Guest Speaker’s Profile: Professor Muhammad Yunus

Professor Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. He has also been an advocate of the innovative approach of social business, a model that combines the best business thinking and modern technology with a core focus on social outcomes, with Fortune magazine (2012) featuring him as one of ‘The 12 Greatest Entrepreneurs of Our Time’.

Professor Yunus has established social businesses partnerships with leading global corporations including Danone, Veolia Water, BASF and Credit Agricole that have generated profits to overcome devastating social issues. Social businesses with Clinton Global Foundation, Virgin Unite and others are also addressing major socio-economic problems in countries such as the United States, many European countries, India, Brazil, Tunisia, Haiti, Columbia and Uganda.