Cat Laine: Engineering a better life for all

At the BIF innovation summit, Cat Laine draws on the Greek myth of Tantalus to explain the frustration developing countries face. She shows how we might help communities rich in human capital, but poor in resources and infrastructure, with cleverly engineered solutions.

Cat Laine has made it her mission to find solutions to the problems that face the world’s poor, by merging innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit.

As Deputy Director of Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG), Cat Laine spends her days working with communities in developing countries to solve their unique problems. She draws on the cross-disciplinary knowledge she's amassed -- despite her youth. She's moved from graduate work in infectious disease epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health to running a private media consultancy to speaking on trends in technology to her current position.

Besides her native English, Laine is fluent in French and speaks Hatian Creole and Spanish as well. The combination of her understanding of those in countries with poor infrastructure and her multidisciplinary approach has made her a brilliant fit for her work rebuilding human lives.