The previously untold story of how an unprecedented network of high-achieving women from the world's largest companies, innovative startups, philanthropic organizations, government, and the arts combined forces to change the lives of girls and women everywhere.

Like China has done in the past, the U.S is sacrificing public health for rapid economic development. But we should really be emulating the way China does things today.

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick's $100 million NFL contract demonstrates the concept of variable compensation, a model where an employee receives a low base and dramatically higher performance bonuses, and how risk-sharing can be applied to encourage more hiring by employers at a time when job creation is arguably our biggest economic challenge.

"The key for us is to help them understand what the tools are and then for them to adopt and adapt them for their own purposes," Alec Ross, Hillary Clinton’s senior advisor for innovation, tells us.

Here's a company whose business enables migrants to send money back home just about anywhere in the world--385,000 locations in 200 countries and territories (up from 120,000 locations in 100 countries just 5 years ago), while the company's philanthropic foundation helps migrants and their families to get an education, get jobs, and build small businesses.

I ask Xiao Ye, an Africa statistical researcher for the World Bank, whether a clear chart or table exists laying out the full extent of China's economic involvement in Africa. "I don't know anyone who has done such a thing," he responds. "As far as I know, China no longer releases [its] foreign direct investment to Africa country by country." Or as Lucy Corkin, the China-Africa think-tank expert, explains, "You've got Africa, the big black hole of data, and China, the big black hole of data -- put the two of them together and it's a disaster."

When my plane smacks down in Equatorial Guinea -- where if the captain misses the runway, you could end up in Cameroon -- I become the first American journalist to visit this pint-sized republic (population: 550,000) in nearly three years. That was when Equatoguinean officials forced two American reporters to leave after they'd spent just a few days in Malabo, the capital, asking questions. One of them, Peter Maass, was booted for "spying" simply for walking down a street chatting with a European ambassador.

A simple stroll down the streets of Kinshasa reveals how precarious life has become in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This city of ugly half-finished buildings radiates both the optimism and the paranoia of a gold-rush town. Government banners strung across main avenues urge the citizens to stay cool: no more violence, no more hatred, no more manipulation and change your mentality. Read More »

That the West is losing the sub-Sahara does not come as news in Africa itself. One leader after another has been explicit on this point, from Senegal's president ("Today, it is very clear that Europe is close to losing the battle of competition in Africa") to Botswana's president ("I find that the Chinese treat us as equals; the West treats us as former subjects") to Nigeria's president at a banquet for China's President Hu ("This is the century for China to lead the world. And when you are leading the world, we want to be very close behind you").