Paul Polak

Biographical Information
"Paul Polak is the founder of the Colorado-based non-profit International Development Enterprises (IDE) which is dedicated to developing practical solutions that harness the power of markets and attack poverty at its roots. IDE presently operates in 12 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, benefitting over 3.8 million farm families since 1982. Additionally, two financially independent affiliate organizations in India and Myanmar began as IDE country programs and continue to have close ties with the organization. Paul’s newest projects include D-Rev and Windhorse International. D-Rev is a non-profit that seeks "to create a design revolution by enlisting the best designers in the world to develop products and ideas that will benefit the 90% of the people on earth who are poor, in order to help them earn their way out of poverty." D-Rev seeks to do this by inspiring, educating, and connecting all of the people who are involved in the design process, from the inception to the purchase and use of products. Windhorse International’s mission is to create a revolution in big business by demonstrating that a private company can earn attractive profits by serving at least a 100 million customers who live on less than $2 a day and making attractive profits doing it. Polak is also the author of Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail."

Affiliations

 * Advisory Board, One Acre Fund

Related Sourcewatch

 * Steve Troy