Game-changing Innovations for Women Speaker Bios

On March 8, 2011, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) hosted "Game-changing Innovations for Women," a conversation that explored how various organizations in the global development space – foundations, bi-lateral institutions, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector – were harnessing the power of innovation to improve the lives of women and girls.

The event, part of ICRW's Passports to Progress lecture series, brought together the following speakers:
 

Cherie Blair

Cherie Blair is a leading barrister specializing in discrimination and human rights and a committed campaigner for women’s equality. She is closely involved with more than 20 charities with a special emphasis on those working with women, and is founder and patron of her own charity, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, which provides integrated business development support for women entrepreneurs in developing and transition countries.

Tim Hanstad

Tim Hanstad is President and CEO of Landesa, formerly known as Rural Development Institute, an international not-for-profit with a mission to secure land property rights for the world’s poorest people. For more than 40 years, Landesa has worked with 45 developing country governments on reforms that have helped to secure land rights for more than 100 hundred million families. Landesa has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Henry Kravis Prize in Leadership, Gleitsman Foundation International Activist Award, Schwab Foundation Outstanding Global Social Entrepreneur, Hilton Humanitarian Prize finalist, and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Price and World Food Prize. 

Hanstad is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, World Economic Forum community, Bretton Woods Committee and Global Washington Policy Panel. Hanstad’s international work experience spans 14 countries and he recently returned from his second two-year post in India, where he helped launch Landesa’s successful “micro-land ownership” initiative. Like the idea that catalyzed the micro-lending movement, micro-land ownership provides the foundation for getting property assets into the hands of the poorest to foster self-sufficiency. Hanstad and Landesa were recently highlighted at the Clinton Global Initiative for Landesa’s new Global Center for Women’s Land Rights, which is a platform to advocate for laws, policies, programs and practices that provide secure property rights for women and girls.

Hanstad teaches at the University of Washington School of Law, where he has co-directed a graduate program in Law of Sustainable International Development.  He has authored numerous publications including his most recent book, published in 2009, “One Billion Rising: Land, Law and the Alleviation of Global Poverty,” with a preface by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. 

Andrea Mitchell

Andrea Mitchell, the veteran NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, is also the host of MSNBC'S "Andrea Mitchell Reports," an hour of political news and interviews with top newsmakers that airs each day at 1 p.m. ET on MSNBC. Mitchell covered the entire 2008 presidential campaign, broadcasting live from every major primary and caucus state and all the candidate debates for NBC News and MSNBC. Mitchell currently covers foreign policy, intelligence and national security issues, including the diplomacy of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for all NBC News properties.

In September 2005, Mitchell authored “Talking Back,” a memoir about her experiences as one of the first women to cover five presidents, Congress and foreign policy. That year, Mitchell also received the prestigious Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2004, the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) honored Mitchell with the Leonard Zeidenberg Award for her contribution to the protection of First Amendment Freedoms. She has been awarded several Television News Emmy’s for her coverage on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

Mitchell’s extensive and varied reports include a series of exclusive interviews over the years with Cuban President Fidel Castro.  Her unprecedented access resulted in a one-hour documentary on Cuba in December 2003.  As a longtime analyst of the intelligence community, Mitchell's past assignments for NBC have included exclusive reports from North Korea, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Bosnia, Kosovo, Pakistan and Haiti. Most recently she was in Iran to interview President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Among her many past assignments, Mitchell was NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, a position she assumed after covering Bill Clinton from the New Hampshire primary through the entire 1992 presidential campaign. She has also served as NBC’s Chief Congressional Correspondent and Energy Correspondent.  Mitchell first covered the White House for NBC News during both of Ronald Reagan’s terms as president, reporting on arms control and economic issues and traveling with President Reagan to summits with Mikhail Gorbachev and other world leaders. 

Before joining NBC News in 1978, Mitchell was a correspondent for the CBS Television station in Washington, D.C. Before that, she was a broadcast journalist for KYW Radio and KYW-TV in Philadelphia.

A native of New York, Mitchell received a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania where she currently serves as a trustee, a member of the Executive Committee and chairman of the Annenberg School Advisory Board. She also serves on the board of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and is a member of the Gridiron Club.

Dr. Rajiv Shah

Dr. Rajiv Shah was sworn in as the 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on December 31, 2009. USAID, a U.S. Government agency, has provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years.

Previously, Dr. Shah served as Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and as Chief Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), where he was responsible for safe, sustainable, competitive U.S. food and fiber system, as well as strong communities, families and youth through integrated research, analysis and education. At USDA, he launched the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a new scientific institute that elevated the status and funding of agricultural research to be more in line with other major scientific groups. He also produced innovative initiatives in bio-energy, climate, global food security, childhood obesity and food safety.

Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Shah served as Director of Agricultural Development in the Global Development Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In his seven years with the Gates Foundation, Shah served as the foundation's Director of Strategic Opportunities and as Deputy Director of policy and finance for the Global Health Program. In these roles, he helped develop and launch the foundation's Global Development Program, and helped create both the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and the International Finance Facility for Immunization, an effort that raised more than $5 billion for child immunization.

Prior to joining the Gates Foundation in 2001, Shah was the health care policy advisor on the Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign and a member of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's transition committee on health. He is the co-founder of Health Systems Analytics and Project IMPACT for South Asian Americans. In addition, he has served as a policy aide in the British Parliament and worked at the World Health Organization.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Shah earned his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and his Master of Science in health economics at the Wharton School of Business. He has attended the London School of Economics, is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and has published articles on health policy and global development. Shah previously served on the boards of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, the Seattle Public Library and the Seattle Community College District. In 2007, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Bobbi Silten

Bobbi Silten is currently the Chief Foundation Officer for Gap Inc., a global specialty retailer whose brands include Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. For more than five years, she has led Gap Foundation, overseeing all community investment and volunteer programs for 135,000 employees worldwide, and guiding Gap Inc.’s work to make a long-term impact in its communities, including targeted programs for underserved youth and women through innovative social solutions that leverage the company’s resources.

Since its founding, Silten has taken a leading role at Reimagining Service, a national cross-sector initiative to increase the impact of volunteerism. She currently serves as the chair of the Reimagining Service Council. She was the inaugural co-chair of the California Volunteers Business Partners Program and is currently a member. She co-chaired the Business Track of the 2009 National Conference on Volunteering and Service. Silten is also a volunteer mentor and national board member for Summer Search, a leadership development organization for underserved youth.

In December 2010, President Obama announced the formation of the White House Council for Community Solutions and the intent to appoint Silten to the 25-member council. The council will provide advice to the president on the best ways to mobilize citizens, nonprofits, businesses and government to work more effectively together to solve specific community needs.

Prior to joining Gap Inc., Silten spent 10 years at Levi Strauss & Co., including five years as President of the U.S. Dockers brand. She started her professional career at advertising firm Foote, Cone & Belding, where her clients included Levi’s, The Clorox Company and Nintendo.

Silten holds a bachelor’s degree in social science from the University of California, Berkeley.