Dan is joined by Agnes Dasewicz, Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation and former Director of the Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise at USAID. Her career has spanned over 20 years in development finance, working at SEAF, AIG, and IFC at different points. In this episode, Dan and Agnes discuss the beginning of career working in private capital in emerging markets in Eastern Europe. During her time at USAID, Agnes helped secure over $20 billion of investment commitments from U.S. and African financiers in support of Power Africa. Agnes is now working on a project called “Opportunity America” which focuses on opportunities to create and finance sustainable infrastructure and economic growth in the poorer parts of the United States. To hear more from Agnes, watch her recent exit interview at CSIS.

This week’s podcast features Patrick Awuah, Founder and President of Ashesi University in Accra, Ghana. After growing up in Ghana, Patrick went to Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He then launched a very successful career at Microsoft during the internet bubble. Patrick eventually decided that he wanted to go to business school which is where he first had the idea of starting a new private university in Ghana. Only 5 percent of youth ages 18-25 years old in Ghana were going to college at that time in 1998. When Patrick first started Ashesi University, the first class had 30 students and classes took place in a small home; now, over a thousand students have graduated from Ashesi and gone on to have very successful careers in engineering and science. Now, over 50 percent of students at Ashesi receive some form of scholarship as well. To hear more from Patrick, check out the event CSIS hosted on Future Directions for Higher Education in Africa.  

 In this episode, Dan is joined by two guests: Bonnie McClafferty, Director of Food Value Chain at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Kimberly Flowers, Director of the Humanitarian Agenda and Global Food Security Project here at CSIS. 1 in 3 people are malnourished and over 30 percent of all food is wasted. In this podcast, Dan, Bonnie, and Kimberly discuss the role of technology and knowledge-sharing in reducing post-harvest loss in developing countries. Beyond the challenge of feeding the growing population, the conversation focuses on the importance of nutrition and improving diets in order to avoid negative health outcomes. Bonnie and Kimberly also make it clear that the private sector is key to eliminating hunger. Click here to learn more about the U.S.’s role in improving food security and nutrition

Dan is joined in this podcast by Michael Rawlings, the Mayor of Dallas and a member of our Task Force on Forced Migration. Before becoming Mayor, Mr. Rawlings worked in the private sector and was the CEO of Pizza Hut. One out of four residents in Dallas was born outside the United States. During his time in office, Mayor Rawlings was also confronted by the Ebola crisis when someone was diagnosed with Ebola in Dallas, the first reported case in the United States. Dallas has become home to people from not just Latin America but Southeast Asia and Africa. To hear more from Mayor Rawlings, check out our report launch.

In this podcast, Dan Runde is joined by Benn Steil, Senior Fellow and Director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. In February 2018, Dr. Steil published a new book, The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War, that places foreign aid to Western Europe in the context of the Cold War and U.S. national security interests. You can find CSIS’ review of the book here. Dan and Dr. Steil also discuss his earlier work, The Battle of Bretton Woods, which focuses on the Bretton Woods conference which established the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The role of Soviet espionage in the conference is rarely discussed and prepares you for his later work focused on the Marshall Plan. A Marshall Plan announced today would be worth closer to $103 billion and an enormous amount of effort from people like General Marshall and Arthur Vandenberg was required to ensure that it passed through Congress. For more, check out the book event hosted at CSIS.

Dan Runde is honored to be joined for this podcast by Kenneth Wollack, President of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). In his 25 years as President, Ken Wollack has been a champion of democracy along with support from NDI chair, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In this podcast, he discusses the challenges to democracy today and the lasting impact of events like the Arab Spring. Freedom House reports that there are still 49 countries that fall in the “Not Free” category. Ken shares what makes his optimistic for the future. To hear more from Ken, check out his exit interview at CSIS.

In this podcast, Dan Runde is joined by Ambassador James Michel, a Senior Advisor to the Project on Prosperity and Development at CSIS and former chair of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In January 2018, Ambassador Michel published a CSIS report, Managing Fragility and Promoting Resilience to Advance Peace, Security, and Sustainable Development. The OECD estimates that by 2035, 80 percent of extremely poor people will live in the 56 contexts identified as fragile in 2016. The United States and other development actors are going to be increasingly focused on these fragile contexts, and Ambassador Michel provides recommendations for each of their approaches. To hear more, check out the report launch.

This week’s podcast features Marion Smith, Executive Director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. According to two recent surveys conducted in the United States by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, nearly 70 percent of all Americans and nearly 60 percent of Generation Z (ages 16-20) falsely believe that more people were killed under Hitler than Stalin. Coupled with this misinformation, there is a wave of nostalgia and romanticism associated with communism. To hear more from Marion, watch the recording of our recent event.

This podcast features Daniella Ballou-Aares, a Partner for Dalberg Advisors and former Senior Advisor for Development to U.S. Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. This discussion focuses on the role of blended finance in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Daniella also shares her thoughts on innovative data sources for development. To hear more from Daniella listen to the full podcast below and check out an event we hosted, Development Finance Institutions in a New Aid Architecture.

This podcast features James A. Harmon, the Chairman of the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund (EAEF). Mr. Harmon shares his unique and insightful experiences as Chairman of the EAEF, including the obstacles he had to overcome to make enterprise funds successful in Egypt. In the early 1990s, enterprise funds were innovative because they were given the unique and dual mandate to “do development” and make money. Some enterprise funds were very successful and generated returns for the American taxpayer; however, other enterprise funds were not as successful. The blended results sent mixed signals to Washington, D.C. and ultimately, enterprise funds fell off of the global development agenda. Then, prompted by the Arab Spring—and nearly two decades after the first round of enterprise funds—the Obama Administration initiated two new enterprise funds in Egypt and Tunisia. Tune in to our podcast with Mr. Harmon to learn more about enterprise funds.