Dr. Rajiv Shah

And so President Obama made a big bet, which together with his team, of which I was one, was that we would, for the first time in our history, deploy American troops into a disease fighting situation in a hot zone. And I helped lead that deployment in West Africa. And to make a long story short, we had instead of 1.6 million cases, we had 30,000 cases.

And so President Obama made a big bet, which together with his team, of which I was one, was that we would, for the first time in our history, deploy American troops into a disease fighting situation in a hot zone. And I helped lead that deployment in West Africa. And to make a long story short, we had instead of 1.6 million cases, we had 30,000 cases.

And instead of hundreds of thousands of deaths, we had 11,000 deaths. There were two cases in the United States and no transmission on U.S. soil. Sometimes some of the biggest wins you have are things that don't happen. But had a disease with that level of mortality started spreading across this country, you can only imagine what would have happened.

And instead of hundreds of thousands of deaths, we had 11,000 deaths. There were two cases in the United States and no transmission on U.S. soil. Sometimes some of the biggest wins you have are things that don't happen. But had a disease with that level of mortality started spreading across this country, you can only imagine what would have happened.

And so, again, very proud to be part of a national security team that understood that diplomacy, development, and defense can all come together to make us stronger by helping others in a faraway way. We didn't lose a single service member. Nobody got sick. We handled it very professionally.

And so, again, very proud to be part of a national security team that understood that diplomacy, development, and defense can all come together to make us stronger by helping others in a faraway way. We didn't lose a single service member. Nobody got sick. We handled it very professionally.

And I write about in the book, one of the core elements to doing that successfully was having a structured learning and innovation approach. Because a lot of times when you're in a crisis moment, again, your listeners in the Silicon Valley area would get this instinctively. You have to constantly innovate and learn. And you can do that even in a big bureaucracy.

And I write about in the book, one of the core elements to doing that successfully was having a structured learning and innovation approach. Because a lot of times when you're in a crisis moment, again, your listeners in the Silicon Valley area would get this instinctively. You have to constantly innovate and learn. And you can do that even in a big bureaucracy.

Thank you for doing that.

Thank you for doing that.

I left government, I'd been there six years, six and a half, and it was the right time for our family. When I left, I actually started a small private equity firm with partners and started teaching at Georgetown. And I was doing those two things along with a bunch of others and realized that I missed the chance to be doing the work I was doing.

I left government, I'd been there six years, six and a half, and it was the right time for our family. When I left, I actually started a small private equity firm with partners and started teaching at Georgetown. And I was doing those two things along with a bunch of others and realized that I missed the chance to be doing the work I was doing.

And one thing led to another, and I had the opportunity to become the president of Rockefeller Foundation. This is an extraordinary institution. It really is. It was founded by John D. Rockefeller back in the day, 1913, and it was founded on a single extraordinary idea, which is that advances in science and innovation should be applied to lift humanity broadly. That was the simple idea.

And one thing led to another, and I had the opportunity to become the president of Rockefeller Foundation. This is an extraordinary institution. It really is. It was founded by John D. Rockefeller back in the day, 1913, and it was founded on a single extraordinary idea, which is that advances in science and innovation should be applied to lift humanity broadly. That was the simple idea.

At the time, They were most inspired by advances in medical sciences. You know, medicine was transitioning from being something where you sold stuff off the back of a pickup truck that might or might not have any real scientific basis to a more disciplined science-based enterprise.

At the time, They were most inspired by advances in medical sciences. You know, medicine was transitioning from being something where you sold stuff off the back of a pickup truck that might or might not have any real scientific basis to a more disciplined science-based enterprise.

And we funded public health schools and medical schools and the Flexner Report and institutions that ultimately went on to become the CDC, eradicating hookworm. at home and engaging in invention of the yellow fever vaccine abroad. So a tremendous sort of history in the application of science for humanity. And it's just an honor to be here.

And we funded public health schools and medical schools and the Flexner Report and institutions that ultimately went on to become the CDC, eradicating hookworm. at home and engaging in invention of the yellow fever vaccine abroad. So a tremendous sort of history in the application of science for humanity. And it's just an honor to be here.

Sure. Well, turbulence is normal, right? And so we live in a moment in our society where technological transformation has happened so fast and continues to accelerate that it has just reshaped so many communities and their sense of opportunity. Some have skyrocketed through the roof. Others have been left farther and farther behind. And that

Sure. Well, turbulence is normal, right? And so we live in a moment in our society where technological transformation has happened so fast and continues to accelerate that it has just reshaped so many communities and their sense of opportunity. Some have skyrocketed through the roof. Others have been left farther and farther behind. And that