Peace through Entrepreneurship: Investing in a Start-up Culture for Security and Development

CID Student Ambassador Hubert Wu interviews Steven Koltai, Managing Director of Koltai & Company, and Brookings Guest Scholar on Governance Studies. In his recently launched book "Peace through Entrepreneurship: Investing in a Start-up Culture for Security and Development" Steven makes the case for government investment in entrepreneurship as a way to foster job creation and tackle security and development issues. Interview recorded on March 3rd, 2017. About the speaker: Steven Koltai is an expert on international entrepreneurship ecosystem development. He is currently Managing Director of Koltai & Company, an entrepreneurship program development consultancy. Most recently, he was Senior Advisor for Entrepreneurship at the US Department of State where he created and managed the Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP), focused primarily in job creation via entrepreneurship in Muslim majority countries. Previously, Steven has 30 years of business experience as an investment banker (Salomon Brothers), management consultant (McKinsey & Company), media industry (Warner Bros and Lifetime Television), and as a multiple company successful entrepreneur and angel investor. He is a long time member of the Council on Foreign Relations where he was an International Affairs Fellow. Koltai serves on numerous for profit and not-for-profit Boards, including the Tisch College of Active Citizenship at Tufts University (his alma mater), Babson Global at Babson College, the Library of Congress’ David Rubenstein Literacy Awards Committee, the Museum of Hungarian-speaking Jewry in Safed, Israel, and Advancing Girls Education (AGE) Africa in Malawi.