Empowering Girls and Women was the theme of the sixth annual meeting of the CGI, which Bedford Biofuels was invited to attend in New York City for the second consecutive year.

“CGI members come from 90 different countries, speak many languages, work in all sectors, and approach problems in unique ways,” President Clinton told the attendees during the opening plenary session of the 2010 meeting. “But together, their desire and capacity to build a better world for our children and grandchildren has resulted in 1,946 commitments, valued at $63 billion dollars, which have already improved nearly 300 million lives.”

The 2010 meeting focused on empowering girls and women, disaster relief and improving the lives of people around the world.

More than 67 current and former heads of state were in attendance at the four-day event, along with 600 business leaders and more than 500 leaders from NGOs and philanthropic organizations.

Bedford’s team attending the event said the CGI theme about empowering girls and women was fitting for Bedford’s EMPOWER (Every Member Prospers on World Energy Resources) project, considering the company supports empowerment, not aid.

Participants of the CGI, through a number of breakout sessions, discussed how corporations, governments, non-profits, foundations, and other stakeholders can collaborate to empower the poor, improve access to education and health care, develop alternative sources of energy, and create a cleaner environment.

“Bedford Biofuels and our humanitarian and environmental stance as a corporation is the perfect fit for membership to the CGI,” said the Bedford team. “EMPOWER will bring health care, food security, improved education, clean water and improved housing to the areas where Bedford operates in Africa. And because we’re in the biofuel industry, our goal as a company is to develop alternative sources of energy and create a cleaner environment.”