Last week, the Committee hosted the capstone event of the yearlong initiative, the Bretton Woods@75 Anniversary Gala Dinner, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC. Keynote addresses were delivered by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank President David Malpass, and WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo. We also honored the retirement of longtime Co-Chair, Jim Wolfensohn, and welcomed Bill Dudley to the leadership team.

Thank you to all of our guests, speakers and sponsors for joining us for this celebratory evening! It was truly the perfect end to an inspirational year for the Committee. Stay tuned for more photos and event summary next week!

As the year of Bretton Woods@75 draws to a close, the Bretton Woods Committee would like to thank the members, partners, and thought leaders who supported and participated in this historic endeavor.

We hope you all have been inspired to continue this journey with us to revitalize the spirit of Bretton Woods now and for the future.

Here’s a look back at some of the highlights of the past year.

Compendium Release: Revitalizing the Spirit of Bretton Woods
Published on July 1, 2019, the 75^th anniversary of the opening session of the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, the Bretton Woods@75 Compendium is a unique collection of essays written by a globally diverse set of 50+ authors who provide recommendations for the future of the IMF, World Bank, and WTO and is a call to action for global leaders to recommit to the spirit of international cooperation fostered by the conference.  

Financial Times: Martin Wolf on Bretton Woods at 75: global co-operation under threat
Financial Times: Gillian Tett on The business case against Bretton Woods

2019 Annual Meeting: Honoring 75 Years
The Committee hosted several events as part of the Bretton Woods@75 dialogue but the highlight was the Annual Meeting in April 2019 at the IMF headquarters. Speakers included U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former President of the Republic of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills, and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, among others. Speakers discussed ideas needed to forge a global economic system that works for the future while drawing lessons from the past. Read more here.

Bloomberg: Carney Is Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst on Brexit
 

The Bretton Woods@75 initiative was officially launched in October 2018 in Bali, Indonesia at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Annual Meetings. An esteemed group of global leaders joined including former IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and kicked off the initiative by discussing how the multilateral system and institutions can be modernized to meet the demands of the next generation. Read more here.