Dr. Richard Heinzl

Richard Heinzl crafts a unique message for each group he speaks with. With perspective and humility, he shares lessons from his experiences at the far corners of the world: major moments, like working through a humanitarian crisis during the Iraq War, or witnessing South Africa's first democratic elections. He also captures the quieter, no less wondrous, moments. Like seeing how a simple Frisbee, given to a group of kids at the frontlines, can bring joy half the world away. Or how, in most places he went, the Internet had beat him there, shrinking the globe. (Still, in other places, the 'Net was absent -- developing in him a visceral need for something like it to come along.)

Heinzl takes us past the expected sphere of humanitarian aid stories to reveal a remarkable world with universal lessons and incredible human stories (beginning with the story of how his experiences changed his life.) Zooming out, he points to the exponential change in our borderless world. Why, for instance, it is more important than ever for individuals and organizations to have a non-conventional approach to problem solving. We need to embrace this change, he says, and to see what is truly valuable in our world--and how we are all connected in it.