Ben Ramalingam is a senior leader, innovator and researcher specialising in international crisis management and development. He is the executive director of the United Kingdom Humanitarian Innovation Hub and has worked with and advised the United Nations, the World Bank, national and regional governments, non-governmental organizations and businesses. In 2020 he was named a Humanitarian Change Maker of the 2010s, as one of the ten people or organizations who had done the most to improve international humanitarian work over the course of the decade. His first book, Aid on the Edge of Chaos, was widely acclaimed.
‘Ben Ramalingam has brought all of his considerable passion and experience to write this creative and original book on resilience through crises. I will be looking for Upshifters from now on!’ David Miliband ‘How can we experience stressful situations not as a threat to avoid, but as a challenge to rise to? This fascinating book is full of insights from Ben Ramalingam's rich personal and professional experience of responding to crisis. I highly recommend it’ Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics ‘A fascinating and inspiring read for everyone who aspires to harness creativity in the face of extreme constraints – which in today’s runaway world is every single one of us’ Jaideep Prabhu, author of Frugal Innovation ‘Upshift is an inspired book about those moments when operating on the edge of your comfort zones, when you discover not only who you really are but who you have the potential to be. It's essential for you – and for those around you’ Mike Adamson, Chief Executive Officer, British Red Cross ‘A reassuring guide to empowerment’ Kirkus Praise for Aid on the Edge of Chaos ‘Groundbreaking … Important and relevant’ Financial Times ‘Ramalingam sets out a challenge … to rethink our basic assumptions and to think and act in ways that are more attuned to the real world in all its complexities’ Sir Richard Jolly, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations ‘Marrying science, policy and practice with a deep moral conscience, [Ramalingam] points to a future that we should all be working toward’ Peter Doherty, Nobel Laureate in Medicine ‘Impressive … Sets a new milestone’ Guardian ‘A leading champion of the adaptive, scientific, trial-and-error thinking that the aid industry badly needs’ Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist