Global Citizen conference to unite political leaders, celebs

By GLENN GAMBOA
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Advocacy group Global Citizen will convene political, philanthropic, business and cultural leaders for a thought leadership conference in New York to tackle extreme poverty more quickly. The group announced Tuesday that Global Citizen NOW will be a two-day conference on April 27 co-chaired by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, as well as leaders of Barbados and Ghana, along with Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Tony winner and “Wolverine” star Hugh Jackman. Executives from Verizon, Cisco, Citi, and Procter & Gamble will join philanthropic leaders from Ford, Open Society, PepsiCo and Rockefeller foundations. The conference plans to create collaboration between various sectors to spur “urgent action” to end extreme poverty.