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Professor Yunus promotes Social Business at IACA |
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The Banker to the poor suggests Growing Social Business at IACA
By Mahadev Desai
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Despite the multi-stop fleeting Atlanta visit, it was heartwarming to learn that the ‘Banker to the Poor' had accepted the last minute invite and agreed to make a presentation at Atlanta Indian's vintage umbrella organization viz. the India American Cultural Organization (IACA). A diverse cross-section of Indian-American communities gave a red carpet welcome to the visiting Nobel Laureate on Saturday, August 28, 2010. The event hosted by IACA was co-sponsored by the Gandhi Foundation of USA, Pujari and Bengali Association of Greater Atlanta.It is notable that GFUSA was the first non-profit Organization to step up to co-sponsor the event.
Once the request was made by IACA's Executive Vice President, Viren Mayani, assisted by Board Member and Southern Polytechnic's Professor, Dr. Gauranga Banik, it was literally 2 weeks before show time. Viren worked intensely to get the sponsorships in place so as not to burden the IACA budget, traveled store to store in search of his new book "Growing Social Business", defined the program which included book signing, a Q & A after Dr. Yunus' presentation and a complimentary welcome breakfast for all attendees, et all, the most important being to work with AdDate.com to upload a flier with all pertinent information, make registration mandatory to track the count for the complimentary breakfast catered by Royal Indian Cuisine as well as reserve attendees' email addresses for further communication. All said and done about 250 some registered and about 225 showed-up on a very early Saturday morning. Shridhar Ranganathan, IACA's Secretary, made the opening remarks and declared the breakfast ready to serve.
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Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus Speaks at the IMPACT Speaker Series |
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Nobel Winner Yunus Speaks at Tech
By Yeameen Huq, Contributing Writer
The IMPACT Speaker Series kicked off on Aug. 26, 2010 with a presentation by Muhammad Yunus, the social activist and economist who started the Grameen Foundation and won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
Having recently authored his third bestseller, Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs, Yunus gave a presentation at the LeCraw Auditorium in the College of Management building and an overview on what people can do to design a new system that is both self-sufficient and beneficial to society.
The IMPACT Speaker Series has worked since 2002 to bring major business leaders from various industries to help give advice to students in areas ranging from leadership to entrepreneurship and even philanthropy. Working with the Bangladesh Student Association, the series booked Yunus this month to give advice on building sustainable philanthropy based on his own personal successes.
Yunus' lecture primarily consisted of speeches, anecdotes and business experiences, eschewing a PowerPoint in favor of a more casual approach. He began by talking about his early life as an economist who studied on a Fulbright Scholarship at Vanderbilt University. He then worked as a professor in Bangladesh, until he believed that the standard economic theories he taught were not relevant to the poverty that was around him."[Economists] believe all human beings care about is money. People suffer so much for so little money," Yunus said.
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`Social business fund' proposed for Haiti |
Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank, thinks capitalism with a conscience might be the answer to some of Haiti's ills.
BY JIM WYSS
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The father of microlending, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, is hoping to midwife another idea -- this one aimed at pulling Haiti out of the rubble.
Yunus was in Miami on Monday to promote the concept of building a ``social business fund'' that will invest in companies that are using the tools of the boardroom to tackle social problems in Haiti.
Speaking at Miami Dade College, Yunus said the idea is already showing success in his native Bangladesh.
One of his flagship social businesses is Grameen Danone Foods, a joint venture between Yunus' Grameen Bank and food conglomerate Danone. In that case, the multinational company agreed to make a special yogurt for Bangladesh that includes micronutrients lacking in the local diet. Two cups of the yogurt per week for one year can reverse the malnutrition that plagues about half of all children, Yunus said.
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Professor Yunus at Togu Palace of Japan with the Imperial couple |
(From Left to Right) His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and Her Imperial Highness Princess Masako of Japan seen together at the Togu Palace on July 20, 2010. The Imperial couple received Professor Yunus at the palace and discussed Professor Yunus's concept of social business and its potential role in solving some of society's most pressing problems. |
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Nobel winning banker to speak on campus of West Georgia |
By Neighbor Staff
Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi banker and economist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, will lecture at 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27, at the University of West Georgia’s Townsend Center for the Performing Arts in Carrollton
The presentation, free and open to the public, will conclude with Yunus signing copies of his book, “Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs,” available for $25.
Yunus is known throughout the world as the “father of microcredit” for developing the system that extends small loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Yunus discovered that such loans could make significant differences to impoverished people trying to start a business. His first loan was $27 from his own pocket.
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Yunus Centre