Former President Bill Clinton opened this year’s Clinton Global Initiative conference, calling on attendees to promise to “step into the void created by retreating governments” following cuts by the United States and other nations to foreign assistance.

George Soros’ Open Society Foundations pledged $300 million Wednesday to initiatives it says will defend democratic rights and advance economic security in the U.S. over the next five years.

The Ford Foundation has announced Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken as its next president.