Listen to "Rajiv Shah on "Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens"" on Spreaker.
In 1990, just a few months after he was released from prison, Nelson Mandela paid a visit to Detroit, Michigan. Among the thousands who tuned in to hear him speak live from Tiger Stadium was 17-year-old Rajiv Shah.
Mandela’s message had a profound impact on Shah. By the time the revolutionary activist and icon had finished his speech, Shah knew he wanted to do something meaningful with his life. But what? It probably wouldn’t be through medicine, as he learned after a mosquito-riddled summer treating leprosy patients in rural India. Nor would it be through politics, having tried that route as a staffer on Al Gore’s ultimately doomed campaign.
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About the author
Lauren Evans@laurenfaceevans
Lauren Evans was formerly an Assistant Editor/Senior Associate in the Office of the President at Devex. As a journalist, she covers international development and humanitarian action with a focus on climate and gender. Her work has appeared in outlets like Foreign Policy, Wired UK, Smithsonian Magazine and others, and she’s reported internationally throughout East Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.