--- --- May 14, 2026 # Rajiv J. Shah Making big bets by Katherine Don  Courtesy The Rockefeller Foundation Rajiv J. Shah is a champion of “big bets”—programs with audacious goals that tackle massive global challenges. For Shah and the $6.6 billion Rockefeller Foundation, where he’s served as president since 2017, that requires wide-ranging partnerships, leading him to an interesting mix of allies. In March, Shah traveled to Rome, where he met with Pope Leo XIV to discuss a potential team-up between the Vatican and the foundation. And as part of a new collaboration with the YouTuber MrBeast, Rockefeller and Beast Philanthropy recently opened a school kitchen in Kenya. “We need to work with faith-based institutions, and heads of state, government officials, with entrepreneurs, with academic scientists,” Shah says. “It’s through these kinds of broad partnerships that we are able to really make a difference.” He outlined this philosophy in his 2023 book, _Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens_. The 113-year-old foundation created by oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller is known for its data-driven, [scientific approach](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/our-big-bets/ "undefined") to large-scale challenges like climate change and global health. Rockefeller often participates in major public-private partnerships, which recently included[ Mission 300](https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/energizing-africa "undefined"), an effort to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030\. The foundation also has a [$100 million commitment](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/rockefeller-foundation-commits-us100-million-to-serve-100-million-children-nutritious-school-meals/?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=23660502201&gbraid=0AAAAApbIRxJrHTn-6qWiu8RHKXGE2VQvI&gclid=Cj0KCQjwp7jOBhDGARIsABe7C4e%5FrRL6Z-6c0K60LKRImnjs5j%5FcEVy%5FtE8N6xiqi27FuH0Sd2zlhlIaAgzPEALw%5FwcB "undefined") to expand access to nutritious, locally sourced meals for children worldwide. And Rockefeller is working with heads of state and local communities in African countries, including Ghana, to support domestically driven approaches to health care, with a goal of reducing their reliance on foreign aid. In the face of the U.S. pullback from foreign aid and reductions in foreign aid programs globally, the Rockefeller Foundation[ supported research](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/93-countries-worldwide-at-risk-of-losing-nearly-23-million-more-people-by-2030/ "undefined"), published this February in The Lancet, that predicted up to 22.6 million deaths could occur worldwide because of these cuts. “To us, numbers matter,” says Shah, a former administrator forUSAID under the Obama Administration. “When things are taken apart, it's important to know what the impact of that will be, because human life, anywhere in the world, should matter to all of us.” TIME100 Philanthropy: Rajiv J. Shah ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/rajiv-j-shah/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/rajiv-j-shah/"},"headline":"Rajiv J. Shah","datePublished":"2026-05-14T12:02:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-14T23:27:03.634Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/rajiv-j-shah/","keywords":["list","franchise","Accolades","Magazine","Philanthropy 2026"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9161d1afdc61997f/69fe3bfa0dc16f39b3e1565c/t100-philanthropy-Rajiv_J_Shah.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x100.00%2Coffset-y32.63&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katherine Don"}],"creator":"Katherine Don","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9161d1afdc61997f/69fe3bfa0dc16f39b3e1565c/t100-philanthropy-Rajiv_J_Shah.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x100.00%2Coffset-y32.63&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/rajiv-j-shah/","name":"Rajiv J. Shah"}}]}] ```