Michael Sherraden, named one of TIME Magazine’s TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World, is known for his pioneering work on asset building for low-income people. He is the founder and director of the Brown School’s Center for Social Development at WUSTL. In his book, Assets and the Poor: A New American Welfare Policy, Sherraden proposes establishing individual savings accounts for the poor — also known as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). His program calls for the government and private sector to match individual contributions to IDAs as a means of encouraging savings and breaking the cycle of poverty. IDAs have been adopted in federal legislation and in more than 40 states.