Ian Reilly is an Australian author, artist, innovator and entrepreneur whose life has spanned classrooms and boardrooms, from the Silicon Valley to remote Pacific villages.

In 1990 Ian and his wife Heather left the comfort of suburban Australia to teach in Samoa, where they were immediately struck by a devastating cyclone. Emerging without power, water and running out of food, they stepped into disorienting cultural collision, ethical dilemmas, and physical hardship. Immersing themselves into a radically different culture not only challenged their assumptions about poverty, power, privilege, justice and western values, but also taught them valuable life lessons.