Around the world, sales volumes of combustible cigarettes are dropping. Meanwhile, growth rates are substantial across a range of tobacco harm reduction products. These trends suggest that some consumers are swapping out conventional cigarettes for newer products—a phenomenon that Jacob Grier refers to as the “creative destruction” of the cigarette industry. Of course, it’s too […]

When faced with a daunting problem, it helps to be in the company of passionate professionals who are dedicated to solving it. The Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium—”the premier conference in the world on global agriculture,” convenes more than 1,200 participants from over 65 countries, all devoted to combating hunger and malnutrition. While attending this year’s […]

On October 15th, Foreign Policy Magazine hosted the HerPower Summit. This inaugural global women’s summit highlighted female change agents and explored gender equity as a catalyzing force for stronger democracies, economies, and communities. I participated on the panel “Women as Change Agents – Building More Inclusive Industries” with Chemonics CEO Susanna Mudge and Kathryn Kaufman, Managing Director […]

The Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) is the world’s leading conference on the future of the tobacco and nicotine industries. The forum has convened every year since 2008; and this year, for the first time, it included a panel on women agents of change for sustainable development and harm reduction. This GTNF session, for […]

Surveying the room in Solapur, I’m struck first by the elegance of the women’s saris, and second, by the iPad. Equipped with advanced facial recognition software, the machine’s sophistication stands in stark contrast to the rest of the scene, which otherwise comprises piles of tendu leaves, processed tobacco, thread, and perilously sharp sheers. Over the […]