When trucks and ships were the only ways to deliver goods, perhaps it made sense that donors would decide what the poor needed. But today the global development community has more advanced technology and a better sense of what is working than ever before. Now, some say, is the time to replace intuition with evidence to accelerate the path to ending extreme poverty.
This was the message Michael Faye delivered at a recent forum organized by the Center for Effective Global Action in San Francisco. The co-founder of GiveDirectly, the nonprofit behind unconditional cash transfers to mobile phones, and Segovia, the software technology platform that streamlines payments to emerging markets, shared the unifying motivation behind all of his projects: ending poverty with digital payments.
Faye is not just a radical dreamer in the global development sector who challenges worn out proverbs of the “teach a man to fish” variety. He, and his longtime collaborator Paul Niehaus, are revolutionaries actively challenging the way development professionals work today. Together they’re putting money in poor people’s pockets without the intervention of aid agencies, NGOs, or aid workers.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
