
Catherine Cheney catherinecheney
Latest Articles

How the global south can finance AI infrastructure on its own terms
5 days ago // Artificial Intelligence
Jonathan Reid, the Barbadian minister of innovation, industry, science, and technology, joins Devex along with Amini founder Kate Kallot and 500 Global's Alaa Murabit to discuss how small countries can take back financial and data sovereignty over AI.

UN tech envoy talks AI governance and the private sector
12 days ago // Artificial Intelligence
Amandeep Singh Gill, the U.N. secretary-general's envoy on technology, says new efforts such as the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI and India’s AI Impact Summit can help shift power and opportunity toward the global south.

New fund revives USAID’s ‘discovery engine’ outside of government
30 days ago // Development Finance
USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures served as a rare front door for innovation funding. Now that model moves outside government with the DIV Fund, which will test whether rigorous evidence and flexible capital can still turn small pilots into solutions reaching millions.

Why AI for good still isn’t scaling — and a new effort to fix it
3 months ago // Devex Pro Live
Despite surging interest and investment, most AI for good efforts remain stuck in disconnected pilots. That's why Kanika Bahl is stepping down as CEO of Evidence Action to lead the new AI Access Initiative.

McGovern Foundation’s AI grants prioritize institutions over breakthroughs
3 months ago // Artificial intelligence
The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation has announced more than $75 million in AI-related grants aimed at strengthening the institutions that shape how the technology is used.

How Salesforce’s former CFO is scaling a humanitarian giant
3 months ago // NGOs
New CEO Amy Weaver is shaping a tech-driven strategy to scale the organization’s global reach — including a new European headquarters designed to deepen pharmaceutical partnerships and lower the cost of delivering aid to Africa and crisis zones worldwide.

As DPI accelerates, African countries pursue digital sovereignty
3 months ago // Technology
One of the takeaways from the recent Global DPI Summit was that even as many African countries rely on external support for digital public infrastructure, fragmented aid is forcing an urgent pivot toward national control.

'You cannot fight an invisible problem': Atul Gawande on US aid cuts
4 months ago // The Trump Effect
Former USAID global health lead Atul Gawande is exposing the human toll of the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts in "Rovina’s Choice," a new documentary he executive-produced.

As aid shrinks, top philanthropies test new ways to spur economic growth
5 months ago // Devex @ World Bank-IMF 2025
As old growth models falter, the Gates Foundation and, more recently, Open Philanthropy are testing new ways to help low- and middle-income countries prosper. They’re able to take risks, test ideas, and inform policy reforms that multilateral banks and bilateral donors often can’t.

At UNGA80, leaders call for treating journalism as global public good
5 months ago // Devex @ UNGA80
In a new report, a panel of 11 top economists emphasized that journalism is a stabilizing force in society — and at a Devex Impact House panel on the sidelines of UNGA80, experts reiterated that message.