Yolande Wright

Change Agent, Environmentalist, Social entrepreneur

Yolande Wright is Vice President of Partnerships at GiveDirectly, where she leads global fundraising and engagement with governments, institutional donors, and philanthropists. She oversaw more than US$270 million raised in the past year, scaling direct cash transfers as a proven, cost-efficient, and dignified way to reduce extreme poverty and respond to crises, including climate-related shocks. Her work focuses on delivering measurable results at scale and maximizing the impact of every dollar deployed. Yolande previously spent 20 years at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), where she held senior leadership roles and led major humanitarian and livelihoods portfolios. She later served as Global Director for Child Poverty at Save the Children International, overseeing a US$400+ million portfolio across more than 100 countries. With over 25 years’ experience, Yolande specializes in scaling high-impact solutions that put resources directly into the hands of people who need them most.

Ending extreme poverty in our lifetime and providing faster and more direct assistance to people facing crises. Ensuring that unprecedented global wealth means no-one is born into poverty or faces a hopeless future, and we thrive on a thriving planet.

Extreme poverty persists not because of a lack of solutions, but a lack of resources. We already know what works. Direct cash transfers are one of the most proven, efficient ways to reduce poverty, putting money directly into the hands of people who need it most. The same idea applies in crisis. Too often, aid arrives late and inefficiently, when speed matters most. But with today’s technology - from mobile money to digital payments - we can transform disaster response, getting resources directly to people quickly and at scale. The opportunity now is to build a world where anyone, anywhere, can receive cash within five days - whether they’re living in poverty or facing a sudden shock. That’s a future where aid is faster, more effective, and built on trust in people to make the best decisions for themselves.

After 20 years designing aid programs at the UK government, I’ve increasingly focused on a simpler idea: giving people money. From early work on cash transfers in government to now leading partnerships at GiveDirectly, I’ve seen how direct cash is one of the most cost-effective and scalable ways to reduce extreme poverty. What inspires me most are the stories of recipients - their resilience, choices, and the transformative impact of having resources in their own hands. At TED, I’m excited to share this journey and the idea that poverty persists not because of a lack of solutions, but a lack of resources - and how technology could transform how we respond to both poverty and crisis. I look forward to engaging with the TED community to help build a future where anyone, anywhere can receive cash within five days.

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