Devex Pro Weekender: Davos shake-up, and the philanthropist who might surprise you

There’s another big leadership change in the world of development. Klaus Schwab, father of the World Economic Forum, is stepping down as head of the gathering of global elites after a hefty 53 years. He’s not disappearing completely, mind — he’ll transition to the role of board chair ahead of the next Davos in January 2025. In a statement, WEF said executive leadership would be handed to the president, who is currently former Norwegian foreign minister Børge Brende, and a managing board. Keep reading for more on that. Coming up: The main event this week is the 77th World Health Assembly and the Devex team has been working hard to create a phenomenal summit on the sidelines, focused on innovation in global health. Join us May 28-29 to hear from Sania Nishtar, the CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, who’ll share a stage with Muhammad Ali Pate, the person who was originally lined up for that job before becoming Nigeria’s health minister, as well as many more brilliant speakers. There are also networking opportunities for those of you attending in person, including a special Nightcap for global health leaders and Devex Pro members on May 29. Also in today’s edition: Artificial intelligence for good, Gates’ new DEI chief, and the woman tasked with making the World Bank more meritocratic. Bits and pieces Transforming WEF. As I was saying, Schwab is rather getting on in years, which presumably is the driving force behind the leadership changes at WEF. But the organization also said those changes were part of an ongoing transformation, taking place over the past 10 years, to turn it “from a convening platform to the leading global institution for public-private cooperation.” Although a lot of what happens at Davos is business, WEF pitches itself as “an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world.” Love it or hate it, its flagship annual summit in Davos matters because a lot of influential conversations and relationship building happens there. And changes to the event don’t stop there. The local council in Davos is holding a vote on whether to restrict access to the crowds that descend during WEF. The proposed change would mean that only official invitees of WEF can rent buildings or build temporary structures to hold events. That will likely be OK for many development organizations, who tend to get official invites, although it might cause a problem for some. Welcome to the meritocracy. The World Bank has appointed a new vice president for human resources, who among other things will be tasked with making the bank more meritocratic, so that staff are “exposed to growth opportunities based on what they do and how they do it — and not only whom they know,” according to an internal email. Radi Anguelova hails from the private sector, having previously headed up HR for Swarovski. The appointment was announced by bank President Ajay Banga in an email to staff earlier this month but, at the time of writing, had not yet been publicly announced. Anguelova is due to start work in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1. GB giving. The identity of Britain’s most generous man might surprise you. According to an analysis from The Sunday Times, which looked at what proportion of their wealth the country’s richest people gave away last year, it’s Paul Marshall, co-owner of GB News, the controversial right-wing TV station. The newspaper reckons that Marshall donated £145 million last year, an impressive 16.6% of his total wealth. That mostly went to U.K.-focused causes — the London School of Economics and Political Science did particularly well out of it. But more globally-minded givers also appeared high on the list. Alan Parker, founder of the Oak Foundation, which has dedicated programs in India, Zimbabwe, and Brazil, gave away 11.9% of his wealth; while Chris Hohn, founder of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, which supports children around the world, gave away 9.9%. Thanks for nothing. A washing machine for every household — is this the development intervention that “literally no one asked for”? That was the assessment of veteran development journalist Eliza Anyangwe when she saw an advert for The Washing Machine Project at a U.K. train station. I looked into the project, which is relatively new but plans to deliver off-the-grid washer-dryers to camps and communities for internally displaced persons across the global south in a bid to reduce the time that women spend on unpaid domestic labor and the health issues associated with hand-washing. It recently gained the support of the Whirlpool Foundation, with which it hopes to reach 150,000 people over the next five years. So what do we think? ✉️ Do you have insights into any of this week’s bits and pieces? Let me know by replying to this email. Moving on America Ferrera, aka Ugly Betty, is the International Organization for Migration’s second global goodwill ambassador, serving alongside Olympics champion Mo Farah. The Gates Foundation has a new chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer in June Yoshinari Davis. She is the second person to hold the position, with her predecessor Leslie Mays now retiring. This week the International Youth Foundation is welcoming Christina Sass, co-founder of tech platform Andela, as its new president and CEO. Did we miss one? Is there a change on the horizon? Let us know at devexpro@devex.com. Stat of the week $2.2 billion --— That’s how much MacKenzie Scott gave away last year. But where did the money go, and which development causes captured her attention? My colleague Miguel Antonio Tamonan has crunched the numbers to give Pro members some answers. Up next 77th World Health Assembly. The main event this week is WHA77, which is the governing forum for the World Health Organization and one of the most anticipated events on the global health calendar. The main issue on everybody’s radar this year is a potential agreement on a new Pandemic Treaty, which would tighten up the guidelines on how the world responds to health emergencies, and negotiations for which have been a tortuous affair. For Pro members, we have a primer on what to watch at WHA77. And if you’re interested in global health, make sure you’re signed up for our weekly Devex CheckUp newsletter to stay on top of everything that’s happening. May 27-June 1. AI. Alongside WHA, the AI for Good Global Summit is also hitting up Geneva this week. It’s been held since 2017 but AI and its impacts for the SDGs are a bigger talking point than ever and this summit finds itself at the center of those conversations. Speakers include Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Anna Koivuniemi, head of the Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator. May 30-31. SIDS. You’ll get a warm welcome in Antigua and Barbuda for the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States this week, which will result in an intergovernmental action plan for sustainable development in SIDS. May 27-30. African economy. The African Development Bank is launching its 2024 African Economic Outlook. The focus is reform of the global financial architecture. May 30.