Clinton's nonprofit plan could help '16 run

CHICAGO -- Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday she intends to work in the nonprofit world on issues such as improving early childhood education, promoting the rights of women and girls, and finding ways to improve the economy.

Left unsaid was that those priorities could inform a 2016 presidential campaign.

The former secretary of state offered her most extensive description of her post-Obama administration agenda since leaving her role as the nation's top diplomat, basking in applause at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Chicago.

The former first lady, a longtime advocate for women and children, said the Clinton foundation would serve as "my home" on a set of public policy initiatives close to her heart.

"What I think we have to be about is working together, overcoming the lines that divide us, this partisan, cultural, geographic [divide]."

Clinton's speech at the start of a two-day annual conference touched on themes that could be part of a future Democratic presidential campaign, with the former New York senator stressing the need for private and public partnerships to tackle issues such as economic and educational inequality.

She said climate change, "financial contagion" and nuclear proliferation were "too complex and crosscutting" for any one government to solve alone.

"This can't just be a conversation about Washington. We all need to do our part," she said.

Clinton has emphasized similar issues in the past. In her 1996 book "It Takes a Village," she discussed the importance of collaboration between families and community groups to help children thrive. As a 2008 presidential candidate, she was popular with many blue-collar workers whose wages had remained stagnant even as the economy flourished for many.

As secretary of state under Barack Obama, she promoted a number of initiatives to improve the standing of women and girls in developing nations. She said that work would continue at the foundation.