Paul Polak

Author of:
Out of Poverty, What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail

Founder of: Colorado-based non-profit
International Development enterprises (IDE) and The Design Revolution (D-REV)—is
dedicated to developing practical solutions that attack
poverty at its roots.

For the past 25 years, Paul has worked with thousands
of farmers in countries around the world—including
Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe–to help design and
produce low–cost, income–generating products that
have already moved 17 million people out of poverty.

Before establishing IDE, Paul practiced psychiatry for 23 years in Colorado. To better understand the environments influencing his patients, Paul would visit their homes and workplaces. After a trip he made to Bangladesh, he was inspired to use the skills he had honed while working with homeless veterans and mentally ill patients in Denver to serve the 800 million people living on a dollar a day around the world. Employing the same tactics he pioneered as a psychiatrist, Paul spent time “walking with farmers through their one-acre farms and enjoying a cup of tea with their families, sitting on a stool in front of their thatched-roof mud–and–wattle homes.”

Paul’s ability to respond with innovative solutions–such as the $25 treadle pump and small farm drip–irrigation systems starting at $3—helped IDE increase poor farmers’ net income by $288 million annually.

IDE received a $14 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation in 2006. In 2004, Paul received Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in the social responsibility category. And Paul was named one of the Scientific American “top 50” for his leadership in agriculture policy in 2003. (read less)

Author of:
Out of Poverty, What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail

Founder of: Colorado-based non-profit
International Development enterprises (IDE) and The Design Revolution (D-REV)—is
dedicated to developing practical solutions that attack
poverty at its roots.

For the past 25 years, Paul has worked with thousands
of farmers in countries around the world—including
Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe–to help design and
produce low–cost,... (read more)

NPR's Fresh Air
Paul Polak, Tackling Global Poverty His Own Way April 23 , 2008 -- Government subsidies for the rural poor often make things worse. Instead, Polak teaches families and farmers — many of whom live on a dollar a day and own perhaps an acre of land — how to increase crop yields with simple technologies, such as cheap, foot-operated water pumps and inexpensive drip hoses for irrigation. Hear the interview at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89848686

The Economist
Yogurt or cucumber? February 21, 2008 -- A wise and engaging new book. A former psychiatrist, he listens intently to poor people before allowing his mind to run over with tricks, gambits and contraptions that might help them. Read more at http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10717813

BusinessWeek
Giving the Poor a Means to Work February 22, 2008 -- Polak tells the stories of individual farmers like Krishna Bahadur Thapa, a Nepali who increased his family's annual income from an average of $100 to more than $500. Such anecdotes are woven together with charts of hard data showing IDE's impact, and practical, straightforward advice for organizations, businesses, and governments wishing to follow IDE's approach. The book is part policy rant, part case-study, part how-to, and it is anything but depressing. Read more at http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2008/id20080222_960476.htm

International Herald Tribune
Prescriptions for helping poor people help themselves February 25, 2008 -- He describes his experiences and the lessons learned in his book, as well as prescribing his formula for ending poverty, which boils down to helping poor people to help themselves, with design playing an important supporting role in their self-improvement. Read more at http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/22/arts/design25.1-225968.php


(read less)

NPR's Fresh Air
Paul Polak, Tackling Global Poverty His Own Way April 23 , 2008 -- Government subsidies for the rural poor often make things worse. Instead, Polak teaches families and farmers — many of whom live on a dollar a day and own perhaps an acre of land — how to increase crop yields with simple technologies, such as cheap, foot-operated water pumps and inexpensive drip hoses for irrigation. Hear the interview at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89848686

The... (read more)