Tuesday, Jul 5 2011 10:00AM

Former President Bill Clinton recently opened the first Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America conference in Chicago, speaking with more than 700 leaders from nonprofit organizations, businesses and local and state governments.

The initiative is part of the wider Clinton Global Initiative, which was founded in 2005 to aid disadvantaged residents worldwide receive better access to jobs, technology, education and other resources.

In the U.S., Clinton stated the program aims to help advance economic growth through job creation. He revealed three "Commitments to Action" for program participants - broadening access to microfinance, training workers and financing infrastructure development.

"When these commitments are fully funded and implemented, 140,000 people will receive access to job training, 1,000 information technology jobs will be created in rural America, and $3.5 million will be loaned to small businesses in the U.S.," said Clinton. "Initiatives like these prove that organizations and individuals around the country have the power to take action to spur economic growth."

Several meetings were held after Clinton's announcement, led by numerous working groups related to areas such as healthcare, infrastructure and rural assistance, to discuss new goals for CGI America.

During the conference's final day, Clinton announced several of the program's new commitments, including Energy Infrastructure Partners, a minority-owned clean energy infrastructure fund.