Biography

Professor Faiz Shah is the Executive Director of Yunus Center AIT (YCA) and a member of the AIT Management team with faculty affiliation at the AIT School of Management, and the Albukhary School of Business & Social Studies. Since 2023, as a Professor at the AIU Center of Excellence for Socio-Economic Development & Innovation, he heads the Graduate Studies division, having led the launch of the Yunus Masters in Social Business & Entrepreneurship and the Professional Masters in ESG at AIT, and the Masters in Social Business and PhD in Business Management (Social Business & Impact Entrepreneurship) at AIU. As founding President of the Yunus Foundation Thailand since 2019, Professor Shah has built over a 40-year international career as an educator, entrepreneur and development professional, having overseen over 350 projects and trained over 4,000 grassroots changemakers. He is lead author of “Responsible Business Guide - A Toolkit for Winning Companies” (CIPE-RBI-ACCA, 2010) and lead translator for the authorized Urdu edition of Professor Yunus' A World of Three Zeros - The New Economics of Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon (AIT Press, 2020). His recent publications focus on Enterprise-led Development (OUP, 2023) and mobile health (Sustainability, 2024).

Biography

Cam Donaldson FRSE is Yunus Chair and Distinguished Professor of Health Economics at Glasgow Caledonian University, where he founded the Yunus Centre for Social Business & Health (2010) and served as Pro Vice Chancellor Research (2016-21). Since 2013, Cam has been the Scientific Chair of the Social Business Academia Conferences. Cam previously held the Health Foundation Chair at Newcastle University, the Svare Chair at the University of Calgary and a professorship at the University of Aberdeen. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and eight books over the course of his career. His work has been recognised through the award of senior investigatorships from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the UK’s National Institute for Health Research and over £30m in competitive research funding. In 2023, Cam was listed by Research.com in the top 350 Economics and Finance Scientists (32 in the UK) all time by citation and publications. In 2022, he was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Biography

Dr. Chowdhury is the current Professor and former Dean of the School of Business and Economics at North South University. Earlier, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of Primeasia University and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Eastern University. He also served as faculty at the University of Windsor, Canada, Northeastern University, USA, Islamic University, Bangladesh, and as visiting Professor at the Yunnan Normal University, China. He received MS and Ph.D. degrees from Northeastern University, Boston, USA. In 2002, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Calgary, Canada. He has published more than 65 journal papers, and two books and presented more than 75 papers at different international conferences.

Dr. Chowdhury has organized numerous conferences, seminars, workshops, lecture series, Business Plan Competitions, and prestigious events on Social Business (SB) including an International Conference in 2010; SB Forums in 2012 and 2013; South Asian Youth Leaders’ Summit on SB in 2012; SB Youth Convention in 2014; SB Academic Conclave in 2015; SB Country Forum in 2021-22 and led a project with HEC, France on SB (2010-14). He participated in the Global Social Business Summit (GSBS) in Germany (2010, 2015), Austria (2011, 2012), Malaysia (2013), Kenya (Hybrid-2021), and Italy (2022) and all SB Day events in Malaysia. He served on different committees of the GSBS Academia Conferences and SB Day events and country forums from 2012-23.

Biography

Professor Yamamoto has served AIT in various capacities starting as a former Japanese seconded faculty, and also as the AIT Vice President for Resource Development and Vice President for Administration on a joint appointment with the University of Tokyo and is very familiar with the Institute. He is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Tokyo, Professor for Research and Development Initiative at Chuo University, Visiting Professor at Kindai University, and is currently serving as the President of the Zosui (Water Reuse) Promotion Center in Japan and Audit & Supervisory Board Member of IDEA Consultants Inc. Professor Yamamoto was awarded the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2020 for his pioneering work in developing the submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR). He has authored and co-authored 20 books and more than 130 scientific publications and was conferred 12 awards from international institutions including the European Desalination Society, the Japan Society on Water Environment, and the International Water Association, primarily for his notable invention of the world’s first operationally viable submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR).

Biography

Professor Dr. Joseph Lee received his doctoral degree in Economics in 1994 from Washington State University, United States and has more than 20 years of experience in education as a lecturer, a researcher and an administrator in the United States, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

He has proven records in leading cross functional team in academic quality assurance and business development in education. In addition, with extensive working and collaborative relationships with foreign partner universities and regional education providers, he has an excellent understanding of the cultural differences of students and industrial practices. His notable overseas experiences include managing institutions of higher learning in Hong Kong and Uzbekistan.

Biography

Asst.Prof.Dr. Tanawan Samleerat Carraway is the Senior Program Specialist at Yunus Center the Asian Institute of Technology. She is a roster of consultants for In Vitro Diagnostics Assessment of WHO, and a consultant for the HIV Testing Guideline Update of WHO Lao PDR. She has a wide range of academic and work experiences in the health sector, including HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. Dr. Carraway has collaborated with international organizations, national government, and civil society including Thailand’s National Health Security Office, Ministry of Public Health, UNICEF, and WHO. Dr. Carraway has a long list of publications on HIV and other infection prevention, including multiple guidelines published by the Ministry of Public Health, Government of Thailand. She holds Doctoral degrees in health and life sciences, and biomedical science from Université Francois Rabelais and Chiang Mai University respectively.

Biography

Biswajit Ghosh is the Global Partnership Director, for Rotary Action Group for Community Economic Development (RAGCED), which focusses on planning & implementing economic development projects led by Rotary Clubs globally, aimed to support impoverished communities.

After over 2 & ½ decades of senior leadership roles with HSBC Bank Group globally, he took the decision to join the Development sector at the start of the pandemic phase.

During the pandemic, he worked as the CEO of Rotary India Literacy Mission (RILM), and led several national literacy campaigns for Rotary Clubs, e.g., RILM was the leading NGO contributor of eLearning content for 12 National PM -eVidya TV Channels of NCERT, he led a nation-wide Rotary campaign to provide free eyeglasses to 25,000+ children post-pandemic, etc.

He is currently the Senior Yunus Fellow (with Yunus Centre), and leading a project to create an Online global internship program, aimed for college students and 3ZERO Club members, and help propagate the mission of 3ZEROs globally amongst youth.

Biography

Lamiya Morshed has been serving as the Executive Director of Yunus Centre since its establishment in 2008. Yunus Centre is a global hub for social business, founded by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. With a remarkable tenure of 12 years, Lamiya previously held the position of Director, Development at Grameen Trust, an organization dedicated to implementing microcredit programs worldwide.

In addition to her role at Yunus Centre, Lamiya Morshed holds various leadership positions within the Grameen network. She serves as the Managing Director of Grameen Healthcare Trust and is a member of the Board of Trustees for YY Foundation. Lamiya is also a board member of Grameen Healthcare Services, Grameen Creative Lab, Yunus Social Business, Grameen Intel, Grameen Trust, Grameen Euglena Ltd., and Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing. Furthermore, she holds the position of Chairman at YY Ventures.

Lamiya Morshed is recognized as an esteemed speaker at numerous international conferences and summits focusing on microcredit and social business. Her expertise and insights have been sought after globally, and she consistently contributes as a judge for prestigious social business competitions.

Biography

Professor Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate, is renowned as the pioneer of Social Business and Microcredit. He is the esteemed founder of Grameen Bank and has established over 50 other companies in Bangladesh. Professor Yunus has been recognized by Fortune Magazine as "one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time" due to his unwavering innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.

In 2006, Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their remarkable contributions. He has been conferred with 61 honorary degrees from universities across 24 countries, demonstrating the global recognition of his work. Moreover, he has received an astounding 136 awards from 33 countries, including prestigious state honors from 10 nations.

Professor Yunus holds a unique distinction, being one of only seven individuals to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal. He has appeared on the covers of renowned publications such as Time Magazine, Newsweek, and Forbes Magazine.

Biography

Dr. Farhana Ferdousi has a degree in Management and Human Resource Management from the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh) and earned her Ph.D degree in Economics from Wuhan University (China). Currently, she is an Associate professor at Southeast Business School and Director, Institute of Research & Training (IRT) at Southeast University, Bangladesh. She has authored several book chapters and peer-reviewed international journal papers related to social business.  She has presented research work on “Nobin” program in SBAC 2016, “Social Business Learning and Innovation Fund (SBLIF)” program in SBAC 2017 and “Role of Social Business on Women Entrepreneurship Development” in SBAC 2018, “Impact of Social Business on New Entrepreneurs” in SBAC 2019, “HRM in Social Business in SBAC 2020” and “Impact of Social Business in Youth Entrepreneurship in SBAC 2021”.  Besides that, she has organized and moderated several social business ideas and business plan competitions, debates, and campaigns among the students. She also works as a consultant to various national and international developmental projects.

Biography

Enrico Testi (PhD) has been leading the ARCO (Action Research for CO-development) research center since 2009. Since that year, the center has grown from 2 to 25 members, worked in 37 different countries on more than 300 projects with more than 130 organizations. His areas of expertise include social entrepreneurship, monitoring & evaluation, impact assessment, and local economic development. In 2011, he founded and began directing the Yunus Social Business Centre University of Florence in collaboration with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. In 2017, he earned a Ph.D. in Economics and Management of Enterprises and Local Systems at the University of Florence with a thesis titled " Analysis of social enterprises and their ecosystem". Throughout his career, Enrico Testi has worked in more than 10 countries and directly coordinated more than 50 research and consultancy projects.

Biography

Dr. Reazul Islam, born on March 18, 1978, in Bangladesh, is a distinguished academic and researcher specialising in Microfinance, Islamic Microfinance, Micro-Entrepreneurship, and Poverty and Community Development. With a Ph.D. in Islamic Microfinance from the University of Malaya and an MBA in Finance from the same institute, Dr. Islam has been actively contributing to academia and social entrepreneurship.

Currently serving as a Lecturer at the School of Business and Social Sciences, Albukhary International University (AIU), Malaysia. Dr. Islam is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Albukhary Social Business Journal. He has held visiting positions at institutes such as Narxoz University, Kazakhstan, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Asian Institute for Impact Measurement and Management, National Central University, Taiwan.

Dr. Islam's academic expertise includes teaching courses such as Managerial Economics, International Business, International Business, Academic Writing, Research Methods, and more. His research portfolio includes multidimensional child poverty,micro-enterprise digitalisation, and social enterprises’ coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has authored numerous journal articles and presented his work at international conferences, earning accolades such as the Best Presenter Award. Additionally, Dr. Islam has contributed insightful pieces to newspapers and participated as a panel speaker in various seminars and public talks.

Biography

Raymond is the Director for Strategic Projects & Administration at Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), which is one of the earliest and biggest microfinance institutions in the country.  In this role, he oversees Human Resource, I.T. and various Social Business and Social Enterprise Projects & advocacies of the foundation which includes projects in water and sanitation, garbage and healthcare, among others.  He also oversees NWTF’s subsidiary, Dungganon Bank, which caters to SME clients and Social Enterprises.

Biography

Bordin Rassameethes is currently an Acting Deputy Secretary-General of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre and an Associate Professor in the Department of Technology and Operations Management, He is a former Vice President of Kasetsart University and a former Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration. He is also a former advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and cooperatives (2017 – 2019) and a former advisor to the Deputy Minister of Transport (2019 – 2021).

He received his Ph.D. in Management of Technology from Vanderbilt University in the United States.  He holds an MS degree in Management from North Carolina State University, USA, and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Miami, USA.

            He has been working in the field of technology management, which includes electronic commerce, information technology, rural informatics, and supply chain management.  He has served as project manager for numerous research and consulting projects and received more than US$10 million dollars research and consulting grants within the past ten years.

Biography

Dr. Stephen T. Homer is an accomplished academic and researcher specialising in business management, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sustainable development. Dr. Homer is currently a Senior Lecturer at Sunway University. He has been involved in academia since April 2017, starting as a PhD Studentship Student at Sunway University and progressing to become a Lecturer and then a Senior Lecturer. He has shared his knowledge in courses like Corporate Social Responsibility, Business Ethics, Inventory Management, and Principles of Management as a lecturer and module leader, receiving consistently positive feedback from students. Dr. Homer is currently the Director of the Yunus Social Business Centre at Sunway University, leading efforts in entrepreneurship and responsible management education. He is responsible for managing the center's daily operations, developing long-term strategies, and cultivating partnerships with external collaborators in his leadership position.

Biography

Professor Ts Dr Shahrina Md Nordin, A.C.M is an accomplished academic with 25 years of experience in various capacities at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. She has held key roles such as the founding head of Centre of Social Innovation, Senior Director of Project Management Office, Head of Management and Humanities Department, and Institute Director of Self-sustainable Building. Her works revolve around sustainability, innovation diffusion and community development through social business and social innovation. She works closely with NGOs and various agencies. She has also been a speaker at international events and led internationally funded research projects by agencies like APEC, British Council and Murata. Her works have received recognition at national and international levels, including awards from the His Royal Highness Sultan of Perak and Highly Commended Award from Emerald Literati.  Currently, she is the Lead Facilitator for Energy Transition Malaysian Alliance (ET-MAce) and Professional Alliance of Circular Economy (PACE). She is also an appointed Associate Fellow for Akademi Sains Malaysia.  She is a Professional Technologist under Malaysian Board of Technologies and an appointed member of the Board of Studies at Universiti Malaysia Pahang. Her contributions in the education sector at the national level as the Cluster Leader at the Ministry of Higher Education for Pendidikan dan Masyarakat Madani Celik Ilmu demonstrate her dedication to advancing education and social innovation.

Biography

Song Kuok Thong boasts an extensive background in academia, accumulating over two decades of teaching experience within higher learning institutions. As of 2023, he has assumed the role of Pro Vice Chancellor of Social Impact at INTI International University. In this capacity, his primary focus revolves around steering the university towards sustainability, with the ambitious goal of transforming it into a Green University by 2030. Concurrently, he leads the INTI Yunus Social Business Centre, championing the cause of social entrepreneurship among both staff and students. He actively encourages initiatives that contribute positively to communities.

Prior to his current role, he served as the Chief Executive of INTI College Nilai from November 2018 to December 2021. His professional journey within INTI includes positions such as Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Business, Communications, and Law, and Director of Student Experience at INTI International University. Noteworthy achievements during his tenure include acting as the liaison officer for CPA Australia from 2008 to 2010 and serving as the link tutor for Beijing INTI Management College from 2006 to 2007.

Song is an ardent advocate of business consultations, having actively engaged with companies in Malaysia through consultation projects. Demonstrating his commitment to student development, he involves his students in these projects, providing them with valuable exposure to the practicalities of the industrial world. To date, he has successfully overseen more than 30 such projects.

His past role as the Director of Student Experience required him to play a central role in formulating and implementing strategies, policies, and processes that enhance INTI International University’s non-academic 'student life' experience. In addition, he contributed significantly to the development of strategies related to the academic aspects of the student experience.

Biography

Dr. Ashir Ahmed, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan

Dr. Ahmed, a visionary innovator, is dedicated to leveraging technology for societal advancement. He spearheads the SocialTech Lab at the university, where his team has developed groundbreaking projects such as GramHealth, GramCar, GramAgri, and GramClean, all of which have had a profound impact. Dr. Ahmed actively fosters collaborations between Kyushu University and universities across Asia and Oceania. Since 2017, he has been at the helm of organizing the prestigious International Conference and SocialTech Summit, with a focus on Digital Health. With a Ph.D. from Tohoku University and professional experience at Avaya Labs and NTT Communications in Japan, he seamlessly merges his expertise with a passion for non-fiction writing and cultural hosting. Dr. Ahmed stands as a versatile leader dedicated to driving meaningful technological advancements for societal well-being.

Biography

Callum Mackenzie is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Yunus Thailand. He has also co-founded Waste Hero Education, the Seaweed Social Business, and is currently working to establish Grameen Thailand. Callum also sits on the Steering Committee for the Yunus Professional Masters in Social Business and Entrepreneurship. Callum has a diverse range of experience from working in the social business and international development sector in +10 countries around the world with organizations such as the World Bank, USAID, ActionAid, the European Institute for Cooperation and Development, and the UK Government. Callum holds a Masters Degree in International Development from Sciences Po Paris and a Bachelor with Honours from the Queen's University Belfast in Conflict Studies.