ONE Campaign (styled ONE) is an international, non-partisan, non-profit advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support policies and programs that save lives and improve futures.
ONE was founded in 2004 by Bobby Shriver and Bono along with a coalition of 11 non-profit humanitarian and advocacy organizations; including DATA, Care, World Vision, Oxfam America, and Bread for the World. Funding was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, ONE announced it would be merging with DATA.
Overview
ONE advocates for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and for policies benefiting those who live in conditions of extreme poverty around the globe. ONE supports a broad variety of international development issues, including the fight against treatable and preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis; access to clean water and expanded access to energy; lessening corruption and improving transparency standards and government accountability to citizens; making trade fairer; providing basic education for all; and increasing international affairs budgets.
Current members of ONE's board of directors include former Prime British Minister David Cameron, Lawrence Summers, and Sheryl Sandberg.
In addition to ONE's long-term relationship with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the campaign is funded through donations from partner organizations including Apple, Bank of America, Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg Philanthropies, Cargill, the Caterpillar Foundation, Coca-Cola, Ford Foundation, Google, Merck, Roche, Rockefeller Foundation, Salesforce, Skoll Foundation, and Open Society Foundations.
History
ONE was founded by Irish musician Bono and American attorney Bobby Shriver, along with 11 organizations: Bread for the World, CARE, DATA, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Plan USA, Save the Children U.S., World Concern, and World Vision.
The name ONE was inspired by the belief that one voice, coming together with many others—the political left and right, business leaders, activists, faith leaders and students—can change the world for the better.
2004–2010
The official ONE launch rally was held on May 16, 2004, at Liberty Mall in Philadelphia, United States. Approximately 2,000 people attended, including Bono, Dikembe Mutombo, Michael W. Smith, Richard Stearns (president of World Vision), and David Beckmann (president of Bread for the World).
In December 2004, ONE announced a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Mark McKinnon, an adviser to United States President Bush, and Mike McCurry, an adviser to the presidential campaign of John Kerry, appeared on CNN's Inside Politics with Judy Woodruff in 2004 in support of ONE.
In 2008, ONE merged with DATA. The merged entity was run by CEO David J. Lane until his departure in early 2011 to join the Obama administration. Former editor of Time magazine, CEO Michael Elliott, led ONE from 2011 until early 2016, and was ONE's Senior Strategic Advisor until his passing in July 2016.
During the 2008 U.S. presidential election, the organization launched a campaign called ONE Vote '08. The campaign was co-chaired by former U.S. Senate majority leaders Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Bill Frist (R-TN). Since 2009, ONE has run a series of ONE Vote campaigns around national elections, including ONE VOTE 2010 in the United Kingdom, ONE Vote 2012 in both France, and ONE Vote 2012 and ONE Vote '16 in the United States.
In 2010, the Gates Foundation's Living Proof Project became part of ONE.
2011–2014
ONE has a focus on ‘Factivism' (fact-based activism), as referenced in Bono's 2013 TED talk.
In 2014, ONE's "Trillion Dollar Scandal" report was released. It suggested that $1 trillion leaves developing countries each year through various forms of corrupt activity. Since the release of the report, more than 50,000 people have signed a petition asking world leaders to sign up to the "Fair Play Standard"—a set of measures that would help promote transparency and reduce money flowing outwards as a result of corrupt activity.