Dr. Rajiv Shah

Oh, absolutely. In fact, I mean, I was lost. I was back in school, but I knew I didn't want to go through with being a practicing full-time position. I knew I'd sort of fallen in love with policy and service, if not politics. And then my closest friends from the campaign were all doing super interesting things, and I was back in school. So I was really lost.

Oh, absolutely. In fact, I mean, I was lost. I was back in school, but I knew I didn't want to go through with being a practicing full-time position. I knew I'd sort of fallen in love with policy and service, if not politics. And then my closest friends from the campaign were all doing super interesting things, and I was back in school. So I was really lost.

But at the same time, I tell people now that especially early in your career when you make decisions, you should place a high priority on the people you'll meet in that role because that network will tend to expand your own thinking and open up opportunities and reshape you as an individual in a way that can be very powerful.

But at the same time, I tell people now that especially early in your career when you make decisions, you should place a high priority on the people you'll meet in that role because that network will tend to expand your own thinking and open up opportunities and reshape you as an individual in a way that can be very powerful.

And if you look at the team that joined the Gates Foundation when Bill and Melinda first set it up, it was just an extraordinary group of people. And the fact that I got to be basically an early intern there made all the difference in the world. I got to learn from some really special leaders, including Bill and Melinda, but also others at the institution.

And if you look at the team that joined the Gates Foundation when Bill and Melinda first set it up, it was just an extraordinary group of people. And the fact that I got to be basically an early intern there made all the difference in the world. I got to learn from some really special leaders, including Bill and Melinda, but also others at the institution.

Yeah, one of the chapters of the book is called Ask a Simple Question, because my job as the sort of analyst on the team early was to basically model out what it would cost and what the strategy needed to be to ensure that every child on the planet was fully vaccinated. And at the time, about 40% or 45% of the global population was fully vaccinated.

Yeah, one of the chapters of the book is called Ask a Simple Question, because my job as the sort of analyst on the team early was to basically model out what it would cost and what the strategy needed to be to ensure that every child on the planet was fully vaccinated. And at the time, about 40% or 45% of the global population was fully vaccinated.

As I mentioned, an 11.5 million kids were dying under the age of five. Many of those deaths were vaccine-preventable disease. And almost all of the unvaccinated kids were in 70 plus developing economies around the world.

As I mentioned, an 11.5 million kids were dying under the age of five. Many of those deaths were vaccine-preventable disease. And almost all of the unvaccinated kids were in 70 plus developing economies around the world.

So we looked at that challenge and we would keep coming back and Bill would have us all gather in this big cavernous kind of conference room on the top floor of this renovated call center, which was the early headquarters of the place. And he'd keep asking, what would it take to vaccinate every child? And some of the best experts in the world would come in

So we looked at that challenge and we would keep coming back and Bill would have us all gather in this big cavernous kind of conference room on the top floor of this renovated call center, which was the early headquarters of the place. And he'd keep asking, what would it take to vaccinate every child? And some of the best experts in the world would come in

and say, well, you can't really think about it that way. That's a little too ambitious. Here's how this works. It's very complex. But he kept coming back to that simple question over and over and over again. And over a two-year period, We actually modeled what it would cost. We figured out what the cost benefit was.

and say, well, you can't really think about it that way. That's a little too ambitious. Here's how this works. It's very complex. But he kept coming back to that simple question over and over and over again. And over a two-year period, We actually modeled what it would cost. We figured out what the cost benefit was.

We studied the industry enough to understand that you couldn't even get to that goal unless you reshape the global supply base for vaccine manufacturing. And you couldn't do that without reshaping the way the world finances vaccines.

We studied the industry enough to understand that you couldn't even get to that goal unless you reshape the global supply base for vaccine manufacturing. And you couldn't do that without reshaping the way the world finances vaccines.

And frankly, we created this innovative group of capital markets experts, mostly in New York, called the Out of the Box Group, that invented a structure that became something called the International Finance Facility for Immunization that helped reshape that global marketplace. You know, 20 years later, tens of millions of additional children have been vaccinated.

And frankly, we created this innovative group of capital markets experts, mostly in New York, called the Out of the Box Group, that invented a structure that became something called the International Finance Facility for Immunization that helped reshape that global marketplace. You know, 20 years later, tens of millions of additional children have been vaccinated.

Well, billions, more than a billion vaccinations have been delivered and nearly 20 million kids' lives have been saved thanks to not just the small team in that conference room, but the thousands of people working together across different institutions and across 70 countries over two decades. And that's a big bet. Big bet is saying, I don't just want to help a few people somewhere.

Well, billions, more than a billion vaccinations have been delivered and nearly 20 million kids' lives have been saved thanks to not just the small team in that conference room, but the thousands of people working together across different institutions and across 70 countries over two decades. And that's a big bet. Big bet is saying, I don't just want to help a few people somewhere.