Larry Brilliant, Google.org
As executive director of Google.org, Brilliant runs the cash (some $2 billion so far) that Larry Page and Sergey Brin have committed on Google's behalf to charitable activities, namely fighting poverty, reversing global warming, and tending to the world's neediest patients. Brilliant, the famed epidemiologist known for helping conquer smallpox in India, has a new challenge - creating a corporate philanthropy strategy that's as progressive and fruitful as Google itself. Brilliant's twist: Google.org isn't set up as a nonprofit and therefore isn't bound by various IRS restrictions. By making investments, for example, rather than simply giving away money, he thinks Google.org can achieve radical change faster. Last updated January 11 2008: 5:15 PM ET
