The Business of Changing the World: How Billionaires, Tech Disrupters, and Social Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the Global Aid Industry

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Tech entrepreneurs bring their thinking to "giving"...bringing a data-driven, results oriented approach to revolutionize the space Today, entrepreneurs, Silicon Valley start-ups, and celebrity activists are the driving force in a radical shift in the way we think about lifting people out of poverty. In this new era of data-driven, results-oriented global aid it's no longer enough to be a well-intentioned do-gooder or for the wealthy to donate an infinitesimal part of their assets to people without a home or basic nutrition. What matter now in the world of aid are measurable improvements and demonstrable, long-term change. Drawing on two decades of research and his own experiences as an expert in global development, Raj Kumar, founder and President of Devex, explores the successes and failures of non-traditional models of philanthropy. According to Kumar, a new billionaire boom is fundamentally changing the landscape of how we give, from well-established charitable organizations like the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to Starbucks and other businesses that see themselves as social enterprises, to entrepreneurial start-ups like Hello Tractor, a farm equipment-sharing app for farmers in Nigeria, and Give Directly, an app that allows individuals to send money straight to the mobile phone of someone in need. The result is a more sustainable philosophy of aid that elevates the voices of people in need as neighbors, partners, and customers. Refreshing and accessibly written, The Business of Changing the World sets forth a bold vision for how businesses, policymakers, civil society organizations, and individuals can turn well-intentioned charity into effective advocacy to transform our world for good.

Reviews

At last we have a go-to primer that collects the many trends transforming the aid industry in one authoritative place! Raj Kumar is uniquely positioned to see how governments, nonprofits, businesses, and philanthropy are bringing new people and practices into the work of solving global problems. He also argues compellingly for open-source aid and offers an invaluable guide to anyone considering a development career.
Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America, and author of Unfinished Business

If you believe, as I do, that now is our moment to end extreme poverty and achieve seemingly impossible sustainable development goals, read The Business of Changing the World. Raj Kumar persuasively argues that aid and philanthropy is entering a new eraone which we can and must shape to meet humanitys greatest challenges in our time.
Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland

Very few people view aid as an industry and fewer still know how it works. In this highly informative and accessible book, The Business of Changing the World, Raj Kumar gives us an intimate look at how the aid industry works, the new forces of disruption, and how we can shape this for a future of unprecedented good.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, chair of the board, Gavi; former finance minister, Nigeria; and former managing director, The World Bank

On these pages, youll find stories that will renew your faith in humanity and others that will make you tear your hair out. But if extreme poverty is to be banished from this earthand soonwe need to face the realities of charity and aid head-on. Heres a book that finally does it.
Larry Brilliant, founding executive director, Google.org, and author of Sometimes Brilliant

The development industry is at the center of one of the most inspiring stories rarely told: how, precisely, tens of millions of lives have been saved. But its also high time for fundamental changes in the way we do and even think about global development. The Business of Changing the World is essential reading for this new moment.
Mark Dybul, former US Global AIDS coordinator and former executive director, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

A vital and new perspective on how the aid industry must change to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of our time.
Elhadj As Sy, secretary general, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

For the first time in human history, we can dare to think of the possibility of eradicating poverty from the face of the earth. To achieve this goal we need the evidence-based, results-oriented approach championed by Raj Kumars new book.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder and chairperson, BRAC

Author Bio

Raj Kumar is the founding president and editor in chief of Devex, which the Washington Post compared to a Bloomberg-style media platform for the aid industry. A media leader for the World Economic Forum, Kumar is a noted commentator on global development. He lives in Washington, DC.