell people that my early work taught the a an incredible amount. I have some public parks and with some afterschool programs to set up that job training program. And they still had huge problems but then we could build on that. So often we get impatient because change does not look or is not as discernible as we had imagined in our lives. We get disappointed and frustrated and with social change. Every now and then. The that is how. [laughter] day you have one left . This week the United Nations is meeting and right after world war ii the World Health Organization they were partners but yet there is definitely a cynicism with their ability to change. With very few exceptions. So over the next 10 or 20 years with those pandemic of Climate Change can they step up to the role . Yes. First of all i will say that the biggest problems we confront, no one nation can solve on its own. Not even as powerful as the usa. During residency i was attacked for not claiming we could go on and were own. As if that was an expression of weakness. No. I believe the United States is the indispensable nation. And many of the initiatives could not have been done but i will use this as an example that began retrospect a lot of historians would argue is the most effective prevention in history. We have to create that infrastructure and architecture to send military and to create runways and we have to provide guarantees so they could feel some assurance that they got infected. So i take pride in what the United States can do for Climate Change your global migration or drought or famine or those ethnic conflicts. And as you indicated and with an airborne pandemic this is difficult to lou transeven like ebola. So ahead of time millions of people could be adversely impacted. Set to start with the premise that those efforts are important. And then you just have to have some sense. [laughter] the point number two is there are problems with existing multilateral institutions. Post World War Two for the most part they could not have anticipated everything. There is bureaucracy and inertia and resistance to reform so it is important for every country, leader to be honest about the need for reform. That i want to keep those certain numbers. And reforming with a Security Council to go to the accord geopolitical interest with this unachievable goal. To make sure the who works well and we have a sufficient security trigger when a pandemic or Something Else happens. That should not be controversial is just a matter of getting the work done. There may be cultural resistance to actually getting it done but generally speaking not many will explicitly say no. And a practical matter is to see that in certain countries. But the level of our multilateral institutions but what i would read whole for is to come up with a concrete plan in those areas with respect to the Sustainable Development goals. And how can we improve Delivery Systems on a daytoday basis . That requires leaders to feel as if that matters. That in turn requires the up public thinking that matters. That those are followers and not leaders. And then those constituencies what they care about. And then i also speak about the United States but the general public with the specific story of a child who is hungry and with that general knowledge or interest of development and then oftentimes they have a negative reaction. And when democrats and republicans agree and repeatedly sold for those that while the overestimate with 25 percent of the federal budget. For those in their towns and communities. And in those ways that talk about so this is actually a bargain and connect what we do with respect to development and security to say if you have failed states some of that will spill over on us. So ironicallironicall why if you are concerned about migration is a good investment its not like they are dying to get on but the places they are born and loved. The thinking of ways they describe this with economic imperative or security imperative and Public Opinion you will see politicians. That does not mean there isnt philanthropy, and i have said this to both bill and melinda even with the incredible generosity and the enormous skill deployed their resources over the years the u. S. Budget is still bitter bile lot. [laughter] bigger by a lot. So this notion the you can work around government or work around politics because it is corrupt or just dont like them, im sorry that will not work. If you want to get done what you are talking about with the effective philanthropy and technical knowhow with smart policy engineering to try to change Public Opinion for those who are in charge of the zero levers of power are responsive and a guarantee will not be disappointed. But what a glorious thing it is. [applause] [inaudible conversations]. That question of are we exceptional . Why we thought this was day propaganda form and with this concept of where is it coming from . And this took so long time. Talk about Foreign Countries because we intended to look in the east and are day catching up with us . Aunt for you to see the country on its own term spero. It really hit me there were these important issues that needed to be discussed for debated that democracy and country relied upon the of this self examination and i thought i need to know what happened to be as open as i possibly can and may be doing that in a book would give discipline, a deadline to think that perot. And to reject that type of personality. And as i said with this revolution with these dictators use political power wisely