Reflections from UNGA 80 and NYC Climate Week “Power On”
by Doug Heske, CEO
When I was a boy, I would lose myself in the pages of The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien’s tale of dragons, dwarves, and reluctant heroes. Decades later, those stories still speak to me. And lately, they feel more like reality than fantasy.
After spending the past week at the 80th United Nations General Assembly and the 16th anniversary of NYC Climate Week, this year titled Power On, I’ve been sitting with one metaphor in particular: the dragon.
In Tolkien’s world, Smaug hoards an unfathomable treasure beneath the Lonely Mountain. He neither shares it nor uses it, he simply guards it, while the world beyond burns and suffers.
That image struck me as I listened to passionate leaders, entrepreneurs, and institutions from around the world discuss the challenges of our time: climate breakdown, equity, food insecurity, health, AI governance, and more.
The resounding message?
The capital is out there. The challenge isn’t whether it exists, it’s whether it will move.
Capital Is No Longer Scarce. But Courage Is.
In every session, the same tension surfaced:
- Mission-driven organizations are doing extraordinary work and are often under-resourced.
- Federal support is shrinking. USAID is being cut.
- Meanwhile, trillions in philanthropic and private wealth are sitting idle, often in donor-advised funds, endowments, or investment accounts focused on growth over impact.
One family office leader shared a deeply personal story with me: after COVID, his teenage son came to him and asked, “Dad, I hope we’re not hoarding money while so many people are suffering.”
The truth, he said, was uncomfortable. Yes, they gave millions annually. They volunteered. But their wealth still grew faster than their giving. In the end, the son was right; they were hoarding.
That conversation changed their approach forever. They shifted more of their capital from passive structures to direct, catalytic, unrestricted giving. They began asking: How much is enough? What’s truly at stake? And what’s the point of wealth if not to meet this moment?
The Dragon Is Us
Tolkien’s dragons don’t create wealth. They guard it. They sleep on it. They isolate it. And when they finally act, it’s usually too late.
Today, many institutions including family offices, foundations, boards, risk becoming modern-day Smaugs: sitting atop vast financial resources while the world faces unprecedented challenges.
Let me be clear: this is not a moral condemnation. Most of the people I know in these circles are good, thoughtful, generous. But the scale of today’s challenges requires a new kind of generosity, one that is urgent, unafraid, and unguarded.
It’s time we asked ourselves:
- Are we truly stewards, or are we sleeping sentinels?
- Are we giving out of comfort, or out of conviction?
- Are we aiming to preserve wealth, or to activate it in service of humanity?
What Legacy Will We Leave?
We are not short on frameworks, reports, or innovation. We are short on bold, decisive action. We are short on family office leaders saying: “We’re going to deploy 10x what we gave last year.” Or: “We’re shifting 30% of our endowment to climate solutions.” Or simply: “We’re done waiting.”
Legacy isn’t measured in assets under management.
Legacy is measured in lives changed, futures secured, fires put out before they spread.
Tolkien wrote: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” That time is now.
A Call to Action and a New Causeway Forward
As NYC Climate Week ends and the headlines from UNGA begin to fade, this much is clear: good intentions are no longer enough. We need activation infrastructure; trusted pathways to move capital where it’s needed most, with speed, transparency, and measurable impact.
That’s why we’ve launched Causeway; a new platform from Newday, which went live on October 1st. More information can be found here; https://www.causewayimpact.com/
Causeway is designed for every mission aligned investor and donor; individuals, institutions, family offices, foundations, who are ready to deploy capital directly to high-impact initiatives and organizations, not years from now, but right now. It’s built for those who want to cross from intention into action, from stewardship into significance.
Because the world can’t wait for dragons to wake up.
It needs stewards willing to rise.
Let’s Connect
If you’re ready to move capital more boldly or if you’re just starting to ask different questions, I’d love to talk. Let’s build a community of modern-day stewards ready to rise to the moment.
-The hoard must move.
-The time is now.
-And the Causeway is open.
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