Paul Polak: Global Poverty Fighter

Most of us look at the 1 billion men, women, and children in the world who live on less than a dollar a day and see poor people. Paul Polak sees market failure. He sees 1 billion potential entrepreneurs who would rather earn money than accept handouts, if given the opportunity. And if companies would develop the products these people needed, he sees 1 billion potential customers as well.

This might sound a bit starry-eyed, except that Polak's innovative approach has already helped 17 million people escape poverty. His strategy is to develop tools that even the world's poorest can afford (often using microcredit) and that will help them earn more money. Say, a $25 drip irrigation system that would allow a subsistence farmer to grow higher-value crops that he could then sell.