Is big change even possible in today’s complicated, increasingly cynical world? Dr. Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and former administrator of President Barack Obama’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID), wants to show that it can. He is joined by Fareed Zakaria for an in-depth conversation about the ideas set forth in his new book, Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens — and why he believes it’s realistic to be optimistic that today’s biggest challenges are solvable — from climate change to food insecurity to racial injustice to the rise of AI.
Dr. Shah is no stranger to pulling off the impossible, from helping vaccinate a billion children at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to a high-pressure race against the clock to stop the spread of Ebola. His secret? A big bets philosophy — the idea that seeking to solve problems rather than make incremental improvements can attract unlikely partners with the power and know-how to achieve transformational change.
Join Rajiv and Fareed Zakaria for this galvanizing conversation as he shares insights and strategies for developing a bold vision that can attract support, collaborations and fresh ideas from key plays who might otherwise be resistant. Hear his inspiring personal stories as he traces his unlikely path as the Indian-American son of two immigrants to the Rockefeller Foundation across some of the most ambitious, dramatic global initiatives over the last 25 years.