Blog

Eighteen years ago, when I walked into Grameen Foundation for the first time, I carried with me the memory of a transformational moment. As a student in Bangladesh in 1999, I witnessed a group of women celebrating a milestone. Like many women, they had spent their lives shut out of economic opportunity but a small loan gave them the chance to earn their own income, to support themselves and their families. I saw them standing taller than other women around them. I saw confidence replace fear. I saw agency take root. It was at this moment that I understood how quickly a woman’s life—and her family’s future—can change when she is given tools, trust, and access. I vowed at that moment to ensure all women who need it have the same opportunity and it is this commitment that brought me to Grameen Foundation all those years ago.

I started my tenure at Grameen Foundation to grow the Bankers without Borders® (BwB) initiative, now a network of 28,000 volunteers from 174 countries providing pro bono consultancies to over 400 social enterprises around the world. Building BwB has been one of the greatest privileges of my career—not because of the numbers, but because it has proven something essential: people everywhere want to solve real problems together. They want to use their talent for good. And when they do, social enterprises become stronger.

My time with Grameen Foundation has seen many evolutions of the organization—from the initial replication of the microfinance model around the world to building digital tools, financial services, and inclusive systems that have improved the lives of more than 29 million women and their families, surpassing our initial goal of reaching 25 million.

Today, new challenges arise around financial abuse, climate volatility, digital exclusion, and rising debt burdens that are reshaping poverty and forcing women to bear the brunt of that pressure. To meet this moment, we are matching our organizational programmatic strength with the ability to invest—directly—in the solutions women need. That is why our new Alliance with Yunus Social Business (YSB) is timely. Together, we bring Grameen Foundation’s expertise in women-centered programming, digital financial inclusion, agricultural expertise and our Bankers without Borders volunteer network into partnership with YSB’s social investment model, providing a sustainable pathway for the future.

This new chapter is not about doing “more.” It is about creating the bridge to what women have always told us they need: opportunity, safety, capital, and respect.

As I step into the role of President and CEO, I feel the same sense of purpose I felt as a student in Dhaka—only deeper—and I remain committed to bringing opportunities to all women who need them so they can celebrate just like that group I witnessed in 1999.

Thank you for being part of this community that refuses to accept poverty as inevitable. I look forward to walking this path with you as we build a future where women’s resilience is not tested by hardship but strengthened by possibility.

In service,

Sabrina Quaraishi
President & CEO, Grameen Foundation