Global Citizen shifts focus to cities to overcome political impasse in the fight against poverty

Global Citizen, a group working to end extreme poverty, is now focusing more on working with cities instead of national governments. Co-founder Simon Moss said local leaders often take faster action on real problems, while national politics can be slow and stuck.

This new approach came from talks with partners in cities across Africa and North America. Global Citizen held its first U.S. conference outside New York in Detroit, a city working to rebuild after years of decline. With most of the world’s population expected to live in cities by 2050, the group wants to help prevent growing poverty through strong local policies.

To help poor communities keep up with technology, Global Citizen partnered with Goodera to teach 10 million people AI skills by 2030, focusing on women and young people.

At the event, billionaire Mark Cuban highlighted how AI tools like ChatGPT are making a real difference for small businesses, helping them grow and stay competitive. Ghana’s youth minister described how farmers in his country are already being empowered by AI, but emphasized that young people should not only be consumers of the technology — they should be enabled to create and influence it as well.

The event also emphasized the power of food, art and sports in bringing communities together. Speakers pointed out that preserving a city’s culture requires that you actually listen and allow those who’ve lived and contributed to it for generations to be involved.