Join us for GEM26 to challenge assumptions, reimagine possibilities, and build a more resilient, inclusive, and thriving world for all.
The past year has brought dramatic shifts in global development, including deep aid cuts, volatile markets, rising geoeconomic fragmentation, and intensifying geopolitical tensions.
At the same time, our challenges are greater than ever, including a renewed focus on human development by expanding skills, talent, and technological capabilities; strengthening social foundations and pathways to inclusive growth; investing in financing approaches that empower rather than constrain; and reshaping governance and collective action for a more uncertain, multipolar world.
Join the Harvard Center for International Development (CID) on May 4-5, 2026 for our 17th annual Global Empowerment Meeting (GEM), GEM26: Reimagining International Development, where global changemakers will gather at Harvard Kennedy School to share insights and incubate solutions. GEM26: Reimagining International Development will convene leading thinkers and practitioners from public policy, business, academia, philanthropy, and civil society to explore how these seismic changes redefine what “development” can and should mean in the coming decades.
GEM26 will examine present challenges and pathways forward. How do we design development strategies for a world of constrained resources and shifting power dynamics? What new frameworks for growth, equity, sustainability, and cooperation are emerging, and what ideas deserve to be incubated and scaled? The emphasis will be on action so that we have pathways to collectively promote and pursue evidence-informed solutions.
Turning Research into Action
As with past GEM gatherings, this year’s conference aims to go beyond conversation, forging new collaborations across sectors and geographies, and seeding bold, actionable ideas to shape the future of global development through CID’s GEM Incubation Fund.