#PolicyProfile: “Some of humanity’s greatest welfare improvements have come from policy decisions — securing public funding for smallpox vaccines, advancing agricultural techniques to prevent famine, or banning lead contamination across a host of countries. As a grantmaker on Coefficient Giving’s Global Aid Policy program, I investigated grants to support think tanks, civil society organizations, and government affairs groups working to increase the scale and cost-effectiveness of wealthy governments’ foreign assistance. One component of my work involved bringing policymakers face-to-face with evidence-based programs. I joined delegations of Japanese and South Koreans visiting Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia to visit effective malaria vaccine sites. Being present mattered — not just to share information, but to build trust over long bus rides, shared meals, follow-up meetings in Tokyo and Seoul. Those relationships led to real policy shifts, including material funding increases to effectiv...