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

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

As a purpose contributor, visionary and an entrepreneur, Hans is creating the change he longs to see – campaigning for social inclusion, against poverty, pollution and the useless waste of resources. Both as an inspirational speaker and as a social business practitioner, incubating social businesses around the world.

At the age of twenty he embarked on a journey that took him from India to Afghanistan and finally led him to Iraq. His deep interest for the arts and culture led him to the studies of classical south-Indian music during his time in India. Back in Germany he founded within a few years a creative circle and worked furthermore as a cultural manager, organizing many different theater and cultural events.
In 2007, he became the creative advisor of Nobel Peace Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and has since then helped him spread the idea of „Social Business“.

In 2009, together with Prof. Yunus, he founded the "Grameen Creative Lab" of which he is today the CEO and since 2010 he is the Creative Director of the Yunus Centre in Bangladesh.

Biography

Nurjahan Begum, currently working as Advisor to Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, has an outstanding career with Grameen since inception of the Grameen Bank in 1976. She was one of the earliest associates of Professor Yunus during the establishment of Grameen Bank. She served as Principal of Grameen Bank Central Training Institute, General Manager, Training & Special Program and Deputy Managing Director of the bank. She became Acting Managing Director of Grameen Bank soon after the bank’s founder Professor Yunus left the bank in 2011.

Ms. Nurjahan worked as Managing Director of Grameen Shakti – the largest off-grid solar energy company in the world. She also worked as Managing Director of Grameen Shikkha from 1997, the year Shikkha was established, to end of December 2016. She is serving as Chairperson of Grameen Distribution Ltd. and director of some Grameen companies like Grameen Trust, Grameen Kalyan, Grameen Agricultural Foundation, Grameen Knitwear Ltd., and Grameen Fisheries & Livestock Foundation. She is serving as director of Grameen Italia Foundation, Italy and Center for Mass Education in Science (CMES), Bangladesh. She also served Grameenphone Ltd., Bangladesh and Grameen Foundation, USA as director.

Ms. Nurjahan was awarded Susan M. Davis Lifetime Achievement Award 2008 by Grameen Foundation, the World Summit Millennium Development Goals Award 2009, and the Vision Award 2009. She received Outstanding Contribution to Education Award at Ed Leadership 7th International Roundtable 2014. She participated in the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit held in Los Angeles in 2007 and was appointed President to the Foundation for Justice Prize giving ceremony held in Valencia, Spain in 2007.

Biography

Thomas Bach is a German lawyer, former Olympic fencer, and Olympic gold medalist. He has been serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since September 10, 2013. He is also a former member of the executive board of the German Olympic Sports Confederation. Notably, Bach holds the distinction of being the first Olympic champion to be elected President of the IOC.

Biography

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, is a world-renowned ethologist and activist, as well as the Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and a UN Messenger of Peace. Her work has inspired a greater understanding and action in support of the natural world.

Dr. Goodall gained global recognition through her groundbreaking studies of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. Her research revolutionized our understanding of our connection to the animal kingdom. Today, her work continues as the longest-running wild chimpanzee study in the world. Dr. Goodall's advocacy extends through the Jane Goodall Institute, which prioritizes community-led conservation, animal welfare, science, and youth empowerment, notably through the Roots & Shoots program.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Dr. Goodall remains engaged with audiences worldwide through virtual platforms, including remote lectures, recordings, and her podcast, the "Jane Goodall Hopecast." In 2021, she was honored with the Templeton Prize, and she recently published her latest book, "The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times." Dr. Goodall's enduring impact reaches far and wide, as she serves as a beacon of hope, transforming it into meaningful positive change for people, animals, and our shared planet.

Biography

Leymah R. Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate, is a Liberian Peace Activist, trained Social Worker, and Women's Rights Advocate. She is the Founder-President of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa and Executive Director of Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace Initiative at the City of New York (CUNY) School of Law. Leymah is a member of various boards worldwide, including the Sustainable Development Goals Advocate, World Refugee Council, Aurora Prize Selection Committee, and Hilton Humanitarian Prize Jury. She holds an M.A. in Conflict Transformation and is a Christian married with 8 children.

Biography

National Positions:

- Member, Council of State, Advisory Body to the President of the Republic of Timor-Leste (2012-)
- Member, National Council on Maritime Boundary Delimitation (2016 - )
- President of the Republic of Timor-Leste (2007 - 2012)
- Prime Minister, Minister of Defence (2006-2007)
- Senior Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (2002-2006)
- Cabinet Member, United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) (2000-2002)
- Minister for Foreign Affairs and Information, First Government proclaimed in December 1975 after Timor-Leste's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, International Spokesperson of the Resistance (1975-1999)

International Positions:

- President, World Movement for Democracy, HQ Washington, elected July 2020
- Chair, Scientific Council, think-tank TIGER – Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research, Kozminski University, Warsaw, Poland (2021-2030)
- Board Member, World Leadership Alliance, Madrid (2012 - )
- Member, Global Leadership Foundation, London, UK
- Member, High-Level Board on Mediation, with UN Secretary-General (2017-2019)
- External Advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly (2017-2018)
- Commissioner, Global Commission on Drug Policy, Geneva (2017 - )
- Chair, High-Level Independent Panel on UN Peace Operations, appointed by the UN Secretary-General (November 2014 - 2015), UNHQ, NY
- Co-Chair, Independent Commission on Multilateralism (2014-2016), International Peace Institute, NY
- Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Mission in Guinea-Bissau (West Africa) (Jan 2013- June 2014)

Academic:

- Member Honorary Advisory Council of the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard University (2012 - )
- Diploma, Executive Program, Leaders in Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (1998)
- Senior Associate Member, International Relations, St. Antony's College, University of Oxford (1987)
- Master of Arts in Peace Studies, Antioch University, Ohio, USA (1984)
- Advanced Diploma, Public Relations, Centro Internacional de Marketing (1970-1974)
- Completed courses in Public International Law in The Hague Academy of International Law, and in International Human Rights Law in The International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg (1983)
- Doctor Honoris Causa from Universities in Australia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, The Philippines, Brazil, Portugal, USA
- Founding President, Diplomacy and Human Rights Program, Law Faculty, University of New South Wales, Sydney, since 1990
- Visiting Professor, University of New South Wales, Sydney, since 1996
- Distinguished Visiting Professor, Victoria University, Melbourne, since 2007
- Visiting Professor, Ewha Women's University, Seoul, 2007-2012

Membership in Major International Organizations

Languages: Tetum, Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish

Major Awards:

- Nobel Peace Prize (1996)
- Companion of the Order of Australia (2015)
- Ordem de Timor-Leste (2012)
- Ordem Dom Boaventura (2006)
- Ordem De Liberdade, Portugal (1998)
- Ordem Dom Infante, Portugal (2011)
- Orders from Brazil, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde

Books and Other Writings:

- Words Of Hope, Speeches, Essays,

Biography

Marina Silva is a Brazilian professor, environmentalist, and politician. She holds a degree in History and specializes in Psychopedagogy and Psychoanalytic Theory. With honorary doctorates from the Federal University of Bahia and the Chinese Academy of Forestry, she has garnered numerous national and international titles and awards. Marina's political career includes roles as a city councilor, state representative, and senator, consistently elected with record-breaking votes. She served as the Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2008 and ran for president in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 elections. In 2022, she was elected as a federal deputy for São Paulo and currently holds the position of Minister of the Environment once again.

Biography

The Hon. Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad was Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020. During his first tenure he opened up the country and developed Malaysia into a prosperous and dynamic economy in Southeast Asia so much so it was dubbed as an Asian Tiger.

In 2015 Dr. Mahathir returned to active politics and led a campaign against the kleptocratic Government of Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his
complicity in the 1MDB scandal.

On 9th May 2018, the Pakatan Harapan coalition he led won the 14th General Election and Dr Mahathir was sworn in as the 7th Prime Minister.
On February 24th, 2020 Dr. Mahathir resigned as Prime Minister following an internal conflict that effectively brought down the government he led.

Biography

Father Enzo Fortunato was born on 24 November 1966 in Northampton (GB). In 1986 he began his journey in the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Assisi. He was ordained a priest on 2 July 1994.

Assignments: Creator of the Rai1 programme for the poor Con il Cuore. Nel nome di Francesco. Editor-in-chief the Magazine of St Francis. He is a regular contributor to several Italian newspapers: Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 ore. He runs and animates the Rai1 Tg1 Dialogo. He hosts the programme In cammino. His latest book Processo a Francesco has been published recently. He is the co-author of the Assisi Manifesto.

Biography

Dr. Saleh is a visionary strategist and analyst who leads by example. He is an ardent advocate of avant-garde and innovative initiatives in education and social development, with a goal to create social changemakers and development contributors. He is a staunch supporter of the slogan "No One Should Be Left Out!" He enjoys charity work and volunteerism, and is a true believer in the power of social entrepreneurship and sustainable development initiatives to effect positive change.

Dr. Saleh holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in International Relations from the University Utara Malaysia, a Master of Public Management, and a Bachelor of Business Administration. He has extensive experience in a variety of roles, including Chief Executive Officer, Financial Officer, Advisor Consular Section, Consular Officer, Public Relations Officer, Lecturer, and Program Specialist.

He has also participated in numerous training courses, workshops, and conferences, and has received numerous awards. He was a speaker at the Social Transformation Leadership Training, the Regional Network Conference & Prize of The Granting Organization, and the Imaani Leadership from the International Institute for Muslim Unity.

Recently, he was selected as one of the Most Influential Arab Personalities in 2021 by CSR Regional Network, and the Most Successful People in Malaysia by Britishpedia in 2022.

In addition to his professional experience, Dr. Saleh has also volunteered at several non-profit organizations. He served as a mentor for a youth mentorship program, providing guidance and support to at-risk youth in their community. His volunteer work highlights his commitment to giving back and his ability to work effectively in a team-oriented, non-profit environment. He enjoys his tour of duty in charity works and moments in voluntarism.

In addition to being a true believer in the power of social entrepreneurship and sustainable development initiatives to effect positive change, Dr. Saleh is also a friendly and supportive leader who always encourages his team and peers to learn and grow.

Under his stewardship, NAMA Foundation has grown in leaps and bounds. He has secured collaborations and strategic partnerships with local and international government agencies, NGOs, corporates, multinational organizations, and world organizations.

Dr. Saleh is a shining example of what it means to be a changemaker. He is a visionary leader, a dedicated volunteer, and a true friend to those in need. He is a trailblazer and an inspiration to us all.

Biography

Daniel is a social business enthusiast passionate about the role of business in transforming communities.

He is the CEO and Founder of Aye Africa Foundation- a youth empowerment organization in Uganda. In 2022, as the Project Manager in partnership with the Yunus Centre and Kampala International University, Daniel Successfully managed a one year social business ecosystem builder’s project in Uganda directly training 1287 youths, reaching over 8.5million Ugandans and creating 225 social business entrepreneurs.

He is an Economist and a former banker. He is a founding Chairperson of the Financial Literacy Association of Uganda aimed eradicating poverty through democratization of financial literacy among communities. He holds a Master’s degree in Institutional Management and Leadership.

He is a member of the Institute of Corporate Governance Uganda (ICGU) and a Rotarian.

Daniel was nominated for the prestigious New Vision 40 under 40 Award under the Humanitarian category 2023.

Biography

Soprano Monica Yunus is the Co-Founder of Sing for Hope. Ms. Yunus has performed with the world’s leading opera companies, including The Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, The Zouk Festival, and in recitals in Spain, Guatemala, and her native Bangladesh. She has been named a 2016 Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, honored with a 21st Century Leaders Award, as “New Yorker of the Week” by NY1, and named one of the “Top 50 Americans in Philanthropy” by Town & Country. A leading voice in the “artist as citizen” discussion, she has performed and spoken at the Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit, Skoll World Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, and the United Nations. The daughter of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, Ms. Yunus is a graduate of The Juilliard School.

Biography

Before joining Grameen China, Gao Zhan served as a journalist of the National Development and Reform Commission’s internal references “Reform Internal Reference” and “China Reform”, deputy director of the journalism department of the National Development and Reform Commission. Grameen China is dedicated to helping the low-income people especially women who live in poverty, build their small businesses, get out of poverty and live better life, through replicating the Grameen microcredit model in China. Gao Zhan also serves as the Secretary-general for Foundation for Yunus Social Business China, promoting Social Business in Greater China. Gao Zhan is also Director of Asian Financial Cooperation Association, and Expert Member of China Micro-credit Companies Association.

Biography

KISS - located in Bhubaneswar, India - is a free of cost, fully-residential school for 37,000 indigenous students; this includes a mammoth body of 27,000 current students and over 10,000 alumni. KISS was founded in 1993 by Dr. Achyuta Samanta, with a vision of a world free of hunger, illiteracy and poverty.

Dr. Faiz Shah is a public health physician, development professional, and social entrepreneur with four decades leading innovative initiatives and building grassroots capacity for transformational change. Joining a permanent faculty position in community medicine at AI Medical College in 1986, he has taught at leading institutions in the US and Asia.  He directs the Yunus Center at the Asian Institute of Technology, co-leading the Yunus Masters in Social Business & Entrepreneurship and the ESG Masters programs. He is founding president of Yunus Thailand. As research partner for the Portable Health Clinic since 2011, he has led pilots in Pakistan and Thailand and contributed to a number of publications. His recent publication is the authorised Urdu translation of “A World of Three Zeros” by Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Biography

Luciano Gurgel graduated in Economics with large experience in financial and capital markets. He has worked for Yunus Social Business Brazil for 6 years and was involved in the structuring, fundraising and investments of Yunus Social Business Brazil Investment Fund.

Luciano is Executive Director of Artemisia, a pioneer institution in the promotion of social business in Brazil.

Biography

Juno Wang is a visionary leader with an impressive track record. Currently the CEO of the Foundation for Yunus Social Business Taiwan, Juno also serves as President of Unistaate Intl. Trading Enterprises Inc. With extensive experience in enterprise management, Juno is Chairperson of Master Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd. and Vice Chairperson of the Chinese Association for Corporate Transformation, Innovation and Advancement. They have been honored with prestigious awards, including the 11th Golden Summit Award of Outstanding Manager and the 11th Asia-Pacific International Honesty Enterprise - Keris Award. Juno's relentless dedication drives positive change in both business and social realms.

Biography

A cardiac surgeon of repute and a successful entrepreneur, Dr Shetty is a highly respected luminary for his ingenious ideas for reforms in healthcare sector. His visionary leadership to make quality healthcare affordable for all has drawn global recognition.

Narayana Hrudayalaya has been an interesting case study for the likes of Harvard Business School and The Wall Street Journal. In association with Government of Karnataka, Dr. Shetty pioneered Yeshaswini, a very inexpensive micro health insurance scheme benefitting more than 3.4 million rural poor.

Dr. Shetty is the current Chairman, Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. He has also served as a Member, Board of Governors of Medical Council of India and Representative of President of India in the Board of Governors of Indira Gandhi National Open University.

A strong advocate of technology for efficient healthcare delivery, Dr.Shetty takes deep interest in creating and developing software products and applications to achieve time and cost efficiency while minimizing clinical errors in healthcare delivery.

Dr. Shetty also has a US Patent registered as inventor Dr.Shetty is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, The Economist Innovation Award, Financial Times Arcelor Mittal ‘Boldness in Business’ Award, Nikkei Asia Prize for Economic and Business Innovation. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates from University of Minnesota and IIT Madras.


Dr Shetty is the Founder and Chairman at Narayana Hrudayalaya Group of Hospitals. The group now has 47 healthcare facilities with close to 7,000 beds.

Biography

Marina Mahathir is a newspaper columnist and activist. She led an HIV/AIDS NGO for 12 years, served on the board of Sisters in Islam for six years and currently chairs the board of Musawah, the global movement for justice and equality in the Muslim family. Marina has also produced TV programmes, feature films and a documentary and founded Zafigo.com, a website for women and travel. In November 2021, Penguin Random House SEAsia published her memoir The Apple and the Tree. She is a recipient of several awards from Malaysia and from France.

Biography

As Trustee and Managing Director of Hasanah, Dato’ Shahira Ahmed Bazari works together with a network of civil society organisations to create positive long-term and sustainable impact within Malaysia’s social and environmental landscapes. Hasanah invests in the following focus areas - Education, Community Development, Environment, Arts & Public Spaces, and Knowledge & Research. Under Dato’ Shahira’s leadership and guidance, Hasanah has assisted 2.4 million people, worked with 476 partner organisations,  disbursed RM 1.4 billion of funds in Malaysia, galvanised various multi-stakeholder social projects in the country, under the Public-Private-People-Partnership (PPPP) Model since its inception in 2015. Previously, Dato’ Shahira served a nine-year tenure at Khazanah from 2006 – 2015, where her last held position was Director in the Managing Director’s Office, in which she was instrumental in the setting up of Hasanah. Today, Dato’ Shahira also serves as a Trustee on the Boards of several social-based organisations in Malaysia.

Biography

James Chau has served as President of the China-United States Exchange Foundation since 2023.

He joined the Foundation in 2018, working with Founding Chairman The Honorable Tung Chee-hwa, First Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, and developing the digital initiatives that have become an important part of its outreach.

At the United Nations, Mr. Chau is the World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goals, appointed by WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, and re-appointed by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Previously, he was a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador - the first person in China named to this role.

A long-time television news anchor, he has earned a special reputation for his interviews with world leaders including Nobel Peace Prize laureates President Jimmy Carter, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and Professor Muhammad Yunus, as well as Christine Lagarde, Jane Goodall, and Madam Peng Liyuan.

Born in London, Mr. Chau studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music and graduated from Cambridge University and King’s College London. He completed an Executive Education course on Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

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, 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 Bangladesh and India. He served on different committees of the GSBS Academia Conferences and SB Day events from 2012-23.

Biography

Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Sharifah Sofia is an economist who holds an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE). During her graduate study, Sharifah Sofia led her team to the regional round and qualified as one of
the regional finalists of the Hult Prize 2016. During the same period, Sharifah Sofia was an external consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, examining methodologies to empower rural women in low income countries. Prior to that, Sharifah Sofia has worked at the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and interned as an investment banking analyst in Morgan Stanley, Singapore. Sharifah Sofia serves as a trustee of the Albukhary Foundation and is responsible for driving its educational initiatives. With 6 years of work experience in the private sector, focusing on corporate finance and strategy, Sharifah Sofia currently works in private equity. In parallel, she belongs to the inaugural cohort of Southeast Asia Next Gen Leaders at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS).

Sharifah Sofia chaired the Scholarship Committee at the Albukhary International University since its inception, where she also served as a member of the University’s Board of Governors. She is a Founding Board Member of Philanthropy University and served on the Board of Pos Malaysia, DRB-HICOM and MMC Corporation.

She has a keen interest in international development, social entrepreneurship, and more specifically, exploring the role of education in promoting progressive change.

Biography

Prometheus has garnered over a decade of experience in the global social business movement, having worked closely with Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus in various executive and board capacities across Asia and Australia. Currently, he serves as a non-executive Board Member in Grameen Australia (pioneering a pilot Grameen-styled Microfinance Social Business initiative within Australia). Additionally, Prometheus serves on the board of Grameen Philippines (Grameen Pilipinas Microfinance Inc) and Dana Asia, based in Singapore, with its diverse portfolio of social businesses in the Philippines and Cambodia. Prior to relocating to Sydney in mid-2014, Prometheus worked in the senior management team of one of Bangladesh's largest social business funds Chaired by Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. At present, Prometheus works as Manager, Commercial Program Delivery at Aurecon, a multinational design, engineering, and advisory company which works to bring ideas to life, to imagine and co-create with its clients a better future for people and the planet. Complementing his extensive industry expertise, Prometheus has also been engaged as a sessional academic, lecturing at his alma mater, Victoria University, and other institutions such as the Asia Pacific International College and the Sydney Institute of Higher Education in Sydney, Australia.

Biography

Mr. Ashraful Hassan is working with Grameen Group for last 39 years. Currently he is serving as Group Co-Chairman-2 of Grameen Group, Executive Vice Chairman of Grameen Telecom, Grameen Distribution Ltd. Grameen Shamogree, Grameen Knitwear Ltd. Grameen Fabrics & Fashions Ltd. Managing Director of Ononyo Construction & Developments Ltd. (a concern of Grameen) and CEO of Grameen Telecom Trust.

Mr. Hassan has extensive and diversified knowledge in various business, industrial sectors, construction engineering etc.  He has a profound knowledge in business development, industry setup & management, focusing on resource & energy saving production, wide exposure in local & export market.

He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of several enterprises in the fields of renewable energy, technology, education, health care, food & nutrition, construction, employment generation, entrepreneurship developments, information & communication technology etc.

Biography

Ms. Nazneen Sultana has been serving as Executive Vice Chairman of Grameen Communications.  She served as Managing Director of Grameen Communications since its inception in 1997. At Grameen Communications, she led various projects for reaching ICT to the remote villages, development of world’s first & complete micro banking software which is being used by most of the micro finance organizations including Grameen Bank.

She was also actively involved in formation of some social business companies, Grameen Euglena is one of them. Now, She is serving as a country manager of Euglena corporation Japan, liaison office of Bangladesh.

She also holds the responsibilities of the  Chairpersons of G. Japan Sunpower Auto Limited and Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Foundation.

Having completed BS and MS in Applied Mathematics from University of Chittagong, Bangladesh, she started her career at Grameen Bank and established ICT wing of the Bank. Meanwhile, she achieved a diploma in Management Information Systems from Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. Having experience in IT field for more than 30 years, she has been serving as Director of different IT companies including Accenture Bangladesh. Moreover, she serves as executive member of NGOs that deal with gender issues, affordable healthcare for poor, women empowerment and ICT for development.

Biography

Vincenzo Cursio is the FAO Food Coalition Coordinator at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, leading a global alliance to act, accelerate, and transform Agrifood systems to address food insecurity and climate challenges. He joined FAO in 2016 to establish and coordinate the FAO Nobel Peace Laureates Alliance for Food Security and Peace. Vincenzo was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.

Vincenzo has held influential positions in the Italian government and international organizations, including serving as a Political Spokesperson and Vice President of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates Secretariat.

He possesses diverse expertise in disarmament, children's rights, conflict resolution, climate change, economic development, and social protection. Vincenzo has played a crucial role in facilitating peace negotiations, organizing international conferences, and contributing to peace processes in Iraq, Nigeria, and Syria. He has also been actively involved in nuclear disarmament efforts and is a part of Pope Francis's Covid-19 Task Force and the Vatican Foundation Fratelli Tutti, led by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the Vicar of the Vatican City.

With advanced degrees in Political Science and International Relations, as well as History and Religious Studies, Vincenzo's educational background reflects his dedication to his field.

As a renowned economist and social entrepreneur, Vincenzo collaborates with Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, promoting social business and microfinance in Italy, and working towards establishing new Yunus Centers.

Vincenzo's commitment to children's rights is exemplified through his role as the co-Founder of the City of Peace for Children Foundation, presided over by Nobel Laureate Jody Williams. The foundation supports over 900 children through integration services and education.

He has participated in major international summits and curated exhibitions such as "The Kennedys" and "Posters of War: Spain 1936-1939, Art and Propaganda for Freedom." Vincenzo is actively involved in the prestigious Trento Festival of Economics, which brings together renowned economists and leaders.

As an Africanist, Vincenzo founded the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Centre Europe and curated the first Italian edition of "Africa Must Unite," written by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana and founder of the African Union. He is a distinguished analyst for respected Italian publications and delivers inspiring TED Talks.

Biography

Managing Director & Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group


David He leads Boston Consulting Group’s work in serving Greater China’s financial industry. David also leads the research conducted by the firm’s China Banking Institute and BCG’s work in the technology arena.

David has acquired deep insight into China’s macroeconomic and financial policies, insurance, commercial banks, asset management, wealth management, financial technologies, and enterprise globalization. He is a certified project management professional (PMP).

David has published extensively on macroeconomics, commercial banks, wealth-and-asset management, insurance, and financial technologies.

For years, he has been invited to lecture at Tsinghua University’s PBC School of Finance and the Insurance Association of China.

Before joining BCG in 2008, David worked at the Bank of China as a senior manager at headquarters, at a Hong Kong subsidiary, and in New York.

He has long been concerned about the development of micro-finance in the world. Mr. He began to assist in the promotion of Grameen China very early on.

He has visited Grameen project sites many times to observe and experience. He is the main promoter of Boston Consulting Group China's cooperation with Grameen China. Under his leadership, the project team of Boston Consulting Group is helping the Grameen China team to solve the current adaptation problems of Grameen China.

Biography

Dr. Jemilah Mahmood is a medical professional with more than two decades of experience managing crises in health, disasters and conflict settings. She is currently Professor and Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University in Malaysia. She holds advisory roles at the Consultative Council for Foreign Policy Malaysia and is currently a member of the Health White Paper Advisory Council at the Ministry of Health Malaysia. She is also the sustainability advisor at Air Asia and the national advisor of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society. Globally, she is a member of the board of Roche in Switzerland and the Norwegian Refugee Council. In 2023, she was appointed to the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council of Responsible Resource Use, and one of three Global Champions for the Grand Bargain in Humanitarian Efficiency and Effectiveness. She is a strong advocate of planetary health and sustainability and actively advises on Environment, Social and Governance in the advisory and board roles she holds.

Previous appointments include the Under Secretary General for Partnerships at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Chief of the World Humanitarian Summit secretariat at the United Nations, and Chief of the Humanitarian Response Branch at UNFPA. She was the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia on Public Health and member of the Government of Malaysia’s Economic Action Council from April 2020-September 2021 as well as the Climate Action Council of Malaysia until end 2022.  She is the founder of MERCY Malaysia, a southern-based international humanitarian organisation.

She is the recipient of numerous national and international awards including the most prestigious Malaysian Merdeka Award in 2015 and the ASEAN Prize in 2019, for her contribution to peace, community development and humanitarian work. She also received the inaugural Isa Award for Humanity in 2013 from the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Gandhi- King-Ikeda Award for community development and peace building from Morehouse College, USA.  More recently, she was awarded the Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health 2023.

Dr Mahmood graduated as a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the National University of Malaysia, has a Masters in Obstetrics & Gynaecology from the same university and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists United Kingdom. She also completed executive education at the International Management and Development Centre, IMD Lausanne and University California Berkeley Law.

Biography

Shamsul Haque Ahmed brings more than 25 years of corporate experience including 14 years in top management position. He obtained MBA from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in 2000, with Major in Finance. He also completed B.Sc. in Engineering degree in EEE from Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology.

His career track includes operations and business development, sales administration, market development and project management. Shamsul worked for top level reputed companies like Omera Petroleum, ARTISAN Ceramics, SHANTA Properties, Rahimafrooz & Shinepukur Ceramics. Presently he is working as the Managing Director of Grameen Health Care Services Ltd. as well as performing responsibility of Managing Director at Samajik Health Science Institute and Research Center.
Shamsul Haque Ahmed is a business professional, member of different associations; he attended several professional training and workshop programs both locally and internationally.
   

Biography

Suresh has over 25 years of experience in social business, microfinance & working with low income households.. He was the Managing Director of CreditAccess Grameen, India's largest NBFC-MFI, for over 15 years. He is passionate about social businesses, micro housing, financial literacy, and livelihoods for the poor. He has studied international microfinance models and strategies from several reputed institutions.

Few highlights of his career:

• Managing Director of CreditAccess Grameen (1999-2015)
• Co-founded Microfinance associations in India – AKMI & MFIN
• Co-founder & Managing Trustee of Navya Disha Trust – A NGO supporting youth in self employment, Chairman of Buzz India – a NGO working on women empowerment
• He served as Director of Mifos.org, BinaArtha, SMILE Microfinance, Centrum Microfinance, Sudhanand Healthcare, Sadhana Innovative financial services etc.,
• Currently he serves as Independent Director of Sanghamitra Rural Financial Services, Grameen Foundation for Social Initiatives, Waste Ventures P. Ltd., Child Fund India
• Studied international microfinance models and strategies from several reputed institutions like Harvard Business School, Bankakademi, Institute of Rural Management, etc.
• Alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), Bengaluru (India)

Biography

Raymond is the Director for Strategic Projects & Administration at Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), which is one of the first Grameen Bank Replication in the Philippines.  In this role, he oversees Human Resource, I.T. and various Social Business Projects & Advocacies of the foundation.  He also oversees NWTF’s subsidiary, Dungganon Bank, which caters to MSME clients and is currently working with various groups in the country to tap local capital to fund social businesses in the country.

Biography

Awuor is the founder and CEO of Nyalore Impact, a hardware-tech business, and an esteemed expert on modern energy cooking solutions (MECS) in Kenya. Awuor is also the inventor of the EffiChef Solutions Hub in Kenya, a facility for professionalizing modern cooking techniques, energy-saving techniques, customer service, after-sales services, enhancing entrepreneurship skills, using technology to aggregate/consolidate data and e-waste management of electric cooking appliances. Additionally, they organize interactive cooking demonstrations, technician workshops, and presentations where they emphasize the most recent developments in modern cooking solutions. Awuor promotes a greener future, and our goal is to increase everyone's access to sustainable modern energy-efficient cooking solutions. She passionately champions gender equity at all levels, both inside and outside of her own business, because she strongly believes in it. We are your go-to company for modern, environmentally friendly cooking solutions that will transform the way you prepare and minimize your environmental impact.

Biography

Christina co-founded Yunus Environment Hub (YEH) together with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and his Creative Advisor Hans Reitz. YEH develops social business solutions that tackle the environmental and climate crisis. The expertise of the global YEH network covers waste & plastic management, circular economy, carbon neutrality, biodiversity, afforestation, sustainable agriculture, clean energy and access to clean water.

Christina was appointed to the Commission on Sustainable Business, Trade and Finance of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation & Development and serves as cochair of the ministry’s PREVENT Waste Alliance. She is part of the advisory committee of the
Circular Action Hub, a board member of the Circular Economy for Africa association, a Responsible Leader of the BMW Foundation World Responsible Leaders network and has received a Social Impact Scholarship of KfW Foundation. She has lectured at several universities and speaks regularly at high profile events. In 2016 she co-founded “Circular Economy Rhein Main” and in 2019 “Colombia Circular”, platforms to develop a circular economy in Rhein Main metropolitan region and Colombia respectively; in 2016 she cofounded “The Plastic Lab”, a creative laboratory to keep plastics out of nature.

YEH is a spin-off company of Grameen Creative Lab where Christina is an Advisory Board member and has served before as Managing Partner and various other roles since 2011. Prior, she worked as Assistant to the Executive Director of Yunus Centre in Bangladesh and was trained in micro-finance with Grameen Bank.  She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science & International Economics from Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg and studied International Relations of Latin America, Spanish & Portuguese at UADE. During her studies
she was an active member of AIESEC, the largest international student run NGO on developing societal leaders. She was Vice President Talent Management, Conference Manager for the annual International Congress in Brazil (2008) and India (2010) and served as trainer and facilitator in various conferences.

Christina’s passion is nature and exploring the wonders of our world. She has embarked on a journey towards a zero-waste lifestyle and in becoming a vegan. Christina draws inspiration from art, culture & sustainable design and enjoys doing sports such as hiking, mountain biking, yoga and volleyball.

Biography

Sohel Ahmed is the Managing Director of Grameen Shakti, one of the leading social business in the world, founded by Nobel laureate Prof. Mohammad Yunus, with an aim of improving “Access to Energy”. Sohel
has more than a decade of experience of working in the field of Renewable Energy, have expertise of modelling and managing large development projects, as well as investment planning and advocacy on
renewable energy and social business.

Sohel is also spearheading “Consultancy & Knowledge Practice” cell in GS that has executed or implementing various development projects, notable among them are (a) peer-to-peer solar electricity
trading (UN DESA) (b) Eco-village Development (Danish Project) (c) WePOWER (World Bank) (d) Energy Transition etc. In 2021, Sohel has been nominated as a member of the High-Level Dialogue
Technical Committee on “Energy Access” of UN. Currently he is working as an active member of the Steering Committee of WePOWER, a forum of World Bank promoting women participation in power
sector. In 2022, Sohel has received the “Individual Achievement Award” from WePOWER. World Bank platform.

Biography

Country Director – Yunus Environment Hub, Vietnam
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tam-phan-hanh-6b7310199/

Tam is the Country Director of Yunus Environment Hub Vietnam, a registered social business with social and environmental commitments under Vietnam’s Law on Enterprises.  The purpose of Yunus Environment Hub Vietnam is to contribute to a world without poverty, unemployment and net carbon emissions ("a world with three zeros") in and through the environmental sector and, to this end, to promote directly and indirectly the implementation of the "social business" approach in the environmental sector at home and abroad. 

Tam comes from southern Vietnam (the Mekong Delta region) and has lived and worked in Ho Chi Minh City for the past 18 years. She focuses on humanities and socio-cultural developmental works. Her career journey has been a life-enriching constitution with over 15 years working in the business development, education, philanthropy and environmental sectors.

Yunus Environment Hub (YEH) is the global social business network creating solutions for the environmental crisis. Co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus, YEH supports and develops social business solutions addressing environmental issues in a financially self-sustainable way. Focus areas are solutions for improved waste management & sustainable plastic recycling, circular economy, carbon neutrality, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, access to clean water and clean energy.

Biography

Alex Counts is the author of Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind: Leadership Lessons from Three Decades of Social Entrepreneurship (Revised edition) (Rivertowns Books, 2021), a consultant to mission-driven organizations, and a professor at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

In 1997 he established Grameen Foundation with the support of Professor Yunus and ran the organization for its first 18 years.  

Counts’ other writings include Small Loans, Big Dreams: Grameen Bank and the Microfinance Revolution in Bangladesh, America and Beyond (2022 Edition). Counts has also been published in The Washington Post, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Times of India, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 

Biography

Mr. Shankar Man Shrestha has been involved in the microfinance sector for more than 50 years. He is the promoter and advocator of the clean microfinance campaign in Nepal and the Chairman of Centre for Self-help Development (CSD), a pioneer MFI in Nepal. He is also one of the nine promoters and the founder Executive Director of CSD. He also served as the Chairman of the Centre for Rural Technology (CRT) Nepal and was also a member of advisory committee of Samriddha Pahad, UK and Samriddha Pahad Company Nepal. He had also served as the Board Director of Nepal Banking Institute (NBI) since its inception to April 2014. In his early career he worked in the Agricultural Development Bank Ltd. where he was involved for more than 25 years in various capacities such as Director of Agricultural Credit Training Institute, Chief of Credit Department, Regional Manager and the latest being Deputy General Manager. He was a member of the Evaluation Team for the prestigious AGFUND International Prize 2018. He has an M.A. Degree in Economics from Tribhuvan University and was a special student of Agricultural Economics at the Texas A&M University, USA. Mr. Shrestha has attended the HBS-ACCION Program on Strategic Leadership at Harvard Business School, USA. Mr. Shrestha has long and rich experience of organizing and facilitating microfinance seminars, conferences, summits, workshops and training programs. He has delivered sessions at several seminars and conferences as guest speaker both at home and aboard. His articles and research papers covering both national and international topics and issues have been published in coveted newspapers, journals and magazines around the world.

Biography

Mr.Ratan Kumar Nag is currently working as the Managing Director of Grameen Shakti Samajik Byabosha Ltd. Mr. Nag was Managing Director of Grameen Bank and one of the earliest associates of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus since the project period of Grameen Bank. Mr. Nag also worked with CASHPOR Malaysia on deputation from 1997 until 1999 where he supervised Grameen replication projects in Asia-Pacific region.He participated at various national and international seminars, symposiums, conference. Mr. Nag is a member of the Board of Director of Grameen Shakti and Grameen Krishi Foundation. He completed his Masters in Management from the University of Dhaka.

Biography

Since 2018, I have been working at the Volkswagen Group Foundation Brazil, currently as its Superintendent. Once, I was also the executive responsible for the Board of Administration and Institutional Relations of the entity and for the Social Responsibility area of Volkswagen Brazil. Current member of Volkswagen's Diversity Committee and VW Trucks and Buses’ Institutional Committee.

Master in Social History; MBA in Business Management; Executive Training in Sustainability ("Skills for the Green Transition") by the Cambridge Judge Business School; Specialist in Culture Management; Graduated in History; Graduated in Marketing. Member of the International Jury of the Zero Project Award. For more than 8 years, I worked at Fundação Bradesco, the largest private foundation in Brazil, in the areas of institutional relations and communication. In addition, author of articles on education, history and third sector and reviewer of scientific journals.

Biography

Ser Miang Ng is a Singaporean entrepreneur, sport administrator, sailor and a retired diplomat.

In 1982, he founded Trans-Island Bus Services to provide transportation solutions in Singapore. He is the current chairman of public-listed Thomson Medical Group Limited and chaired NTUC FairPrice, the largest supermarket chain in Singapore, from 2005-2014.

As chairman of the Singapore Sports Council from 1991 to 2002, he launched a national sports excellence programme to support young Singapore sport talent to be competitive on the world stage. He has served the Singapore National Olympic Council since 1990, and is currently the first vice-president of the International Olympic Committee.

Besides serving sports, he retired from diplomacy in 2019 after serving as Ambassador to Hungary and Norway for 12 and 18 years, respectively.

Biography

Practitioner of microfinance and social business. Since 1994, she has been working with Grameen Trust which has helped implement more than 154 Grameen Replication Programs in 43 countries and provided equity support to more than 25,000 new entrepreneurs by June 2023.

Biography

Jovina is an accomplished Olympian dedicated to leveraging the power of sports for lasting social change. With expertise in non-profit organizations consultancy, she works with National Olympians Associations to create impactful Olympian-led programmes across the Asia Pacific region. She is also a certified IOC Athlete365 Career+ Educator, empowering athletes through outreach workshops.

Biography

Dong-uk, Kim has more than 10 years of consulting and research experience in social business. He has a Ph.D. degree majoring in international area & cooperation and is passionate about developing social business in international cooperation development area.

Biography

Callum Mackenzie is the Co-founder and Managing Director of Yunus Thailand. He also sits on the Steering Committee for the Yunus Professional Masters in Social Business & Entrepreneurship and teaches on the Yunus Practicum. 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 Bachelors with Honours from the Queen's University Belfast in Conflict Studies.

Biography

Ms. Niru Shamsun Nahar has been working at Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing since 2010. She joined as a Vice Principal and got promoted to be the Principal in 2015. Previously she worked for both government and non-government organizations at home and abroad. She had her Diploma in Advanced Nursing & MSc. in International Health from Queen Margaret University in Edinburg, Scotland. She has long been contributing in the development of Nursing education in Bangladesh by actively sharing her knowledge and helping others. She is actively involved in promoting social business.

Biography

Shihab Quader helps social businesses with strategy design and execution at all stages of their life cycle. With over 10 years of international development experience, managing $900M in 4 continents, he is currently handling a diversified portfolio of international projects at the Yunus Centre including Muhammad Yunus's global campaign to "Make the COVID-19 vaccine a Global Common Good". Shihab completed his MBA from the University of Massachusetts and is a currently based in Dhaka.

Biography

Robert Akoko is the EA Projects Coordinator for the Yunus and You Foundation with 5 years’ experience supporting small and growing businesses in the startup ecosystem in East Africa. Robert is experienced in project management and has a passion for Innovation and working with the youth to create Impact. He has managed various Africa-based projects within an Incubator training over 4000 youth on entrepreneurial skills. Robert is inspired to contribute to society through sharing his skills.

Biography

Brigadier General Saleem Ahmad Khan, PhD (Retired)
Managing Director, Grameen Communications

    General Saleem served in the Bangladesh Army for 34 years. He has wide range of experience in the military including international peacekeeping experience with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone and United Nations Mission in Sudan. He participated in the 2004 United Nations peace operations logistics meeting held in the UNHQ as a representative of Bangladesh and in 2014 meeting as a Vice Chairman. He led a good number of projects related to socio-economic development and ICT at home and abroad.

    General Saleem initiated, planned, organized and implemented good number of projects-related to socio-economic development is Sudan from 2009-10. The projects were related to Child Survival Initiative programme; Renovation and providing equipment to an eye clinic; Solar power systems for the hospital, the secretariat of social services and schools; Sports for peace; providing seating support in an IDP school; construction of ten schools for providing non-formal education; providing a tractor to farmers for mechanical ploughing.
    He facilitated the UN Integrated Mission Staff Officers’ Course, conducted by Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, Ottawa, Canada in 2010 and enlisted as Community of Expert. From 2012 to 2019, he was a facilitator in a seminar on UN Peace Operations in Uruguay, Indonesia, and the US. He is a member of the Academic Community of the UN Systems (ACUNS).

    Saleem obtained his PhD from the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada as a full-time student. He completed Masters in Philosophy, Masters in Defence Studies, Masters in War Studies, and Masters in Security and Development Studies. Saleem did Bachelor of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India and became a telecom engineer. His ICT-related qualifications include Accredited Tier Designer of Uptime Institute, Certified Information System Auditor, and Certified Information Technology Manager.

    General Saleem served as the Director Overseas Operations and Director Information Technology at the Army Headquarters of Bangladesh Army. He served as the Dean of Faculty of Technical and Engineering Studies in Bangladesh University of Professionals. He established Trust Innovation Ltd, an ICT outfit of Bangladesh Army under Army Welfare Trust and became the Founder MD.

     Dr. Saleem authored number of books and articles. His book on “Civil-Military Coordination in UN peace operations and bottom-up approach of state-building” is published the Routledge. His other published books include “Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: A Study of the World Leaders and the UN operations in Bangladesh [1971-73]”, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: A Study of the World Leaders and the UN operations in Bangladesh [1971-73], and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: Sports Events [1971-73].

    Dr. Saleem is married to Dr. Nawshin Shabnam, who is a pediatrician, and they are proud parents of two daughters: Saiha Nawar Khan and Manha Surur Khan.

Biography

Biography

Biography

Michael Wirtz has studied managerial economics and sociology. He worked for the Wuppertal Institute of Climate, Enviroment and Energy and for the Chair of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at the University of Wuppertal. He taught students how to write a social business plan and developed social projects with them supporting the local enactus team as a University Advisor.

In 2018 he completed a cumulative PhD titled “Social Business Innovations” containing four studies in the field of social business (open access). Since then he worked as a consultant with a focus on sustainabilty and founded the Private Institute for Social Business Innovation in 2022.

Biography

Shazeeb M Khairul Islam is an Obama Scholar and the founder of YY Ventures, a social business company that incubates and invests in social businesses fighting poverty, unemployment, and carbon emission. YY Ventures has supported 60+ social entrepreneurs since 2016 who have impacted the lives of more than 150,633 people and created 1300+ jobs.

He is also a co-founder at Impact Hub Dhaka, part of the global Impact Hub Network mobilizing a vibrant community of entrepreneurs in Dhaka through inspiring space, meaningful content, and a diverse network to create a Bangladesh where everyone thrives. Shazeeb is also the CEO at 3Z Global Centre, a one-stop help centre for all 3ZERO Clubs, Circles, 3Z Support organisations, and YSBCs, and facilitates networking among all Clubs and associated organisations.

Shazeeb is a member of the Board of Trustees at Grameen Trust, a non-profit and non-government organization founded in 1989 by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus that supports, promotes and implements poverty-focused microfinance, and social business and other programs around the world.

Shazeeb has working experience with YGAP, Give2Asia and the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and has studied at the University of Dhaka and Columbia University in the City of New York.

Biography

Andrea Jung is the President and CEO of Grameen America. She is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avon Products, Inc., where she served as CEO from 1999 to 2012, and as Chairman from 2001 through 2012. Throughout her career, Ms. Jung ranked consistently among the top leaders on lists including Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business," Forbes’ "Most Powerful Women in the World," and the Financial Times' "Top Women in World Business." Ms. Jung is a graduate of Princeton University. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Inc., Unilever, Rockefeller Capital Management and Wayfair Inc. She previously served on the boards of General Electric and Daimler AG.

Biography

Vanessa is co-founder and CEO, Seed Global Health, Associate Director of Partnerships and Global Initiatives at Mass General Global Health, and Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School. Seed Global Health is a non-profit that focuses on the power of investing in health and the health workforce for social well-being, economic growth, and equity which transforms countries. Through a partnership with governments and in-country academic institutions, under Vanessa’s tenure, Seed has helped train more than 17,000 doctors, nurses, and midwives and has impacted hundreds of thousands of lives. She is also the director of the Program in Global Public Policy and Social Change in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Vanessa is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Social Entrepreneur.

Biography

From January 2021, Maria Ida is leading the Grameen Creative Lab with the mission of creating a global Social Business Movement for a World with 3 Zeros (zero unemployment, zero poverty, zero Net Carbon Emissions,) and bring Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Yunus Muhammad legacy around the world through events and projects with social businesses, companies, and institutions. After a series of experiences in startups and social enterprises consulting in Berlin, she started her Marketing career in Unilever Headquarters in Rotterdam in the Home Care Global Team. In 2019 she joined the Food team in Italy. There she contributed to the definition of brand strategies and of the first performance marketing campaigns. Recently graduated as Growth Hacking Marketeer at Talent Garden Innovation School, she has co-founded the Global Shapers Community initiative “SOS-Save One Seat”, the first Italian and European platform born in March 2020 during the first lockdown to support restaurants in this hardtime. She was selected to join One Young World in Bogotà, where she led a project aimed at integrating refugees in Rome through culture and contributed to the creation of the #Eunite Campaign reaching over 1 M people all over Europe on 9th May 2020.

Biography

Yoan Noguier is the Co-founder and Director of the Yunus Sports Hub. Formerly Procurement Manager for Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Yoan met Prof Yunus at the beginning of 2017 while advocating about the potential social outcome of sporting events. After a first successful collaboration resulting in the signature of an agreement with Paris 2024, the Yunus Sports Hub was created. Yoan grew up in the south of France, speaks 4 languages and played rugby at the french federal level. Yunus Sports Hub is the global social business network creating local solutions in and through sport.

Biography

Christine is the Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific for Grameen Foundation. She is responsible for strengthening the pipeline for strategic collaborations related to innovations for agriculture, women economic empowerment and & financial services. In 2020-2021, she supported COVID-19 response projects, including the Celo Social Dividend Campaign, reaching micro-entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers. In 2016, Christine led Grameen’s Community Agent Network Program with the goal of establishing a shared agent network that allowed end-users to conduct financial transactions within their villages. As an experienced manager, she holds more than a decade of experience working in the development sector or civil society organizations. She holds a Masters in Development Economics from the University of the Philippines- Diliman.

Biography

Born on February 21, 1960

Has over 30 years of experience in financial/asset management industry. Assumed many managements role of Private Banking marketing group, dealing with wide range of Ultra High Networth individuals in Japan. After meeting Professor Yunus in 2010, besides serving at financial industry, started to construct/implement social business in Bangladesh and Japan. Japan Automechanic Ltd. is a joint venture project, having Professor Yunus as Chairman of the company. Currently started Japan Action Tank to further contribute to the awareness and creation of the Social Business in Japan.


Reference:
1990～2005　Ｍanaging Director, CITIBAK N.A. (Japan)
2005～2016  Managing Director, UBS A.G. (Japan)
2016～2021  Japan Head, CREDIT SUISSE PRIVATE BANK
2021～　　　Vice Chairman, NPO SK Dream Japan
2023～      EY STRATEGY AND CONSULTING (Japan)

Biography

Hongshan joined CAFI in October of 2022. As Secretary-General of CAFI, her role is to set up strategy to continuously increase CAFI’s impact in financial inclusion and impact investing sectors. Hongshan was CEO of S&P’s China, and has enriched expertise, leadership and influence in credit rating industry after working in S&P’s for 13 years. She is also author of the book,  <Credit Rating, From Zero To One>. Before that, Hongshan worked in Citi Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Unicom. Hongshan holds BA degree of Renmin University of China and MBA degree of National University of Singapore.

Biography

Nurfarini is co-founder and CEO at myHarapan, a Foundation established in 2010 dedicated to helping youth achieve their true potential by empowering them to make a positive social impact. Equipped with 17 years of start-up experience including training and coaching for
SMEs and unemployed graduates gathered including her serving at Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia and headed the Project Management & IT services unit under the Technopreneurs Development Department.

Graduated with Accounting and Finance from University of Warwick, an Alumni of INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Program and has a Certificate in Teaching, Stamford College. In Feb 2015, she won the Social Innovation Leadership award by World CSR Congress, India. A
member of Social Return on Investment network, South East Asia Leadership Network and Asian Venture Philanthropy network. In 2015, she was nominated for Malaysian Great Women of our Time award by Women’s Weekly.  She received another award for Corporate Social
Responsibility Leadership in March 2017 for her work, supporting and redefining CSR by the World CSR Congress. She also received Fellowship Honorary Award from Social Enterprise Research Academy.

She loves play and fun and hopes to enable us to channel our inner child throughout our lives. She receives much help from her 3 children

Biography

Shiori Onishi is the Co-CEO of Grameen Euglena. She is currently based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and responsible for developing social business on agriculture and nutrition in the country. Before joining Euglena in March 2022, she worked at Mitsui & Co., Ltd (Japanese trading house), the World Bank, PwC, and CROWD CREDIT, Inc., and was engaged in rural finance, microfinance and infrastructure projects in emerging countries. During her assignment at the World Bank, she was based in India and Afghanistan and led field implementation of PPP and financial sector development including microfinance. She has got her education in Japan, the UK and the Philippines, and holds the MSc of Development Finance from the University of Manchester.

Biography

Abida Sultana is the co-founder of Onnosheba, a diner & a food caterer which serves nutritious & healthy food at an affordable price to menial workers in urban area of Chittagong, Bangladesh. She is also a director of Chittagong Social Business Center & looks after the project proposals from new entrepreneurs & their implementations.

On completion of her Post graduation in Marine Sciences she engaged herself in the family run business in Aqua-Culture. She also worked in primary and high School as a Science coordinator and teacher for seven years.

In 2014 she started Onnosheba as a pilot project to serve nutritious packaged food & snacks at an affordable price for some primary schools and low-income working adults in the vision to change the unhealthy traditional street food culture. To cater to the increasing demand a company of 10 shareholders- Onnosheba Ltd. was formed on 8th November 2015. By December 2015, demand was high enough to terminate push marketing and sell directly from an outlet. On 7th December 2015, Onnosheba opened its first outlet, in line with Dr. Mohammad Yunus’ social business model.

Onnosheba creates viable alternatives for traditionally ill-served individuals. Because it remains profitable despite keeping profit margins low, Onnosheba is the living proof that it is possible to create sustainable businesses targeting lower income groups”.

The project which started with the investment of her personal savings of approximate BDT 50,000 and engaged only five menial workers made turnover of about BDT BDT. 96,82,643.00 with 26 workers in the year 2021. Currently to reach out to bigger customers Onnosheba also plans to launch a large kitchen facility with a maximum capacity of 25,000 meals per day to increase its market share.

Biography

After graduating from college with a degree in Mass Communication, Shaarane, quickly got her feet in myHarapan as a Public Relations Executive. She hopes to be a person who could contribute to bringing the change and motivate the younger generation to become better because ‘the future depends on what they do today“. Being the person who handles all social media platforms of myHarapan, she started spreading positivity and inspiring stories which are in line with what the organisation goals through her postings every day. She started enjoying her journey in myHarapan believing that her contribution will able to bring positive change.

Biography

Biswajit Ghosh is the CEO of Rotary India Literacy Mission (RILM) and India Humanity Foundation (IHF), two nationally renowned Rotary-based foundations which is extensively working across India for the last 10+ years, covering Literacy, Skill Development, Environment, Water & Sanitation, Health and Disaster Management.

Biswajit Ghosh is currently connected as a Yunus Fellow (with Yunus Centre), supporting the conceptualisation /creation of an Online global internship program for 3 Zero Clubs.

In his earlier stint, he had handling various leadership activities in the HSBC group globally, his last role being Global Head of Technical Training, HSBC Back-Offices. After over 2 & ½ decades of Corporate career, he took the decision to join the Social Development sector at the start of the pandemic phase, to get an opportunity to perform socially impactful work.

During his past 3 years, RILM / IHF has notable national achievements, like RILM being the leading NGO contributor of eLearning content for the 12 National PM -eVidya TV Channels (1-class 1-channel), launched by Ministry of Education during the school lockdown; collaboration with ACT Grants for national wide distribution of oxygen concentrators during the critical 2nd pandemic phase;

Post-pandemic program delivery included a nation-wide campaign by Rotary Clubs to provide free eyeglasses to school-children (3+ Lakh students screened); IHF’s unique disaster-support program of relief-in-a-Box for each beneficiary (called Shelter-Kit) ; their current flagship program is a nation-wide campaign towards Adult Literacy to make India totally Literate by 2030 (part of Union Government’s New India Literacy Program 2022 – 27), etc.

Biography

Paola Samoggia graduated in piano and achieved the Post Graduate Master Course “COMPOSER” in the Opera Academy Verona. She attended the High Composition Master Course in the Royal Philharmonic Academy of Bologna.


Paola collaborates with several producer for ads, documentaries and short films, and she also composes on commission for major contemporary art galleries and music institutions. She is facing artistic projects about social issues since 2010. She composed the music for
the Multimedia Chamber Opera "27 DOLLARI" (inspired by “Banker to the Poor”, the first book of M. Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate Professor) and for the Ballet "NO CRASH" (music, dance and architecture about deaths at work

Biography

World citizen. Past President of the International Union of Architects UIA,  Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite of French Republic in 2013 and de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2016. Board Director of Futures Cities UK 2013-15. Chairperson of Smart Mauritius, Chairman of Construction Industry Board 2015- 18. UN Habitat Special Envoy since 2016, Chair of the Port Louis Development Initiative since 2017 and Africa Clean Energy Solutions since 2019. Membre de la Chaire ETI Panthéon Sorbonne.

Biography

Dominique V. Dauster serves as as Managing Director of Prof. Muhammad Yunus´ international operating foundation "Yunus + You - The YY-Foundation". YY-Foundation focusses on the global dissemination of Prof. Yunus´ social business agenda.

Dominique advocates the social business movement in Europe, Asia, the Americas and in Eastern Africa and serves as Special Advisor for International Relations to Prof. Yunus inter alia at the United Nations Week, World Economic Forum, Global Social Business Summit, One Young World and Vatican. Dominique represents Prof. Yunus as Special Advisor in the Sustainable Development Goals Advocacy Group at United Nations in New York, Rome and Bonn.

Biography

Waqar is an Advisor to the Chairman of the Grameen Group and an Independent Director of Marie Stopes Bangladesh.

He has over 35+ years of experience, twenty-two of which were with Unilever's Global operations as CFO, Audit Director, SC Director, and Controller. His expertise lies in Performance, Risk & Supply Chain Management, Governance, and deployment of IT as a strategic weapon. Post Unilever, Waqar gained vibrant experience operating as a Board member or Advisor to various Bangladeshi conglomerates.

Waqar is a BComm from the University of Ottawa, Canada, US CPA, MBA from Strathclyde University in Scotland, and AMP from INSEAD.

Biography

The Vice-Chancellor and President’s Office assists the Vice-Chancellor and President to carry out official  leadership, academic and administrative duties for the whole of Albukhary International University (AIU). The Vice-Chancellor and President’s Office is responsible for ensuring that the policies, strategic directions, and development are in line with the aspiration of the University based on the AIU philosophy, AIU core values (5As – Aqidah, Akhlaq, Adab, Amanah, and Amalan), AIU mission, and vision. The Office is also responsible for the maintenance and development of the University’s corporate governance framework including ensuring regulatory and legislative requirements placed upon the University’s Governance structure are fulfilled.

Biography

Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif (Malaysia) is the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), appointed at the level of Under-Secretary-General by the Secretary-General, following an election by the General Assembly on 22 December 2017. On 22 January 2018, Ms. Sharif assumed her post at UN-Habitat’s Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. She succeeds Dr. Joan Clos of Spain.

Prior to this appointment, Ms. Sharif was the Mayor of the City Council of Penang Island, Malaysia. In 2011, she became the first woman to be appointed President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. As mayor, she led the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai to achieve its vision of a “cleaner, greener, safer and healthier place to work, live, invest and play.” She is a champion of Gender-Responsive Participatory Budgeting and Planning, integrating gender perspectives into the governance process. During her tenure, the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai was the first Local Authority to implement and achieve six quality-based management ISO certifications.

Ms. Sharif began her career as a town planner at the Municipal Council of Penang Island in 1985. In 2003, she was promoted to Director of Planning and Development, a position she held until November 2009. As Director, she was responsible for the preparation of structure and local plans and was directly involved in the development management of Penang City’s projects and landscape. She also led a team which planned and implemented urban renewal projects in George Town. In November 2009, as its General Manager, Ms. Sharif established George Town World Heritage Incorporated and managed the George Town World Heritage Site, which was inscribed by UNESCO in July 2008.

Born in Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, on 26 August 1961, Ms. Sharif holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Town Planning Studies from the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, UK and a Master of Science in Planning Studies from the Malaysia Science University. She has received several awards, including, “Planner of The Year 2014” by the Malaysian Institute of Planners, the 2016 Global Human Settlements Outstanding Contribution Award during Habitat III in Quito, for her contribution in sustainable planning in Seberang Perai and from the Penang State Government. On 11 January 2018, she received an award from the Malaysia Book of Records recognizing her for being the first Asian woman to be appointed as Executive Director of UN-Habitat. She is married to Mr. Adli Lai and has two daughters.

Biography

Biography

Hiroshi Osaki
Fromer Representative Director & Chairman of Yoshimoto Kogyo Holdings Co.Ltd.
Co-Chairperson - Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Japan Even Planning Committee  
Representative Director - mother ha.ha Foundation

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Hiroshi was born in Osaka in 1953. After graduating from the College of Social Studies of Kansai University in 1978 he joined Yoshimoto Kogyo. He was one of the founding members of the Tokyo Office in 1980. In 1993 he served as the head of the Soft Content Development of the Production Division. In 2001 he was appointed as a Director and went on to serve as the Senior Managing Director and Vice President. In 2009 he assumed duties as the President. In 2018, as the Joint Representative Director - CEO, from 2019 to April 2023 he served as the Representative Managing Director & Chairman.He also operated as the President of yunus - yoshimoto Social Action Co., Ltd. till April 2023. From May 2023, he serves as the Co-Chairperson - Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Japan Event Planning Committee. He also founded and serves as the Representative Director - mother ha.ha Foundation.