Theory of Change
Theory of Change is a podcast about the future of global development and the people trying to reshape it. Hosted by Devex Senior Reporter Michael Igoe, the show features candid conversations with leaders in philanthropy, foreign policy, technology, finance, media, and humanitarian aid. It explores the forces transforming how global change actually happens: power, politics, money, influence, and ideas. Episodes are published every Tuesday.
Episodes
The lessons and warnings of PEPFAR
The recent history of U.S. foreign aid has been dominated by budget cuts, institutional dismantling, and massive workforce reductions.Against this backdrop, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, feels less like a template for modern foreign policy and more like a relic of an unrecognizable past. In an era defined by political fragmentation and widespread skepticism of gov
Zipline's global drone delivery vision
The California-based drone delivery company Zipline made waves last year when it secured a $150 million pay-for-performance grant from the U.S. State Department to scale up its operations in Africa.That announcement came just months after the State Department took control of the U.S. government’s foreign aid portfolio in the wake of USAID’s dismantling, and the deal with Zipline was portrayed as a
Live from UNGA with Buddy Shah
In a live episode of the Theory of Change podcast, Buddy Shah, CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and chair of the Anthropic Long Term Benefit Trust, shared an inside look at the intersection of global health, market-shaping agreements, and artificial intelligence."The mistake that many of us are making ... is looking for an AI point solution. What's a cool use case where you can develop
Live from UNGA with David Beasley
In a live episode of the Theory of Change podcast recorded at the Devex Impact House in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, David Beasley, the former World Food Programme executive director and former governor of South Carolina, laid out his playbook for navigating today’s increasingly hostile political climate — while leaving the door at least somewhat open for his o
Is the global humanitarian system collapsing?
In an interview on Devex's Theory of Change podcast, Alight CEO Jocelyn Wyatt warned that the traditional humanitarian business model is facing structural failure.Following the collapse of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the transition of U.S. foreign aid programs to the U.S. State Department, organizations are having to rely on more rigid grants from United Nations agencies that
Is it OK to take 'tainted money'?
In the latest episode of the Theory of Change podcast, human rights activist Kavita Nandini Ramdas discussed the deep systemic contradictions of modern philanthropy, its uneasy relationship with grassroots activism, and why nonprofit organizations must stop playing quiet to keep elite funding.Ramdas, currently a senior strategic adviser at the International Planned Parenthood Federation, has spent
Can communities help refugees where governments fail?
In the latest episode of the Theory of Change podcast, Nazanin Ash, CEO of Welcome.US, discussed how community-driven sponsorship could revolutionize refugee resettlement, bypass political gridlock, and offer a scalable alternative to overburdened government systems.Global forced displacement is at an all-time high, and standard, bureaucratic response models are failing to keep pace. Ash argued th
What does 'country ownership' really mean?
What is “country ownership,” really? And what gets in the way of making it a reality?Against a backdrop of historic cuts to development assistance by many of the world’s largest donors, the chorus of voices calling for national governments to set — and finance — their own development agendas is growing louder.Yemi Osinbajo, the former vice president of Nigeria and co-chair of the Future of Develop
How Jacqueline Novogratz invests for global change
Twenty-five years ago, when Jacqueline Novogratz founded the impact investing nonprofit Acumen, she still had to prove that markets and entrepreneurship could work for people living in poverty — and help lift them out of it.In the years since, that has moved from a relatively fringe approach to fighting poverty, to the center of global development efforts. Development finance institutions, philant
Mark Dybul says this was never the plan for PEPFAR
For over two decades, the U.S. government has been a lynchpin in the global fight against HIV, pouring billions of dollars into treatment, prevention, and health systems strengthening through initiatives like the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.Then came Elon Musk, the foreign aid freeze, and a disruptive set of reforms to U.S. global health programs under President Dona
How Kakenya Ntaiya turned pain into progress
Philanthropists and global development donors have made a lot of promises about supporting local leaders and community-based organizations. But their insistence on finding scalable models might be getting in the way of a simpler achievement: helping people.Kakenya Ntaiya is a one-woman case study in persistence. As a girl in southwestern Kenya, she underwent the traditional Masaai practice of fema
Jim Richardson believes we can still agree about US foreign aid
U.S. foreign aid advocacy groups are soul-searching in the wake of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and deep cuts to U.S. foreign assistance.Bipartisan support for U.S. aid programs crumbled quickly in the face of Elon Musk’s attack on the agency via the Department of Government Efficiency, and USAID’s legacy is now viewed through a starkly po
Ebere Okereke believes global health is about power
Global health is entering a period of profound upheaval. As governments reassess foreign aid, donors rethink decades-old models, and African leaders push for greater ownership of their health systems, one question looms over the sector: Who should hold the power to shape global health?Dr. Ebere Okereke is a prominent voice in that conversation. She joins Theory of Change for a wide-ranging convers
Why Rachel Kyte doesn't listen to climate polls
Rachel Kyte has spent decades shaping global climate change policy — from the World Bank to the United Nations to the United Kingdom. More than a decade since the signing of the Paris climate agreement, Kyte — the U.K. special representative for climate — is both inspired by how much has been done to tackle the climate crisis, and clear-eyed about the fact that it is not enough."It's joyful, tinge
William Easterly still believes development is freedom
Development economist William Easterly famously does not mince words about the disappointments of anti-poverty megaprojects and far-fetched foreign aid plans.For much of his career, Easterly has taken aim at experts who export their visions onto other people’s countries and communities — drawing from his own experience as one of those very experts.In his latest book, “Violent Saviors: The West’s C
Gayle Smith on the next fight for foreign aid
U.S. foreign aid is undergoing one of the most tumultuous transformations in its history.The Department of Government Efficiency’s dismantling of USAID and transfer of its remaining programs to the State Department upended the U.S. global development industry. But it’s much more than a question of organizational charts and institutional responsibilities.At stake are fundamental questions about Ame
Seth Berkley has seen our pandemic future
Much of Seth Berkley's career has been an attempt to answer the question: How do you get vaccines to people who aren’t well-served by an inequitable global health system?When the COVID-19 outbreak exploded in early 2020, that question took on new urgency — along with a mind-spinning slew of political, economic, technological, and cultural complications.Berkley, then the CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Al
How Alexander Berger weighs the world’s biggest problems
Coefficient Giving, one of the world’s largest effective-giving funders, is about to go even bigger.On the heels of its biggest funding year ever in 2025 — in which it channeled over $1 billion to highest-impact causes — the organization formerly known as Open Philanthropy and funded by Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna is eyeing annual growth upward of 50% and bringing on
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