Among the featured speakers at the conference were Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute, Ambassador Stuart Holliday, President and CEO of Meridian International Center, Stan Litow, President of the IBM Foundation, Lynn Luckow, President and CEO of the Craigslist Foundation, Steven Koltai, The U.S. Department of State’s Senior Advisor on Global Entrepreneurship, and Dennis Whittle, Co-founder and former CEO of GlobalGiving. The event was moderated by Karen Baker, California’s Secretary of Service and Volunteerism. A complete list of speakers and a full agenda can be found here.

The context for the exchange was set by a release of new findings – polling collected for this event – from Gallup on “The State of Global Civic Engagement.” Collected from 130 countries, the poll measured individuals’ likelihood to volunteer, ones’ level of commitment to their communities, and how they chose to engage in their communities, i.e. donate money, volunteer their time, or help a stranger.

The session on “Social Entrepreneurship Networks” presented case studies of high impact networks that have succeeded in providing tools and resources to public and private sector leaders to create successful, innovative, and scalable campaigns. This was followed by a panel entitled “Applied Social Innovation and Volunteer Networks” that examined best practices and tools required for building and growing global networks. The panelists discussed the key role emerging technologies and social media play in reaching new constituents and audiences throughout the world. The conference concluded with an open discussion among the participants on how to better collaborate on scaling and growing volunteer networks in 2011 and beyond.

Meridian Center President Stuart Holliday commented: “With these leaders gathered (today), Meridian, Points of Light, and Gallup have taken real steps on uniting the growing community of public and private sector practitioners in public service. Whether from an NGO, a corporation, or government body, the leaders around (this) table have a combined interest to work together not only on the ground, but through the sharing of ideas and best practices. The United States has long served as a model of community service and public/private partnerships, and by convening in forums such as (this), we can bring our resources, practices, and technology to reach new and emerging leaders throughout the world.”

Meridian International Center’s Global Service Leaders Initiative (GSLI), leverages its 50 year history of supporting global leadership development by creating a “learning network” for international leaders to build the institutions, organizations and public/private partnerships. With a goal of highlighting U.S. lessons and leadership in the service fields, the GSLI supports the growth of volunteerism and civic engagement in countries and communities worldwide. The GSLI comprises a worldwide community of interests – currently composed of individuals from 97 countries. These leaders share a commitment to strengthening civic participation and public/private engagement in order to bring about local solutions to global challenges. Through convening, conferences, and the online technology platform VOLiNTEER.org, Meridian and its GSLI have become leaders in bringing the U.S. perspective to global efforts in service and volunteerism.

Points of Light Institute inspires, equips and mobilizes people to take action that changes the world. The Institute has a global focus to redefine volunteerism and civic engagement for the 21st century, putting people at the center of community problem solving. Points of Light Institute operates three dynamic business units that share our mission: HandsOn Network, MissionFish and the Civic Incubator.

HandsOn Network, the volunteer-focused arm of Points of Light Institute, is the largest volunteer network in the nation and includes more than 250 HandsOn Action Centers in 16 countries. HandsOn includes a powerful network of more than 70,000 corporate, faith and nonprofit organizations that are answering the call to serve and creating meaningful change in their communities. Annually, the network delivers approximately 30 million hours of volunteer service valued at about $600 million.