SAN FRANCISCO — When Kate Roberts of Population Services International wrote a survival guide for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, she covered everything from what shoes to wear to where to have a nightcap.
The senior vice president for corporate partnerships and philanthropy at the global health nonprofit also offered words of warning to individuals that come to Davos with a stack of business cards and a pile of annual reports in hand. “Don’t blatantly sell your company or cause on a panel — listen, learn and make your point clearly and concisely,” she advised. Over the years, Roberts, who was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007, has learned what strategies do and do not work at what she describes as one huge networking fest.
Leaders from civil society organizations will join those from government and business next week, at this year’s WEF annual meetings. NGO leaders working on topics from health care to sustainable agriculture to water and sanitation will be a critical part of the conversation on how to create “a shared future in a fractured world.”