Calling on Kids of Investment Bankers, for Kids Who Aren't

Attention: this blog is targeted for specific individuals.  Anyone can read it, of course, but it is specifically for young adults between the ages of 12 and 19, and specifically for those who have parents in investment banking or who go to school with kids who have parents in investment banking.  And among that group, it’s for those who are interested in changing the world.

By now it’s no secret that many in the investment banking and financial sector have received or are going to receive large bonuses this year.  Bloomberg.com reported that the three biggest banks to exit the government bailout plan are expected to pay out record bonuses of nearly $30 billion this year.  If you’re at Dalton, Horace Mann, Riverdale, Trinity or another school where your parents and your parents’ friends might be investment bankers, ask them this week if they have ever considered investing in the life of a child in the developing world.

Ask them if they know that more than 4 million children die of pneumonia and diarrhea each year in these countries because they lack access to simple treatments and safe, effective vaccines.  Ask them if any investment in their current portfolio can provide so much bang for their buck – for less than $100, they can add a year of life to a child.  In fact, Bill and Melinda Gates called their investment in vaccines through GAVI the best money they ever invested. 

Some of the financial sector’s most successful individuals are among the most generous supporters of Save the Children, CARE, and the GAVI Alliance.  But what about the rest? I suspect that most of them just aren’t aware of how many lives could be saved with simple vaccines and antibiotics.  Or they may be misinformed about where their money will go.  They may be under the inaccurate assumption that the money will be mismanaged or go to corrupt foreign dictators – actually, the funds are carefully managed by these agencies and save lives very cost-effectively.  The Copenhagen Consensus, for instance, ranked childhood vaccinations as one of the most cost-effective uses of foreign aid.

Please make this request with respect and dignity.  Don’t ask them how big their bonus was this year – that’s rude.  Don’t insist that they give up all worldly possessions – that’s naïve and misplaced. However, if you really want to show your own passion and commitment, you could suggest a donation to GAVI or Save the Children in place of a holiday gift this season.

Let them know that their donations will make a difference and are urgently needed.  The GAVI Alliance for example is meeting next week to consider how to fill an annual shortfall of ~$800 million per year.  Without this funding, the lives of millions of children will be lost because they lack access to the same vaccines that children in this country routinely receive. 

Additional funding from governments can help fill the gaps, no doubt.  But the generosity of individual Americans also can play an important part in changing the world.  In the aftermath of a humanitarian disaster like Katrina and the Christmas tsunami of 2004, the response of individual donors, large and small, was overwhelmingly helpful.

So, without being rude or insensitive, ask your parents or your parents’ friends, “Have you considered a contribution to provide life-saving vaccines and treatments to children in developing countries?”  You never know, your question might just change the world for thousands of children whose parents aren't getting bonuses this year.

 

Follow Dr. Orin Levine on Twitter: www.twitter.com/orinlevine

Comments

[pgoconnell]

Great column. I think you are right - if more people of means were aware of just how easily lives can be saved this way, without fear that resources will go to waste in some bureaucracy, they would give.

[jameshat]

Are you serious? Investment bankers have no souls!

[OrinLevine]

I don't think that they lack souls, i think that they lack information. I think that they pour over tons of information all the time trying to succeed in their jobs. and i think that the 'investment case' for childhood vaccines and treatments is so striking that they'll go for it. if we can just make the case and get them the information. let's see what happens if some of their kids ask them to think about it.