Kumar Garg
Host of Tacit Knowledge
Kumar Garg is the President at Renaissance Philanthropy.
Kumar has helped to shape the science and tech landscape for almost two decades. Working with Eric Schmidt, he helped design and launch moonshot initiatives in education, provided early support to game-changing ideas and pioneers, and built ongoing multi-donor and multi-sector collaboratives.
Prior to that, he helped set budget and policy priorities for the Obama Administration as part of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and drove progress on topics ranging from education and workforce issues, biotechnology, entrepreneurship, space, advanced manufacturing, broadband, nanotechnology, behavioral sciences, digital media, incentive prizes, and broader innovation policy.
In particular, he led the Obama Administration’s efforts to bolster science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, including development of major budget and policy initiatives in the State of the Union to train 100,000 excellent STEM teachers and bring computer science to all K-12 students, development of the Educate to Innovate campaign with over $1 billion in in-kind and philanthropic investment, and creation of iconic events such as the White House Science Fair.
Prior to his time in government, Kumar worked on behalf of parents and children seeking educational reform as an education lawyer and advocate. Kumar received a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a law degree from Yale Law School.
Kumar Garg has hosted five Episodes.
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Working on Neglected Ideas with Ishan Sharma
October 30th, 2026 | Season 1 | 33 mins
In this podcast, Renaissance Philanthropy’s Kumar Garg sits down with ambitious people who are figuring out what problems to solve, and what it takes to solve them. Together, we explore the tacit knowledge that enables the world’s best operators.
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You Can Be The Adult In The Room with David Carel
October 16th, 2026 | Season 1 | 35 mins 40 secs
public health
David Carel, Director of Renaissance Philanthropy’s Inspired Air Fund, discusses the surprising benefits of improving indoor air quality and his work to bring those benefits to schools.
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Chase Every Idea with Joshua Elliott
October 2nd, 2026 | Season 1 | 35 mins 17 secs
arc, arctic, bits curriculum, climate, darpa
Joshua Elliott, Chief Scientist at Renaissance Philanthropy, talks about the ARC Initiative's Sulfur Tracking Program, which aims to close a major gap in understanding how declining Earth reflectivity is accelerating climate change, and dives into his ambitious, DARPA-honed approach to program design.
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The Tri-Sector Athlete with Cara Eckholm
October 2nd, 2026 | Season 1 | 38 mins 18 secs
urban planning
Cara Eckholm, a Renaissance Philanthropy fellow, talks about Pitch Fest, a matchmaking program that pairs city agencies' real problems with academics and civic technologists willing to help solve them, and reflects on the cold-emailing and risk-taking that shaped her own career path.
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Go Where the Problem Is with Charlotte DeWald
October 1st, 2026 | Season 1 | 28 mins 47 secs
arctic, climate
Charlotte DeWald, Director of Renaissance Philanthropy's Arctic Stabilization Initiative, discusses building a five-year research program to give governments the evidence they need to assess Arctic-targeted climate interventions like mixed-phase cloud thinning.