Center for Social Innovation

Jake Harriman’s story reads like a screenplay: Decorated military officer has epiphany during combat and devotes life to humanitarian work. It’s all true, except that there’s no script for Harriman to follow as he fights a war on extreme poverty.

After serving seven years in the United States Marine Corps, Harriman became “hell-bent on the mission” of eradicating the roots of poverty. In Iraq and elsewhere, he saw poor people driven to desperate measures— including terrorism—because they were “stripped of choices.” Realizing that one-sixth of the world’s population lives under dire economic conditions, he says, “I ... Read more