A hurricane strikes a city; terrorists attack a nation; global warming threatens the environment—such problems are too large for any one authority to solve alone. Our increasingly globalized and interconnected world calls for a new type of tri-sector leadership in which business, government and nonprofits work together in a state of permanent negotiation. To be effective, tomorrow's leaders will need to reach across national and sector divisions to form a collaborative "megacommunity."
Based on interviews with over 100 leaders from around the world including Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Kenneth Chenault and Richard Parsons, MEGACOMMUNITIES: How Leaders of Government, Business and Non-Profits Can Tackle Today's Global Challenges Together introduces a radically new framework for reaching solutions to today's thorniest problems. Written by four senior consultants from global consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, and with a Foreword by Walter Isaacson, this important book explains how a megacommunity approach is:
COUNTERING AIDS, ALZHEIMER'S AND GLOBAL PANDEMICS
In India, a megacommunity battles HIV/AIDS by bringing together both public, private, and civil-sector organizations, including PepsiCo, the Gates Foundation, U.S. healthcare experts, UN development programs, and local NGOs.
CONSERVING THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
In saving the world's rainforests, providers, distributors, sellers, and consumers of lumber team up with local communities, the World Wildlife Fund, and Goldman Sachs.
HELPING COMMUNITIES GROW
In changing neighborhoods like Harlem, the megacommunity includes local small businesses, community groups, global companies, and foundations like Bill Clinton's.
"What is required are leaders who know how to identify the vital interests they share with others, who are prepared to seek the benefits from which all can gain," write the authors.