Leadership

Muhammad Yunus

Inspiration for Grameen Foundation and Founding Member
of the Board of Trustees

Professor Muhammad Yunus was named the Interim Leader of Bangaldesh on August 8, 2024.

Recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Yunus is internationally recognized for his work in poverty alleviation and the enablement of people living in poverty, especially women. Professor Yunus successfully melded capitalism with social responsibility to create the Grameen Bank, a microcredit institution committed to providing small amounts of working capital to the poor for entrepreneurship growth.

Inspired by the revolutionary microfinance work of Professor Muhammed Yunus, Grameen Foundation was launched in 1997. Professor Yunus' vision of a world free from hunger and poverty is at the root of our mission and we believe the fastest way to achieve this goal is by investing in women.

Nearly 30 years later, the world has changed in many ways and increased access to microfinance has granted millions of women the opportunity to grow. But one thing has remained the same - women are systematically and societally excluded from the holistic means they need to leave poverty forever.

Today, Grameen Foundation works at the intersection of gender, finance, climate, and technology to change the systems that hold women back. We equip women with the tools they need to gain holistic resilience - the ability to adapt to shocks and stresses and the capacity to engage in emerging opportunities.

We continue to hold the words of Professor Yunus as a guiding force for progress.

"If you imagine,
Some day it will happen.
If you don't imagine,
It will never happen."

We not only imagine a world free from poverty and hunger, but have a plan to ensure all women and their families can permanently exit poverty.