Who We Are?

Recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Muhammad Yunus is internationally recognized as the founder of microcredit and as the father of social business. For more than 40 years, he has successfully worked to meld capitalism & social responsibility. In 1976, he created the first institution to provide micro-loans to empower the poor to become entrepreneurs. Grameen Bank has since lent more than USD 26.5 billion to those suffering extreme poverty across Bangladesh while maintaining a consistent repayment rate above 98% and has been replicated worldwide.

Complimenting his work with microcredit, Prof. Yunus pioneered the global social business movement. Today, he continues to advocate for businesses that are created to solve social & environmental problems. His early career as a professor of economics – followed by years of work with dignitaries and icons influencing global culture and economy – allow him unprecedented insight into the forces and industries that can affect powerful change through social business.

Aside from the Nobel Peace Prize, Prof. Yunus is the recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal & the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Only seven individuals in history have received all three distinctions. In addition he received more than 60 honorary degrees from more than 25 countries and more than 140 awards from more than 35 countries. For his constant innovation and enterprise, Fortune Magazine named Prof. Yunus in March 2012 as “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time”.