Biography

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus is the father of both Social Business and Microcredit, the founder of Grameen Bank, and more than 50 other companies in Bangladesh. For his constant innovation and enterprise, Fortune Magazine named Professor Yunus in March 2012 as “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.” In 2006, Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the recipient of 61 honorary degrees from universities across 24 countries. He has received 136 awards from 33 countries, including state honors from 10 countries. He is one of only seven individuals who received the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal. He has appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, Newsweek, and Forbes Magazine.

Biography

Jose Ramos-Horta

National positions

- President of the Republic (2007 - 2012)

- Prime Minister, Minister of Defence (2006-2007)

- Senior Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (2002-2006)

International positions, past, current

President, World Movement for Democracy, HQ Washington, elected July 2020

Chair, Scientific Council, of the think-tank  TIGER – Transformation, Integration and Globalization Economic Research (www.tiger.edu.pl), Kozminski University, Warsaw, Poland, January (2021-2030);

Board Member, World Leadership Alliance, Madrid (2012 - );

Member, High Level Board on Mediation, with UN Secretary-General (2017-2019);

- 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 Peace Building Mission in Guinea-Bissau (West Africa) (Jan 2013- June 2014)

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, Longueville Media, Sydney (2018)

- Where the Sun on Rising Sees First, co-authored with Raquel Belli, LIDEL, Lisbon (2014);

- The Lost World of Timor-Leste, LIDEL Lisbon (2017), with Patricia Vickers-Rich, and Peter Tussler;

- FUNU: The Unfinished Saga of East Timor, Red Sea Press, Trenton, NJ, USA, 1987;

- Timor-Leste: Amanha em Dili, Dom Quixote, Lisbon, 1994;

- A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq, Thomas Cushman (Editor) with Christopher Hitchens, José Ramos-Horta and others. (2005) University of California Press;

Written on international affairs for the International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street International Magazine, Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, The Hill, etc.

Biography

Winnie Byanyima is the Executive Director of UNAIDS. She is known for being a passionate and longstanding champion of social justice, fighting to empower people to create a future that is secure and just, free from stigma and discrimination. Ms Byanyima is a global leader on gender equality and believes that health care is a human right. Before joining UNAIDS, Ms Byanyima served as the Executive Director of Oxfam International; and she was elected for three terms and served 11 years in the parliament of her country, Uganda.

Biography

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

A leader in the social business movement, Saskia co-founded Yunus Social Business (YSB) together with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus.

Together with the World Economic Forum she co-initiated the COVID Alliance for social entrepreneurs. Saskia was appointed to the EU Commission’s expert group on social business and has advised on Ban Ki-Moon’s UN MDG Advocacy Group as well as Richard Branson’s B-team. She has lectured at several universities and events, including the World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative. Prior to YSB, Saskia was the Co-CEO of the Grameen Creative Lab and a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in Munich and New York.

[She is ranked amongst the Top 100 women in Social Enterprise by Euclid Network and has been awarded the Vordenker Award 2020 by BCG and Handelsblatt, the BOLD Woman Award 2020 by Veuve Clicquot, Capital’s Young Elite 2017, 2018 and is a member of Young Presidents Organisation.

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

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

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

Marilu Germscheid, born 22.03.1967 in Düsseldorf, Germany, lives as an entrepreneur in Lugano. She graduated with Honour in International Management at Franklin University, Lugano, Switzerland, and also studied in USA and Austria. She started her career with 200 street children in Brazil. She also worked in a development aid program in Indonesia, launched from the German Government. She further has experience in the banking sector where she traded worldwide on stock exchanges. She has also international experiences in various business sectors. German is her mother language she speaks fluently English, Italian and she has basics in French and Greek.

Biography

Before joining Grameen China, Gao Zhan served as a reporter 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. He was also a visiting scholar of the US State Department. 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 A ssociation, Research Fellow of Yunus Social Business Centre at Zhengzhou University and Expert Member of China Micro-credit Companies Association.

Biography

Mr. Zahirul Alam, Founder and the Executive Director, IDF, Bangladesh, is an economist and social entrepreneur who started his career with Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus as the founder member-secretary of the Rural Economics Program (REP), Department of Economics, Chittagong University where Grameen Bank Model was developed in the 1970s. He completed his Master’s with honours in Economics from the same University. Mr. Alam also worked as Action Research Fellow and Economist at BARD and ILO respectively. Being an active researcher and practitioner Mr. Alam is well pronounced in the domain of promoting and implementing the concept of social business.

Biography

Corazon “Cora” A. Henares, a psychologist and educator, is one of the founders of Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF), which was founded in 1984. NWTF is one of the first replicators of the Grameen lending methodology in the Philippines. As Director for Operations, she led the organization to offer client responsive products. She has also been instrumental in training staff so that they adopted NWTF’s vision, values and understood the Grameen essentials. With her experience in microfinance, she was tapped to train other microfinance in the Philippines. Currently, she is the President of Dungganon Bank Inc., a subsidiary of NWTF catering to graduating micro and SME Clients.

Biography

Alethia Mendez is the Division President for Elevating Black Women Entrepreneurs at Grameen America. Ms. Mendez oversees strategic growth and operations for Grameen America's national microfinance program. She serves as the chief liaison for branch coordination on national programs and capacity building, spearheading operations in the field from Grameen America’s Head Office in New York City. Prior to her current role, Ms. Mendez rose through the ranks at Grameen America, holding several senior positions at the organization. In 2008, Ms. Mendez joined Grameen America as the organization’s first employee, serving as the inaugural Center Manager for Grameen America’s Jackson Heights branch. Over her tenure, Grameen America has reached significant milestones including disbursing $1.8 billion in microloans to entrepreneurial women, expanding to 23 branches in 15 cities in the United States, adopting cashless loan disbursements and pivoting to virtual operations amid COVID-19. As a founding team member, over the preceding years, Ms. Mendez has established herself as a leader at Grameen America with a wealth of knowledge of the challenges faced by minority businesswomen when accessing loan capital. Ms. Mendez is a proud advocate for financial inclusion and women in business, championing opportunities for Grameen America members to build their financial identities and digital financial literacy. She is passionate about the power of local networks to leverage growth for underserved businesswomen and believes in expanding Grameen America’s program to communities where financial inclusion is needed the most.

Biography

Since 2012, Dr. Suraya has been actively involved in conducting workshop and community engagement programs related to empowering micro-entrepreneurs in financial literacy. She is also the Co- Developer of BizTunai software, a software invented under social business approach. BizTunai is an easy financial management software to assist small entrepreneurs in managing their business finances. For the recent project in Social Business, in response to the impact of Covid-19 crisis on micro-entrepreneurs, especially in rural areas, together with AIU students, Dr. Suraya is now conducting the project of helping the micro-entrepreneurs in Baling, Kedah to digitalize their business.

Biography

Faiz Shah is founding President of Yunus Thailand, which promotes Social Business in Thailand, ASEAN, and beyond, incubating intrapreneurs and sharing enterprise-led development expertise with academia, business, and communities to build resilient communities in line with King Rama XI's Sufficiency Economy.

Dr. Shah is director, Yunus Center at the Asian Institute of Technology, heading the Yunus Masters in Social Business & Entrepreneurship and the SDG Lab. He is visiting professor at the College of Innovation, Thammasat University. Over a 36-year international career in change management and capacity-building, Dr. Shah has advised governments, UN agencies, and Fortune corporations, training changemakers in 400+ projects across 25 countries. Leading the world's largest sports ball company, he pioneered a widely recognized socially responsible business model, helped shape business standards including GRI, and launched the first-ever fair-traded sports ball. Dr. Shah's latest publication is the Urdu edition of “A World of Three Zeros”, by Professor Yunus.

Biography

Dr. M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury is a Professor in the Department of Finance and the Executive Director of the Center for Microfinance and Development at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Professor Chowdhury is also an academic advisor to Yunus Centre, a global think tank for issues related to social business, microfinance, poverty alleviation, and sustainability, which is chaired by the Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. Prof. Chowdhury’s research focuses on microfinance, poverty, entrepreneurship, payment for ecosystem services, and social business. His research has been funded by the Association of Commonwealth Universities, SANDEE, University of Stirling, Royal Economic Society, Asian Scholarship Foundation, Government of Japan, Bureau of Business Research, Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP), Grand Challenges Canada, Microfinance Management Institute, and Government of Taiwan. Prof. Chowdhury has acted as a consultant to national and international agencies including the World Bank, CIDA, DFID, FAO, UNDP, PKSF, and the Government of Bangladesh.

Biography

Senior business executive with three decades of experience at global leading corporations. For the past several years, dedicated to developing 'NextGen Leaders & Entrepreneurs' at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) and Enactus India. Currently, IITB Professor-of-Practice conducts entrepreneurship courses and workshops, mentoring startup teams and developing Industry-Academia partnerships.

Biography

Mr. Murthy founded Infosys in 1981. Infosys is, today, a highly-innovative software services global company listed on NYSE in the US and on the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai with US$ 14 billion in revenue and about US$ 88 billion in market capitalization. Under his leadership, Infosys became the leader in innovation in technical, managerial and leadership training, software technology, quality, productivity, customer focus, employee satisfaction, and physical and technological infrastructure.

Mr. Murthy conceptualized, articulated and implemented the Global Delivery Model (GDM) which has become the backbone of the Indian software industry and introduced the concept of 24-hour-work-day to the world.

Currently, he serves on the boards of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (NJ) and the United Nations Foundation. He has served on the boards of Ford Foundation (NYC), HSBC and Unilever (London).

He was ranked among CNBC’s 25 global business leaders (2014), Fortune’s ‘12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time’ (2012), The Economist’s 10 most-admired global business leaders (2005), Financial Times’ list of “Business pioneers in technology” (2015).

He is a member of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a foreign member of the US National Academy of Engineering. He received the Founders Medal (2018), the Hoover medal (2012) and the Ernst Weber Medal (2007), all three from IEEE.

Biography

From 1986 to 2004, Philippe Guichandut worked for various French development NGOs (France Volontaire, Inter-Aide, Enfants et Développement – Save the Children France, CCFD-Terre Solidaire), including six years in Rwanda, India and the Philippines.

He has been in charge of setting up and monitoring development and microfinance projects. He became the first Executive Director of the European Microfinance Network when it was created in 2004 before joining the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation in November 2010. He has been teaching development project management and microfinance for more than 20 years in France and abroad.

Philippe Guichandut holds a Master’s degree in Urban Social Development from the University of Evry and an MBA from the European University of San Francisco.

Biography

CHAIR OF BRAZIL FORUM

Luciano Gurgel is an economist with 17 years of experience in the financial and capital markets, having worked in several financial institutions in Brazil and abroad. Luciano is specialized in structuring innovative investment vehicles.

Since 2015, as Head of Investments in Yunus Social Business Brazil, he has contributed to creating and fundraising the first Investment Fund dedicated to finance social businesses. He also is responsible for the coordination of the areas related to the investment process of Yunus Social Business Brazil

Biography

PANEL - LATEST ON RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT REGULATION

Marina’s practice focuses on a wide variety of investment funds transactions, regulatory and LP advice. She also specializes in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), being a pioneer in the Brazilian legal market.

In 2013, she was listed in the Latin Lawyer as one of the most inspiring women in the Latin American legal profession. She sponsors social business and impact investment initiatives in Brazil through her pro bono work with Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Biography

PANEL - MAINSTREAMING CORPORATES AS A FORCE FOR GOOD

Túlio Notini is currently Corporate Country Director at Yunus Social Business Brazil. Our focus is to support big companies to transform their business through the mindset of social business and social innovation.

Tulio has a degree in Production Engineer and more than 10 years working with innovation, social impact, and strategic planning.

Biography

PANEL - WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SOCIAL BUSINESS

After 17 years working in multinational consulting firms on Merger & Acquisition, Marina has shifted her career path to social impact, being the first executive director of Mulheres do Brasil Group. Born in Brazil, a country where inequalities are so evident, and being inspired by Professor Muhammad Yunus, Marina co-founded Somos Todas Marias, a social enterprise that supports beauty entrepreneurial
women living in favelas in Brazil.

Biography

PANEL - THE AMAZON AND THE SOCIAL BUSINESS

Tatiana SCHOR graduated in Economics, has a Master in Geography (Human Geography, 1999) and Ph.D. in Environmental Science (2005) from the University of São Paulo.

Coordinates the Study and Research Program of the Urban Network of Calha Solimões- Amazonas by the Center for Studies and Research of Cities in the Amazon NEPECAB.

Is also a researcher in the Graduate Programs in Geography at the Department of Geography and the Program in Environmental Sciences and Sustainability in the Amazon at the Center for Environmental Sciences, both UFAM.

Biography

PANEL - INVESTMENTS IN SOCIAL BUSINESS

Degree in Economics from USP. In the financial market since 1996, extensive experience with major financial institutions in positions related to asset and wealth management (e.g., JP Morgan and Unibanco Asset Management). He is CGA certified at Anbima and was a Member of Anbima’s Financial Asset Management Committee.

He has a specialization in leadership and management from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL).

Biography

Shobhit holds B Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay. He completed his MS Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Washington in 2006. After a brief stint of volunteering in Suriname, he joined Amazon.com as a database engineer in Seattle. After completing 5 years in the USA, he returned to India to  pursue his calling & contribute to motherland. He first started his stint with Youth For Seva, to connect youth to society through volunteering & lowering barriers for their participation in nation-building.

After scaling YFS nationally, he established Vision India Foundation with his friends from various IITs. VIF was aimed at engaging bright young minds in policymaking and governance. After 5 years, VIF transformed into the Rashtram School of Public Leadership. Shobhit heads it as the founding Dean.

Biography

Dr. Shukla is a professor of organisation behaviour and strategic management at XLRI, Jamshedpur, India. He was a visiting professor at ESADE in Barcelona. Dr. Shukla has more than 20 years of consulting and training experience. He has contributed more than 30 papers to professional journals and published two books—Competing Through Knowledge: Building a Learning Organisation (Response Books, Sage Publications, 1997) and Understanding Organisations (Prentice-Hall of India, 1996).

Biography

Dr. Nisha Pandey is Associate Dean Research and Publication and Chairperson Yunus Social Business Centre at Vivekananda Education Society, Mumbai. Received funding from South Asian Network of Development and Environment Economics (SANDEE), presented her research in University of Utah during April 2016, Kings College at Kathmandu during September 2017, Academy of Management, Chicago, 2018 and 9th Social Business Conference in Bangkok, 2019. Dr. Pandey has worked in various inter-disciplinary research projects in several Institute of International repute like Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur. Presently she is also Principal investigator of an interdisciplinary research project in association with Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, funded by Indian Council of Social Sciences Research (ICSSR). She has presented and published more than 50 papers in national and international conference, forum and Journals. She is Managing Editor of “Journal of Development Research” which is released by VES Institute of Management with ISSN No 2229-7561. Her areas of research interest are Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development, Environment Economics, Development Economics, Women Empowerment through Social Entrepreneurship.

Biography

Biography

I am an Architect by training, but an entrepreneur by choice. After graduation, when I started to take the path as an architect, I was surprised at the difference between what I learned and the reality. At university, I mainly studied function, aesthetics, and ethics. But the reality was highly different from the architecture I had imagined. To me 'Architecture' is just not about designing buildings or cities, it is also about solving problems within those. Waste management is a huge challenge for cities like Dhaka towards sustainable development. Social business can be an efficient tool to solve the problem. Engaging everyone, we can make our cities clean and better.

Till now while promoting the vision of GARBAGEMAN LIMITED in the local and international arena, I had the opportunity to work with UNDP and WFP as an innovation consultant and worked on creating waste management plans for different communities. I am also pursuing my Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management to brush up on my technical skills for this particular industry.

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. The project which started with the investment of her personal savings of approximate 900.00 USD and engaged only five menial workers made turnover of about 44500.00 USD in the last half of 2016 and currently engages 24 hands many of which are previously unemployed female. Currently to reach out to bigger customers Onnosheba does not only sell the food products from its own outlet but it also supplies to potential street vendors at strategic locations around the city on short term credit.

Biography

Mr. Mahmudul Hasan completed B.Sc (Hons.) and M.S in Fisheries from Jashore University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh in 2012 and 2015 respectively. In his Master’s, he has completed a thesis on broodstock management and seed production of monosex tilapia in hatchery. He has also completed training on carp hatchery organized by WorldFish in 2013. Mr. Hasan joined in IFAD/PKSF assisted IDF pilot project on natural breeding of cuchia and generation of income and employment for the poor farmers through cuchia cultivation in 2018. Mr. Hasan was absorbed in IDF core program as Program Manager in January 2021 and assigned the responsibility of IDF Halda Hatchery, Research and Training Center since then.

Biography

Mushfiqur Rahman Saad, CEO Mushfiq is an Electrical and Electronics engineer from IUB with more than five years of experience in education and development sector. He is a full time product developer and innovator at Wizkit, aiming to change the education experience all across Bangladesh.

Biography

Bushra E Anjum, COO Bushra is a Microbiology graduate from IUB and is a community biologist. She is an international fellow at the Global Community Bio Fellows Program by Community Biotechnology Initiative at MIT Media Lab. She is also a full time product developer and scientific researcher, dedicated to opening community bio-labs in Bangladesh and advancing the education system through it.

Biography

Dr. Ishrat Jahan, a passionate health professional presently serving hard-to-reach rural areas in her journey with Grameen Kalyan (GK)since 2012. She is designated as Assistant General Manager(AGM) and based in the Head office of GK. She has also a very big exposure in treating approximately 60,000 patients in Grameen Kalyan in her 9 years duration in the GK.

She is actively engaged in planning; participating and operating health camps (Physical Camps, Video Tele Camps etc.) and providing her professional counseling to all the regional doctors and medical assistants who are engaged in treating female patients with Gynae & Obstetricsrelated problems in various GK health centers. Dr. Ishratheads the Medical Training department at GKfocused on essential training for themedical personnel and community health assistants. Shedid herMBBS from Community Based Medical College&Hospital in 2002. She has also done Post Graduation Training (PGT) from Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital, Dhaka Medical College &Hospital andBangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. She is undergoing FCPS on Obstetrics&Gynecology and at the verge of completion.

Biography

Biography

Biography

Christina is the co-founder of Yunus Environment Hub. She serves as co-chair of GIZ’s PREVENT Waste Alliance and is a Responsible Leader of the BMW Foundation World Responsible Leaders network. In 2016, she co-founded “Circular Economy Rhein Main” and “The Plastic Lab”, a creative laboratory to keep plastics out of nature.  In 2019, she co-founded “Colombia Circular”. She is an Advisory Board member of Grameen Creative Lab. She worked as an assistant to the Executive Director of Yunus Centre in Bangladesh with training in micro-finance. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science & International Economics from Otto-Friedrich University Bamberg.

Biography

Abdul Hai Khan, practitioner of microfinance and social business joined Grameen Trust (GT) as the Managing Director on January 1, 2017.
Before joining GT, Mr. Khan worked as the Deputy General Manager of Grameen Bank and served as the Head of Training and Special Program Department. He had the opportunity to work with Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus in Grameen Bank for more than 35 years.

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

Biography

Daniel Wasswa is the EA Communications Coordinator for the Yunus and You Foundation with 5 years’ experience supporting working in the entrepreneur development space in Uganda. Daniel has experience in strategy and investment consulting for SMEs and organisations in East Africa, and has supported over 6 Ugandan startups that raised over USD 100,000 in the past 2 years.

Biography

Biography

Biography

Kishwar Imdad is currently performing responsibility as Managing Director of Grameen Health Care Services Ltd. In addition, he is also working as Chief Executive Officer of Samajik Health Science Institute and Research Center Ltd.

Mr. Imdad obtained his Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) under Dhaka university in 1995, with Major in Marketing. He also attained Master in Management (M. Com) from Dhaka University and post graduate certification in Business Marketing Analysis from George Brown College, Toronto, Canada. He brings more than 25 years of corporate experience both local and international market environment including 11 years in Hospital operations and healthcare management.

His career track includes managing operations, customer relationship management (CRM), sales administration, market research and business development. Kishwar worked for multinational companies like Nestle, Itochu Corporation, Apollo Hospitals etc. Kishwar Imdad is a business professional, management consultant and corporate trainer. Besides his professional life, he is a contributor in newspaper and business magazines. He published several books on various topics.

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

Ms. Tasmina Rahman, practitioner of microfinance and social business joined Grameen Trust (GT) as the General Manager on September 1, 2018. Since 1994, she has been working with Grameen Trust which has helped implementation of more than 153 Grameen Replication Programs in 42 countries and provided equity support to about 20,000 new entrepreneurs by June 2021.

Ms. Tasmina Rahman has a wide range of experience on GT’s worldwide replication programs following Grameen Bank Approach (GBA). She has participated at different workshops and training programs on various issues on Microcredit and Social Business in different countries as well as monitoring and evaluation visits to the microcredit projects run, owned and/or managed by GT worldwide.

She serves as the member of Boards in different microfinance organizations and Social Business entities in Bangladesh and China.

Biography

Biography

Dr. Mohammed Masum Iqbal is a professor in the Department of Business Administration and the Dean, Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship at Daffodil International University (DIU). He specializes in Marketing and Customer Relationship Management and teaches courses relating to Marketing and Customer Relationship Management in postgraduate and undergraduate levels. Professor Iqbal holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from The University of Dhaka, Bangladesh and has about 19 years of experience in the university-level teaching and research with multiple awards including the ‘Best Teacher Award’ by The International Association of University Presidents in 2012 and the ‘Best Research Paper Award’ in the International Summit on Employability and Soft Skills in 2017. He also has about 37 articles published in leading local and international journals to his credit. 

Dr. Iqbal also specializes in social business. Currently, he is the Director of Yunus Social Business Centre (YSBC) and the Convener of Social Business Students’ Forum (SBSF) at Daffodil International University.

Biography

Enrico Testi (Phd) is the Director of the Yunus Social Business Centre University of Florence (www.sbflorence.org) since its founding in 2011.

In 2012 he started a pilot program to create an enabling eco-system for Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in Pistoia called “Social Business City Program”. The program is still running. He contributed to the beginning of the activities of Social Business City Barcelona in 2015 and of Candidate Social Business City Taoyuan in 2018 and facilitated the creation of the Yunus Social Business Centre at the University of Bethlehem.

He conducts research on Social Business and Social Entrepreneurship and performs evaluations of projects aimed at supporting social business and social enterprises. His team is currently working on projects in Senegal, Palestine, Nepal and the EU.

His last publication is: Biggeri, M., Testi, E., Bellucci, M., Roel, D., Persson, T. (Eds.) (2018). Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation: Ecosystems for Inclusion in Europe. London, Routledge. ISBN: 9780815375791

Biography

Mai Thi Thanh Thai is the founder and director of Social Business Creation that uses gamification to teach university students social entrepreneurship and social business models that use market mechanisms to solve social issues. At HEC Montreal, she teaches social entrepreneurship, new venture creation, strategies in emerging markets, and qualitative methods. Her research focuses on the link between entrepreneurship and its socioeconomic, cultural, and political contexts. She was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship from 2015 to 2020, during which the journal experienced unprecedented growth in terms of full-text downloads, manuscript submissions, and journal rankings. She has published many articles in peer-reviewed prestigious journals, contributed several book chapters, edited two books, and made presentations at numerous academic conferences. She is a lifetime member of the Beta Gamma Sigma AACSB-Honor Society. Mai Thai has won many local and international awards for her performance and commitment in her different roles as a researcher, teacher, and entrepreneur throughout her career.

Biography

Jacob Hörisch is Professor for Sustainability Economics & Management at Leuphana University Luneburg, Germany. His main research interests are in the fields of social business, sustainability management and stakeholder theory. Jacob Hörisch has published various journal articles on these topics (e.g. Journal of Management Studies; Organization & Environment). His research was rewarded with best paper awards at international conferences.

Biography

Soon after her marriage, Maria Teresa and the then Hereditary Grand Duke Henri established The Prince Henri and Princess Maria Teresa Foundation to assist those with special needs integrate fully into society. In 2004, the Grand Duke Henri and the Grand Duchess Maria Teresa Foundation was created after the merging of the two previous foundations. Since 2005, Maria Teresa has been the chairwoman of the international jury of the European Microfinance Award, which annually awards holders of microfinance and inclusive finance initiatives in developing countries. Also, since 2006, Maria Teresa has been honorary president of the LuxFLAG (Luxembourg Fund Labeling Agency), the first agency to label responsible microfinance investment funds around the world. On 19 April 2007, the Grand Duchess was appointed UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children, in which role she visited Brazil (2007), China (2008), and Burundi (2009). The Grand Duchess supports the UNESCO “Breaking the Poverty Cycle of Women” project in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

Biography

Born in 1964 in France, Emmanuel is graduated from HEC Business School. He began his career as a consultant at Bain & Company before working as an investment banker at Baring Brothers. He moved to Legris Industries, where he was named Chief Executive Officer in 1996.

Emmanuel joined Danone in 1997 as Chief Financial Officer, Strategy, and became member of the company’s Executive Committee in 2000. He took up the position of Vice-President for the Asia-Pacific region, in 2005. In 2008, Emmanuel was appointed Deputy General Manager and, in 2011, he became Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. In October 2014, he became Danone’s Chief Executive Officer. Since December 1, 2017, he is also Chairman of the Board. In 2017, under Emmanuel FABER’s leadership, Danone made a major strategic acquisition with WhiteWave and became the world leader in organic and plant-based products and in 2020, Danone became the first listed company to adopt the French status of a “Entreprise à Mission”. Emmanuel FABER left Danone in March 2021.

Engaged in cross-sectoral cooperation, Emmanuel FABER was Co-Chair of the Consumer Goods Forum from 2019 t 2021: a CEO-led organization that helps the world’s retailers and consumer goods manufacturers to collaborate, alongside other key stakeholders, to secure consumer trust and drive positive change.

Emmanuel FABER is strongly committed to promote innovative inclusive business models. In 2005, he supervised the first social business experiments conducted with Grameen Bank and the creation of Danone Communities in 2006. In 2018, he initiated the French “Collectif d'entreprises pour une économie plus inclusive" with Thomas Buberl. Since 2019, Emmanuel FABER spearheads the Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) initiative, a coalition of 40 leading global companies and partners committed to tackling inequalities and promoting inclusive growth, sponsored by French President Emmanuel Macron and coordinated by the OECD. 

In parallel, Emmanuel FABER actively contributes to building a global business movement for biodiversity with the “One Planet Business for Biodiversity” (OP2B) coalition, which gathers 21 leading companies joining forces to step up regenerative farming practices and to protect biodiversity.

Biography

Steve Hollingworth’s unflagging commitment through 30 years of work in international development has been to ensure that the delivery of financial services benefits the world’s poorest people and fulfills its promise of alleviating poverty. Prior to joining Grameen Foundation, Steve was President of Freedom from Hunger. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer for CARE, where he was instrumental in developing and implementing the organization-wide strategy and was responsible for direct-line management of global operations and programs. He has also held senior field positions in Asia (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), Africa (Lesotho) and Latin America (Bolivia), building collaboration between practitioners, technical assistance providers, donors and government agencies.

Steve has an M.S. in Economics, Development Studies, from Victoria University of Manchester, in Manchester, England. Steve has a B.A. in Economics from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, not far from his home town of Elgin, Illinois.

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

Dr. Douglas Munzvengi, is a Researcher, Social Entrepreneur, Co – founder and Director of the Catholic University of Zimbabwe – Yunus Social Business Centre. The CUZ – YSBC inaugurated as the 1^st African Yunus Social Business Centre, with the Catholic University becoming the first University in Africa to adopt the Social Business and Microfinance concepts into its learning and community engagements programs.

Douglas earned a PhD (Management & Innovation) from the Da Vinci Institute, South Africa with a research focus on the socio – economic challenges of the developing economies. He obtained a Master’s degree – Business Administration (Banking & Finance) from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom; Bachelor’s degree Philosophy and Theology – Catholic University of Zimbabwe. Douglas is also a Registered Public Accountant, an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, among other professional accounting and banking qualifications.

Dr.Munzvengi worked extensively at senior levels in consultancy, private public enterprise, development finance and financial institutions culminating with Country Head Finance for Stanbic Finance Zimbabwe Limited. He is also a founder of a Non – Governmental Organisation and a Microfinance entity in Zimbabwe.

Biography

Jonas Yawovi Dzinekou is from Togo and belongs to the religious congregation of the Comboni Missionaries. He is a holder of the Doctorate in Business Administration in Strategic Management from Catholic University in East Africa. He was the director of the Institute for Social Transformation at Tangaza University College. He is passionate about business coaching and training for social innovation. He is a lecturer of business strategy and social entrepreneurship and social innovation. His past professional experience was in the leadership of technical schools in Malawi and Zambia. He spent 7 years as deputy principal in Comboni Technical School in Malawi and 5 years as Principal of Chikowa Youth Development Centre in Zambia.

His research interests in social innovation, social transformation, organization dynamic capabilities and social entrepreneurship.

Biography

Professor Chukwuemeka Jude Diji is currently an Associate Professor of mechanical engineering and Deputy ViceChancellor for Research, Innovation, Consultancy and Extension at Kampala International University, Kampala, Uganda He is the Chair of the African Research Council on Sustainable Development (ARSCD) and Professional Research Council Member of the International Institute for Policy Review and Development Strategies (IIPRDS). He is a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Automobile Engineers’ Institute and a registered engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). He is also a member of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), the National/International Association of Energy Economics, as well as a member of the African Round Table on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ARSCP), an arm of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).He is also serving as an Expert on the roster of experts of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He is also an African Climate Leadership Fellow

He has worked as the  Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, as an engineer and Production manager for a number of companies including, SOAG Drilling Co,  the Leventis Group  Beta Industries Ltd and Tolaram Clay Brick Industries in Nigeria. He has also served as an expert Reviewer for the Climate Research for Development (CR4D), a programme initiated by the African Academy of Science (AAS), the UK Department of International Development (DFID), Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER) and the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Professor Chukwuemeka Diji is a Certified International Professional Manager (CIPM) of the International Professional Managers Association (IPMA – UK). He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ibadan, Masters of Science degree (MSc) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ibadan and a Bachelors of Science (B.Sc) from the Obafemi Awolowo University (Formerly the University of Ife). He also holds a professional postgraduate Diploma in Management Consultancy practice and Organizational Transformation from the International Professional Managers Association (IPMA – UK) and his a Certified International Professional Manager (CIPM) of the International Professional Managers Association (IPMA – UK) – License No: 0096781693. He is also a Recipient of African Climate Leadership Certification by Strathmore University Business School, Nairobi, Kenya – ACLP – 2020/007 and Certification and Completion of Training in Scientific Writing and Communication by AfriCLP from February – March, 2021. AfriCLP is an initiative of IDRC, Canada and implemented by the University of Nairobi, Kenya and the University of Dar – es – salaam, Tanzania

Biography

Prof. Mwangi Peter Wanderi has over 30 years of research, teaching and community engagement both in mainstream physical education & sports and in entrepreneurship and youth empowerment; served as Acting Vice-Chancellor at Mount Kenya University between November 2019 and April 2020; Currently coordinating several local and international, inter-disciplinary and multi-institutional projects at Mount Kenya University; Also, serves as Graduate Enterprise Academy, Overseer, which is a graduates and youth job creation forum at Mount Kenya University. His most outstanding grant projects he is involved in are the Leuphana University (Germany) based Students Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP), the Erasmus + sponsored African Higher Education Leadership in Advancing Inclusive Innovation for Development (AHEAD) and the DAAD sponsored Collaboration of Entrepreneurial Universities (CEPU). He was instrumental in the establishment of Chandaria Business Innovation and Incubation Center at Kenyatta University where he served prior to joining Mount Kenya University.

Biography

Euloge OGOUWALE is vice-Coordinator of the Geography and Environmental Management training at the Multidisciplinary Doctoral School at UAC; Associate and missionary teachers in several African universities; Coordinator of the Volunteer Service from 2013 to 2016; Director of the Autonomous Center for Volunteering, Entrepreneurship, Research and Innovation (CVERI) since December 2016. Coordinator, since 2016, of Bachelor / Master training in Social and Economic Entrepreneurship and Management of SMIs / SMEs. Specialist in entrepreneurial pedagogy and initiator of the teaching model Deprogramming, Reprogramming and connection to Entrepreneurial Intelligence and innovation.

Over the past 8 years, he has trained 2,000 Volunteers for UAC and turned over 20,000 students into new-type citizens willing to give their best for the best of their country base on social Entrepreneurship. It organizes with the Volunteer Community Leaders training in Leadership and Entrepreneurship for the benefit of young people and women in the Communes of Benin. He continues these educational innovations with these student Volunteers-Entrepreneurs, whom he loves very much.

Biography

Dr Faustin is a PhD holder in Organisational Development and Trasnformation (Finance) from CEBU Doctors University, Philippines, Masters’ of Business and Administration (MBA) from Griggs University, Maryland, USA. He is currently a Senior lecturer and Principal, College of Business and Economics -University of Rwanda with over 10 years experience in academia actively engaged in Teaching, External examiner, and moderator; Research and Consultancy in institutions of higher learning in the areas of finance, accounting, banking, and Management. While working as an academic staff at the institutions of higher learning, he has also been constantly involved in academic leadership and administration duties at management positions including: Principal, College of Business and Economics, Dean, School of Business, Director of Teaching and Learning Enhancement and Senior Lecturer respectively  at University of Rwanda- College of Business and Economics. Dr Faustin authored different funding research grants and has published several papers in international peer-reviewed Journals and presented different research in international conferences.

He worked on different types of consultancies such as Development of “UR-SPIU procedures manual and project management policy” Training of project management (Consultancy of Ministry of Agriculture), MINI-GRID SURVEY country wide (Consultancy of Ministry of Agriculture). Training of Medium-term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) AND PERFORMANCE BASED BUDGETING, an assessment of Rwanda’s agricultural production, climate change, agricultural trade and food security, Identification of obstacles faced by the private sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Study of the sugar industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to mention a few.

As far as Teaching activities are concerned, Dr Faustin has been involved heavily in curriculum development for both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level and also teaching the following modules Financial management, Advanced financial accounting, negotiating and contracting for procurement, Advanced taxation Corporate accounting at Undergraduate level plus Management of financial derivatives Strategic management, , advanced corporate finance, strategic financial management, investment and financial market analysis, international finance, Corporate finance and contemporary issues in Accounting at Post graduate level.

Biography

Dr. David A. Jordan has served as President of Seven Hills Foundation and its 14 diverse operating Affiliates since July 1995. His primary responsibilities include setting the directional vision and strategic ambition of the Foundation, and aligning the agency’s human, financial, and clinical resources to achieve its health- and human-services mission. He oversees Seven Hills’ $265-million operating budget and operation of the parent organization and Affiliates. In all, Seven Hills employs more than 4,600 professional and support staff located at over 200 locations throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and 8 countries.

Biography

Mr. Gabriel Bran Lopez, Founding President of Youth Fusion, was awarded the Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division) today by the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, at the official ceremony for the presentation of Canadian Honours at Rideau Hall. Mr. Bran Lopez was recognized for his excellence, courage, and exceptional sense of duty in his role as head of Youth Fusion, which he founded in 2009. Mr. Bran Lopez was one of ten Canadian recipients to receive this Meritorious Service Decoration (Civil Division). Gabriel Bran Lopez is also co-founder of FIRST Robotics Quebec and was president of the Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal for two terms, in 2015 and 2016. He has received several distinctions and other prestigious awards. These include: EY’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, a Mercuriades award from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec, YMCAs of Quebec’s Peace Medal, Personality of the Week according to La Presse and Radio‑Canada, the Public Policy Forum’s Emerging Leaders Award, the Ashoka Fellowship, and the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation Fellowship.

Biography

Biography

Kazi I. Huque is the CEO & Director at Grameen Intel Social Business Ltd. He also serves as the Controller & CFO of Intel’s Global Marketing Division. Prior to that Mr. Huque served as a Finance Director at Intel’s venture capital and M&A division, with responsibilities for Intel’s global investments, including the first of its kind investment in a social business.  He is the co-author of The Rule of One, which is the story of their startup experience and the key lessons learned.

Mr. Huque received an MBA and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the University of Rochester.

Biography

Aarti is currently Head of Future Thinking at Yunus Social Business where her current focus is research on the barriers to corporate purpose transformation. Aarti also co-founded Yunus Social Business India where she catalysed the creation of its two social business funds - in Mumbai and Bengaluru and the Indian Corporate Action Tank- India’s first incubator for large corporates to create in-house social businesses, YSB's joint initiative with the Tata Trusts.

Aarti is a leader in the social business space, and is a regular speaker at social enterprise events in India and internationally. She was voted to the Aspen fellowship in 2019, and to the Asia 21 fellowship for young leaders making a difference in the Asia Pacific region in 2014. She is also part of the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders network. Previously, Aarti worked as an investment banker at JP Morgan in Mumbai. She holds a Master’s degree in Finance from the London School of Economics.

Biography

Biography

KRISTA RICHMOND

Co-founder

Winifred

Based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Krista Richmond’s 25-year career in the cleantech industry has spanned utilities, manufacturing and regulation. Through roles across customer experience, operations and IT is where Krista found her true passion; aligning people, processes and technology application to enable corporate innovation and venture creation. Her work creating innovation partnerships between corporations and academic institutions and implementing corporate innovation programs has led to hands-on experience with emerging technology including AI, IIoT, and AR/VR. More recently, her interest has turned to renewable energy and how emerging technologies can be integrated to meet a net zero carbon future. Supporting diversity and inclusion as the catalyst for innovation and being a lifelong learner are the values that form the foundation of her success. Krista is a Board Member for the Women in Communications and Technology Association, a career mentor of female leaders in technology through Locelle and is currently completing her studies in Strategy and Innovation from MIT.

Biography

Mabel has more than 12 years of experience, managing social, cultural and economic programs as well as building partnerships in Colombia, Germany, Egypt, Bolivia and Canada. Her work has mainly focused on areas such as sustainable development, human rights, public policies and transparency. Originally from Colombia, she lives in Montréal since 2014 with her two girls and husband. In 2016, Mabel and her sister participated in the first Social Business Creation Programme, with a project called “El negro está de moda”, aimed at fighting discrimination in Colombia. Their project was selected as first among the 5 team that best perform in round 2 and as third among the three finalists After the competition, Mabel and her sister established a social enterprise called Nuestro Flow and are now running several initiatives in Colombia, Chile and Peru and working with different public and private partners such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the city of Bogotá. Mabel combines her time working as co-founder and responsible of business development at Nuestro Flow with her role as Head of the Canadian branch of Vigeo Eiris, an European company offering tools and research to investors with the aim to promote responsible investments by integrating the way companies manage their social, environmental and governance risks into the investment decision process.

Biography

James Chau is an international broadcaster and Host of The China Current. He has earned a special reputation for his interviews with leaders in politics, science, and health, including Nobel Peace Prize laureates Kofi Annan, Muhammad Yunus, and Jimmy Carter. He hosts The China Current, a digital platform with interviews, videos, and podcasts that explore the relationship between humanity and our shared global future. In 2016, he was appointed World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goals and Health. He formerly served as UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador.

Biography

Marina Mahathir is a newspaper columnist and activitist. She led an HIV/AIDS NGO for 12 years, served on the board of Sisters in Islam for six years and currently the 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. Currently, she also hosts Hello Zafigo, an online chat show, and a podcast on books called Busy Reading Books. Penguin Random House will publish her memoir in November 2021.

Biography

Biography

Mr. Abul  Kalam is the CEO of KGMAMF (Kosovo Grameen Mission Arcobaleno Microcredit Fund) since October 2015. He joined KGMAMF in December 2007 as the CFO. Before joining Grameen project in Kosovo, he worked in Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in various Managerial positions since 1986. He also worked for five years as a branch manager to implement Micro Credit Project in Myanmar. The project was directly implemented by Grameen Trust and funded by UNDP/UNOPS. With a 34 year experience in home and abroad as a practitioner of Microfinance as well social business, he has a good understanding of poverty alleviation, livelihood issues and new entrepreneur development program.

Biography

Alejandro Mungaray-Lagarda is Coordinator of the UABC Yunus Centre for Social Business and Wellbeing. He has PhD in Economics granted by UNAM and postdoctoral studies in Latin American Economic History at UCLA. He is a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers and the Mexican Academy of Sciences. He was Academic Secretary of the Mexican Association of Universities; President of UABC; Deputy Director of Public Research Centers of the National Council of Science and Technology; and Secretary of Economic Development of Baja California, Mexico. He has authored a vast literature in social businesses and higher education.

Biography

 

Yoko Youssouf is Program Manager at the Yunus Sport Hub.  In that role, she gets to combine her two passions: empowering human beings and sport. In particular, she supports athletes around the world becoming successful entrepreneurs. Before being involved with the YSH in the creation of solutions in and through sport, she led solidarity projects with international NGOs in Asia.  

Yoko speaks French, English and Spanish. She played handball in an elite sport school in France and graduated with a Master degree of International Relations in Australia. Nowadays, she can be found reading a book on the beach in Barcelona, Spain, and from time to training Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand.

Biography

After a humanitarian experience in France and Mongolia with ChildFund Alliance, Médecins du Monde, and Entrepreneurs du Monde, Clément joined the world of entrepreneurship in Africa, by launching the African e-commerce platform Jumia in the countries of Central Africa.

He later became Director of SeedStars Cote d'Ivoire, where he supports entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs in launching and funding their projects. Passionate about sports, Clément is back in the Paris region and joined the Yunus Sports Hub in October 2020.  Nowadays he focuses on creating socio-economic  ecosystems in and through sport.

Biography

With passion for sports and people, Sophia looks to connect athletes to social business through communication. She is devoted to creating and highlighting a community of people who use sport to drive the development of sustainable solutions.

Sophia played women’s lacrosse in the NCAA before obtaining a master’s degree in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Management from the University of Nottingham. While studying, Sophia focused on developing solutions to get international athletes recruited by university teams in the USA. She strives to connect every sport community across the world.

Biography

With a strong interest in access to and opportunity in and around sport, Marisa has focused on how sport can be leveraged as a tool for women and girls. She has a strong background in international development, cooperation and partnerships around sport for development and is interested in exploring how social business models can contribute to the sustainable development goals.

Marisa played football professionally and semi-professionally in the USA, Spain and Sweden and post- career, worked on sport related projects in Paraguay, Brazil. Kenya, Indonesia, India, Liberia and now in Germany, where she resides in the Bodensee region.

Biography

Shea is a New Zealand field hockey player who competed in the 2008, 2012 & 2016 Summer Olympics. He was part of the New Zealand team that won the bronze medal in 2010 and a Silver Medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Hoping to remain in sport beyond his playing days, Shea established Inside Hockey, an online platform offering digital resources to hockey coaches and players of all ages and skill levels.
With his business in its infancy and wondering how he could take it to the next level, Shea came across the Athlete365 Business Accelerator.  It opened other areas of Inside Hockey including; stick sales, supporting the environment, and giving back to the community. Without that support, he says he might “be another 18 months away from where I am now.”

Biography

Krishna is a Brazilian business administrator. She earned her MBA courses: in project management and in competitive intelligence and marketing innovation. Since 2012, she has been working at the Brazilian National Olympic Committee in the Brazilian Olympic Institute. She is a former member of the 1st ANOC Youth Commission and was a Young Ambassador at the Winter YOG 2016. Krishna designed and delivered her IOC YL project called United By Sport.  It is a social project focused on inspiration and inclusion through sport and the Olympic Values. Its target audience is children in need, living in shelters and social centres in Rio. The project’s activities focus on teaching the children about sustainability and healthy habits – taking care of nature, their minds and their bodies. They can try out various sports and learn about the diversity of sports disciplines and professions. The project also runs a community campaign to donate clothes, food and play equipment for children in these centres.

Biography

Ana is an experienced senior programme manager with a long and fun history of working in sports industry and management experience in 5 Olympic Games editions, 1 Youth Olympic Games, 2 World Championships (rowing, canoeing), 1 European Championships (canoeing) and 1 World Cup (canoeing). As an athlete she “won” the 4th place in double sculls at the World Rowing Championships U23 in 1997.

In the early 2000s Ana worked for both national rowing and canoe federations in Zagreb, Croatia. In 2005 she moved to Madrid to work for the International Canoe Federation, which led to a job at the IOC in 2008, where today she is the Head of Activities within the Olympic Games Engagement team and is the lead of the IOC Young Leaders Programme. Loves dogs, hiking and ice-cream.

Biography

Arram Kim is current Education Manager at the Pyeongchang 2018 Legacy Foundation. He is currently in charge of youth engagement, Olympic & Paralympic education programmes and runs the Olympic Truce programme for youth in Korea. He has a strong interest in promoting Olympic and Paralympic values and strives to promote a healthier lifestyle for Korean youth. When not visiting schools, to promote Olympic and Paralympic Values, he spends his time promoting the sport of Bobsleigh and Skeleton and is an IBSF (International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation) Jury member. He is also the founder of the Korean Non-Profit Organization Passion.Connected! which promote sports to disadvantaged youth in Korea.

Biography

A former international badminton player and Olympian, Iran-born Kaveh Mehrabi joined the IOC Sports Department over six years ago to lead the section in charge of relations and engagement with athletes and athlete-related programmes.

With a sporting and multicultural background, Kaveh Mehrabi has over 10 years' experience in international sports organisations, including at Peace and Sport, Special Olympics and the Organising Committee of the first European Games, held in Baku in 2015. He has also been an athlete representative for several years, serving the athlete community as the elected Chair of the Badminton World Federation Athletes’ Commission and as a member of the WADA Athlete Committee. Through his own foundation, he supports children from disadvantaged communities in Iran with their basic needs and makes education and sport accessible to them

Biography

Michael Payne has been at the forefront of the sports marketing industry for over thirty years – having led the global marketing effort for the Olympic Movement for more than two decades, from 1983 to 2004 as the IOC’s first ever Marketing and Broadcast Rights Director. Michael Payne now runs his own global strategic advisory group – Payne Sports Media Strategies SA, serving a diverse group of clients and Boards.

Nominated as one of the world’s most influential marketers by Advertising Age, Michael oversaw the development of the first ever global marketing strategy for the Olympic Games, which has turned into one of the most successful marketing initiatives ever seen.

Biography

As the Global Marketing Director at Danone, Florence requests a fair combination of sustainability and responsibility as well as economic and social will to grow, in order to change the game. Florence began her career in 1998 in Sales, moving in 2005 to Danone as Marketing Brand Manager, and various communication and senior marketing roles in Europe and Asia-Pacific for the Evian Brand. Today, Florence leads the Danone Company Brand, making sure the Danone vision of bringing health through food to as many people as possible is genuinely tangible through their brands and understood by consumers.

Florence is leading Danone’s efforts to transform the 20 year old event that is the Danone Nations Cup into an event that is “Good For The Game” and a platform through which the events 2 million annual participants can be activated to personally contribute towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Biography

Marie Soubeiran started her career at Danone in 2007 in India, in brand marketing. In 2008 she started to be involved with Grameen Danone in Bangladesh, going on various operational marketing missions to support Shokti ladies program, rural schools program, new product launches and media strategy.

In 2013 she went back to France and worked in the Danone Sensory and Consumer behavior department, supporting innovation projects for Danone Dairy division.

In 2018 she joined Danone Communities again, as a communication and employee engagement manager. Her role is to increase awareness about Danone Communities, the social businesses we support, and their actions. It’s also to engage thousands of Danone employees to put their skills and expertise to good use for the 12 social businesses that Danone Communities supports across 15 countries and that impact 10 million people everyday!

Biography

Enzo Cursio

Italian journalist, Human Rights activist, currently working at the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations as COVID-19, Food Coalition Coordinator, the global Alliance built to avoid that the actual health crisis can tourn to a global food crisis.

Since 1999 he has dedicated his life to disarmament, non-violence, prevention and conflict resolution.

There is no international leader or organization that has not met Enzo voluntary, reserved and discreet service. He has promoted and organized more than 30 International Conferences based on the building of dialogue between States, National Institutions and Civil Society and has coordinated actions aimed to promote human rights values and dialogue between parties in the ongoing conflicts. He promoted the extreme attempt to stop the war in Iraq, bringing to Baghdad 14 tons of humanitarian aid under embargo just a few days before the start of the war, actively supported the democratization process in Nigeria that led to the first free elections in 1999, mediated during the first civil war in Ivory Coast, and promoted reconciliation dialogues in Congo, Ghana, Syria and with Nobel Laureate Betty Williams organized the reception of hundreds of refugees to the South of Italy. Enzo acting to promote a permanent international dialogue to find a solution to the Korean peninsula crisis. He co-organized with the Holy See the Symposium on Nuclear Disarmament chaired by Pope Francis, that for the first time saw seats at the same table, NATO, United Nations, Nobel Prize winners, Civil society, religious leaders. He is a member of the Pope Francis Covid-19 Task Force. Enzo was nominee as 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. Enzo is also the European Director of Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Center, the Foundation chaired by Samia Nkrumah, promoting the legacy and teachings of the African Union founder and first President of Ghana Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Biography

Max Lawson is Head of Inequality Policy and Advocacy at Oxfam International, and Chair of the People’s Vaccine Alliance. He was one of the originators of Oxfam's global campaign on inequality and helped author Oxfam's series of reports released annually ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Max studied at the Universities of Sussex and Leeds in the UK, and lived and worked in South Africa and Malawi. He has worked with over 25 country programmes across the world, and his areas of specialism include inequality, health, taxation, debt, structural adjustment, aid, macroeconomics, the finance sector, governance, social protection and education. He has also specialised in the World Bank and IMF, and also on the G8 and G20.

Biography

Nabil Ahmed is Head of Executive Strategy and Communications at Oxfam International, a global network that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice. He is also working closely as part of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, which Oxfam is a part of – together with leading civic, human rights and health organizations including UN AIDS and Amnesty. Nabil is based in Nairobi, Kenya, and his work focuses on tackling economic and gender inequality and the climate crisis. He has worked on initiatives such as the International Labour Organization’s Global Commission on the Future of Work and the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, and previously worked in the private sector at Unilever.

Biography

30 years ago, Walter, co-owned B.Grimm, a now 142-year-old Euro-Asian group of industrial and consumer companies that includes joint ventures with global corporations like Carrier, Merck, Siemens, etc. Being fully committed to make the group sustainable, he realized that this can only be achieved if stakeholder markets, incl. clients, talent, investors, insurers and the public sector demand change. He left the leadership of B.Grimm to his borther and focused on co-creating the first sustainable business alliances and innovation movements across Europe and The Americas to co-create concrete innovation and critical mass towards fundamental system change in collaboration with civil society movements, governments and the UN. he co-created with hundreds of partners the premiere global accelerator to scale the fundamental transformation and pragmatic transition of leaders, companies and economies to fully integrate business success and economic development with the regeneration of people and planet that he calls regenerative value creation. He partners with leading regeneration-oriented companies like Philips and Natura, the UN and multilaterals, the Vatican and transformation leaders and movements like Prof. Yunus, Sarvodaya and ImpactAfrica.

 

Biography

Harald Nusser

Harald Nusser is heading Global Patient Solutions at Gilead Sciences, a team which is responsible for the leadership of the Gilead portfolio in more than 120 countries in Central America & Caribbean, Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Africa as well as India & South East Asia. Access to and affordability of medicines is a priority for this unit.

Besides, Harald is a Global Ambassador of the G20 Health & Development Partnership.

Until spring 2021, Harald led Novartis Social Business. In that capacity he was recognized by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship as a Corporate Social Intrapreneur of the Year 2019. Harald served on the Board of the UNITAR hosted Defeat-NCD Partnership in its inaugural year.

Prior to his engagement with Novartis, he has been leading the Bayer Healthcare Business in 48 LMICs in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Harald holds a PhD in Mathematics of the Free University of Berlin and an Executive MBA from Bradford University, UK.

Biography

Emeritus Professor / Dr. Barbara Parfitt CBE, PhD DHC

Barbara Parfitt qualified as a nurse and a midwife in the 1960’s. She worked in rural Afghanistan and Bhutan as a community nurse midwife during the 1970’s. On returning to the UK she worked in Nursing Education and was subsequently appointed as Dean of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Community Health and Director of Global Health at Glasgow Caledonian University. She was the Director of the WHO collaborating Centre and Secretary General of the WHO Global Network of Collaborating Centres for Nursing and Midwifery. In 2010-2014 she established a Nursing College in Bangladesh in partnership with the University and with Professor Muhammad Yunus.  She is currently retired but is working with PRIME to train Community Health Workers in a deprived community  in Pakistan as well as advising on the establishment of a new Nursing College in Lahore

Biography

Biography

Mr. Suresh have over 2 decades of experience in working with poor and low income people. Suresh, was at the helm of affairs at CreditAccess Grameen (erst. Grameen Koota) since its inception in 1999 as Managing Director till July 2015 and non-executive director till July 2017. CreditAccess Grameen is India's largest NBFC-MFI with a portfolio size of more than $1.2 billion. He has played an active role in building the microfinance sector in India, and co-founded MFI associations. He is also the Managing Trustee of Navya Disha Trust, an NGO working in the area of WASH and financial literacy.  He has also served as Director in USA based company called Mifos.org which built open source MIS system for MFI’s and an MFI in Indonesia called BinaArtha.  He currently serves as an independent director in companies like Mifos.org, Sanghamitra Rural Financial Services, Grameen Foundation for Social Initiatives, Centrum Microfinance, SMILE Microfinance, Waste Ventures P. Ltd. He is passionate about social businesses, micro housing, financial literacy and livelihoods for the poor among others.  

Suresh has a background in teaching and has led and worked with social businesses for more than 25 years. He has studied international microfinance models and strategies from several reputed establishments including Grameen Bank, Bankakademie, Germany and Harvard Business School, USA. Suresh is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bengaluru (India).

Biography

Biography

Biography

After graduation from Waseda University Faculty of Law, he worked at Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. for 19 years.  He established a joint venture in October 2010 with Grameen group, and started the mung bean project in Bangladesh. The project aims to build a mass production system of mung beans to increase the income of the poor in rural areas and create employment opportunities in the country.

In September 2014, Grameen Yukiguni Maitake renamed as Grameen Euglena. Currently the company is also working on the "euglena GENKI program", a nutrition program for Bangladeshi children. Since 2018, he is developing another project to support Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi small holder farmers in collaboration with the UN World Food Programme.

Biography

Daniel Nowack is Managing Director at Yunus Social Business (YSB), a philanthropic venture fund for social businesses in LATAM, Africa and India, co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus. 

Daniel works with corporate partners to inspire purpose-driven innovation and transformation of value chains through social business initiatives. Together with partners such as Vodafone, IKEA or Merck, Daniel and his team develop impact programs and ventures to support the corporate journey towards tangible and authentic purpose transformation.

Through various roles in startups and the impact ecosystem, Daniel connects the dots between science fiction and social fiction. He is a former CFO to various startups, a Senior Partner at the innovation agency Lumen Partners, PMO Lead for the World Economic Forum's COVID Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs, a founding member of a German faith-based investment club, a mentor for Google Launchpad and Founders Institute as well as a lecturer for Lean Startup at TU Munich, University RheinMain and Fresenius University of Applied Sciences.

Biography

With a passion to build new things and solve global problems, Saad has worked for multiple industries, i.e., Refugees, Education, Skills, and Agriculture, through various entrepreneurial programs. He currently manages the Program and Research function of an Agriculture reform initiative, that improves Pakistani farmers’ production and selling capacities through innovative digital and financial solutions.  

Saad is an Acumen Fellow, a Fulbright Scholar, and holds an MPA from Syracuse University, USA.

Biography

Sunpower to 1) export used tires and recycle car parts to overseas and 2) provide the international business development consulting service, including the support for overseas companies to set up a business in Japan.

Before joining in Sunpower Corp, as a successor, worked in automotive segment, world #2 auto company.

Working experience in Germany and in the US. Working experience at a large enterprise in the US and reading Professor Yunus’ book, creating a world without poverty, almost 8-10 years ago, during my stay in the US transformed the vision of my work.

Biography

Biography

Prof Dr. Mpezamihigo, trained at Makerere University (Uganda) for his Bachelors and Masters degrees, and attained his PhD from the University of Reading (UK) in Horticulture and Landscape Sciences. Has senior University Management experience and extensive training in higher education. Since 2015, he has steered Kampala International University (KIU) to rise to be the leading private University in Uganda two years in a row. Under his stewardship, KIU has made multiple national, regional and International partnerships, that have had significant positive impacts.

Prof Mpezamihigo is the Chairman Board of the Virus Outbreak Data Network (VODAN) – Africa; Co-President of multinational and multi-institutional Project of building digital skills for vulnerable youths and women in the horn of Africa, funded by the Netherlands Universities Foundation for International Cooperation (NUFFIC) and partnering with Dutch Partners such as Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

Serves as Uganda Country Representative and Executive Council Member to ICESCO (Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and a recipient of many awards including recognition for excellent performance, as a Council member and chairperson to committees of the Uganda National Council for Higher Education; Education Leadership Award for Excellence, by the World Education Congress Global Awards. Member of several community based and philanthropic organizations that support education and the well being of vulnerable groups. He has to his name several books, book chapters, journal articles and other publications.

Biography

Prometheus has been associated with the global social business movement under the leadership of Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus for more than 9 years, in various executive and board roles across Asia and Australia. He is currently on the board of Grameen Australia (working on a pilot Grameen styled Microfinance Social Business in Australia), Grameen Philippines and Dana Asia (Singapore, with its portfolio of social businesses in Asia (Philippines and Cambodia). Prior to moving to Sydney in mid-2014, Prometheus was engaged in the management one of the largest social business funds in Bangladesh chaired by Professor Muhammad Yunus. Prometheus is currently working at Brolton Group, a leading engineering companies in Western Sydney, as Contracts Administrator, where he provides critical commercial support to major infrastructure and utility projects in the state which includes WestConnex, Water NSW, Sydney Water, Sydney Trains among others. In addition to his extensive industry experience Prometheus has also been engaged as a sessional academic (lecturer) at his alma mater Victoria University and other institutions such Asia Pacific International College based in Sydney.

Biography

Dr Isa was one of the key members of the senior executive team that oversaw the planning, financing, expansion and consolidation of Grameen Bank’s (GB) operation in the 1990s. He also worked as a microfinance consultant for the DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) of the Australian Government, UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), and Grameen Trust of Bangladesh. As a microfinance expert, Dr Isa participated as a Resource Person in training programmes, workshops and seminars in various countries. He led several Grameen group of companies as the Managing Director and CEO. In Australia, Dr Isa worked for The Business for Millennium Development (B4MD), a Melbourne-based independent not-for-profit organisation, as Director of Projects during 2009 -2012 before completing his doctorate at RMIT in entrepreneurship, and replication of microfinance social business in a developed country context. He is currently teaching at the Faculty - School of Business and Law in Central Queensland University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Biography

Duncan Power, Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, has over twenty years’ experience working in the not for profit, social business and social enterprise worlds in a senior management and financial and advisory capacity.

Biography

Dr. Sanjaya Kuruppu is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting teaching in subjects ranging from Management Accounting, Strategic Financial Analysis, Corporate Social Responsibility and International Business. He has extensive teaching experience working at the University of Canterbury and the University of Adelaide prior to joining the University of South Australia in 2015. Sanjaya has worked in both private sector and not-for-profit settings. This context has been the focus of his research interest into sustainability, corporate social responsibility and the accountability of organisations to a wide range of stakeholder groups. Sanjaya's research has a practical emphasis with a number of consulting reports arising from his research shaping the organisations he has studied. His research has received external and internal university grant funding including from the Accounting Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). He is also currently the Director of Yunus Social Business Centre at UniSA.

Biography

Dr. Mahfuz Ashraf is the Course Coordinator & Member of Course Advisory Committee (BIT), Crown Institute of Higher Education. He was a former lecturer at UNSW and draws on a diverse background to address socio-business problems at the intersection of technology adoption, NGO/entrepreneurship and socio-economic development. Mahfuz’s works have been recognised at Singapore Internet Research Centre, Singapore and International Development Research Centre, Canada, UNESCO Chair in ICT for Development and Research Division, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and Government of Bangladesh. Mahfuz holds a doctorate degree in the areas of ICT for Development and a masters degree in information systems management from the University of South Australia and the London South Bank University, UK. He also has a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Dhaka. Mahfuz is researching the conceptual and practical understanding of social business principles in the precincts of sustainable health practices

Biography

Li Xin is the Managing Editor of Caixin Global, Vice President of Caixin Media and Managing Director of Caixin Global, leading the company’s global news and intelligence services, as well as Caixin’s international branding and events.

Before Caixin, she was the Managing Editor of the Chinese Wall Street Journal and Chinese Dow Jones newswire.

This is her second stint at Caixin, where she was formerly the Managing Editor of Caixin: China Economics & Finance, an English-language magazine, and Caixin Online at Caixin Media.

In 2006, she founded Caijing Magazine’s first bureau in the United States, as a correspondent of politics and economics. Li moved back to China in 2007 to head Caijing Magazine’s English website. Li was a documentary producer at China Central Television between 2001 and 2004.

Li holds a bachelor degree in English language from Tsinghua University, a master degree in journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia and an Executive MBA degree from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

She is an Aspen China Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is a member of International Media Council at the World Economic Forum, and co-chair of China Council of the WEF future councils.

Biography

Aditi is the Technical Director at the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) where she manages international projects and partnerships with the UN, provides assistance to ISWA’s Working Groups and helps develop innovative projects globally to further strengthen cooperation with ISWA’s partners and international organizations. Her skills are particularly focused on solid waste management and environmental issues. Aditi holds a master’s in Environmental Technology and International Affairs from the Vienna University of Technology. She has several years of experience in the private sector including at Caterpillar Inc. before joining the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in the Climate Policy and Networks unit. Aditi is also passionate about science education and was the founding member and lead of the ISWA Young Professionals Group (YPG) initiative on Education and is the past Chair of the ISWA YPG. In 2016 she helped launch the regional ISWA YPG in India.

Biography

Mr. Carlos Silva Filho is the President of the International Solid Waste Association. Mr. Silva Filho has been involved with ISWA for over 15 years and most recently served as our Vice-President till his election as President of the Association. He is also the CEO of ABRELPE - Brazilian Association of Waste Management Companies, ISWA’s National Member in Brazil. Carlos is an attorney at law post graded in administrative and economic regulation law and has been working within the waste management industry since 1999. Carlos is a member of the Steering Committee for the Global Waste Management Outlook and for the Latin America and Caribbean Regional Waste Outlook, developed by UN Environment. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition for the progressive Closure of Dumpsites in Latin America and the Caribbean, coordinated by UN Environment Regional Office and the author of the book "Solid Waste: what the law says” and several articles about the subject.

Biography

Oda is the coordinator of the CLOCC programme at Avfall Norge, where she leads communications, e-learning module development, digital engagements and reporting and monitoring. Before joining Avfall Norge, she was a communications advisor at Xynteo, an advisory firm that helps businesses to drive sustainable growth. Prior to that, she had several engagements within communications, including at the agricultural company Yara. She graduated from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) with a Master in International Relations, focussing on sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in a global business environment.

Biography

Steffen holds a background in environmental engineering and management. He has more than 10 years professional  experience in international development. He worked in Africa, South Eastern Europe and Germany on water supply sanitation and solid waste management. Currently he works as a marine litter project manager for German Development Cooperation.

Biography

Andy Whiteman is a waste management and circular economy specialist with over 30 years’ experience in 50 countries worldwide. His core expertise is in policy, strategy and planning, methodologies and tools for data capture and analysis, and preparation and implementation of development programmes. Andy is a strategic thinker with vision. He has international reputation as an innovator in the design and implementation of waste and resources management (WaRM) sector programmes and projects.  He founded the international NGO Wasteaware in 1997, and co-founded the Resources and Waste Advisory Group in 2008. He is currently Managing Director of RWA, responsible for overseeing the companies’ global portfolio of projects and implementing projects of special interest.  Andy has been a leading contributor to the Waste Wise Cities Tool (WaCT) preparation and global roll-out.

Biography

Andre Dzikus is the Chief of Urban Basic Services. Previously he was the Coordinator of the Urban Basic Services Branch (UBSB) at UN-Habitat and the Acting Coordinator of the Risk Reduction and Rehabilitation Branch. Urban basic services at UN Habitat covers its work on water and sanitation, energy, transport, solid waste, ICT. This work covers all three pillars of the UN: humanitarian response, peace and security and development. Andre Dzikus has been with UN-Habitat for more than 30 years and managed large projects and programmes in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He was instrumental in setting up the Water and Sanitation Trust Fund (WSTF) to address the MDGs. WSTF was capitalized to the tune of USD 190 million resulting in follow-up investments of USD 2.5 billion. In response to the adoption Agenda 2030 by member states the WSTF was converted into an Urban Basic Services Trust Fund with an initial capitalization of USD 60 million. He was also instrumental in setting up the Waste Wise Cities Campaign in 2018. Andre holds a degree in Urban Geography, which specialization urban and regional planning in developing countries, as well as an additional specialization in tropical epidemiology, from University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Biography

Oskar de Roos leads the Plastic Program of WWF Netherlands, building a network of Plastic Smart Cities and kick starting pilot projects to reduce plastic waste.

Oskar’s work is focused on community based conservation. Enabling local entrepreneurs and communities to make a change. In addition, local authorities are enabled and challenged to be part of the solution of the current plastic waste crisis.
Oskar lives in Amsterdam and has a background in Economics and Political Science and previously work as a consultant for the European Commission and UNICEF.

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. She succeeds Dr. Joan Clos of Spain.

As the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Ms. Sharif has focused on reforming and rejuvenating the agency, mobilizing for internal and external support for the organization's restructuring and new Strategic Plan 2020–2023. Key initiatives undertaken by Ms. Sharif as the Executive Director of UN-Habitat include the adoption of the General Assembly Resolution 73/539 after 14 years of negotiation, which established a new governance structure with universal membership, governed by the UN-Habitat Assembly.

Prior to this appointment, Ms. Sharif was the Mayor of the City Council of Penang Island, Malaysia. In 2011, she was the first woman to be appointed President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. As mayor of a local authority, 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.” 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.

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.
 

Biography

Francesca Calisesi is an Associate Officer of the Solid Waste Management Team, at the Urban Basic Services Section of United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in Nairobi, Kenya.  

She has been working with UN-Habitat’s Solid Waste Management Team since December 2018, supporting the development and management of the Waste Wise Cities programme, a call for action to local governments to support the transition toward circular economy, enhance municipal solid waste management and tackle global waste crisis. She works with local governments in assessing a city’s waste system through the Waste Wise Cities Tool, building the capacity of waste chain stakeholders, developing project proposals, funds mobilization and establishment of partnerships. 

Before joining UN-Habitat, Francesca has worked in the field of sustainable development and natural resource management in Ethiopia and Zambia.

Biography

Name: Juno Wang

Title:

Topic:

Program and Development of Foundation for Yunus Social Business Taiwan

CV:

Juno Wang currently serves as CEO and Pioneer Angel of Foundation for Yunus Social Business Taiwan; The first Director of Taipei Microcredit Union ; and Chairman of Master Success Management College, also general manager of Freeman Management advisers limited. She was President of the Council for Industrial and Commercial Development; Past President of Rotary Club of Taipei Elite under Rotary International District 3480.

Biography

Benedicte Faivre-Tavignot is an Associate Professor of Strategy (Education Track Faculty) at HEC Paris. She is the Executive Director of the S&O Center (Society & Organizations Center), which aims to develop a new way of thinking about the role of business in society, through research, teaching and action. She co-created the HEC Paris Master of Science in Sustainable Development in 2003, and also co-founded the HEC Chair Social Business / Enterprise and Poverty, which became the Movement for Social Business Impact in 2016 and is co-presided by Mohammed Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank and Peace Nobel Price 2006, Emmanuel Faber, CEO of Danone, and Martin Hisch, former High Commissioner in active solidarities against poverty, and head of Paris Hospitals. She is board member of a few foundations and social enterprises / associations acting on the field. Her research focuses on reverse innovation and strategic renewal-the processes through which Social Businesses and Base of the Pyramid business models can be a lever for innovation and strategic renewal.

Biography

Manish Rajoria in his current capacity is the Vice Chairman of Career Group of Institutions, which has a record 51 years of academic excellence and also accredited and awarded with A+ grade by NAAC, Bengaluru. Career group runs Career College, Career College of Law, Career College of Management, Career College of Nursing, Career Institute of Medical Sciences and Career Public School.

He is the Director of Aadarsh Technosoft Private Limited and the Director of Purple Turtle, which is publishing Purple Turtle books, licensing and merchandising. Also franchising Purple Turtle Pre School, animation, gaming, e-books and apps.

He is the Director of Aadarsh Landmark Private Limited, franchising of Remax, the number one company of real estate.

He is Founder Chair of Yi Bhopal Chapter, former Co-Chair CII Madhya Pradesh, Convener for CII MP for skill development, affirmative action and CSR.

He is Founder Chair of Bhopal IP Park Association, Founder of NAR, Bhopal Chapter and Charter member of TiE Global.

He is the Vice Chair of Muskaan, an NGO works in the field education with the underprivileged children of the urban slums and Co-Founder of Purple Turtle Foundation, an NGO helps underprivileged children to learn with the help of technologies and also enables book therapy for children in stress.

Manish is the Creator of Purple Turtle IP and has taken the IP which came from an imprint to more than 25 countries without TV exposure. He is also the pioneer of talking books in India. Always looking for innovative EdTech solutions, he has been instrumental in getting the ISO-17316 adapted to an Indian Standard, by the Bureau of India Standards.

Manish has travelled extensively for business development and has been able to create the Purple Turtle animates with the best script writers of the world from LA and Co Producers from Ireland and France. The series of 52 episodes of 7 minutes is now on air on Discovery Kids MENA for 10 times a day. 

He has experience of Licensing- from being a licensee of Disney, Mattel, Turner for Marvel, Ben-10 and Barbie books, representing some US, European and Japanese IP’s in India as a Licensing Agent, publishing a book 'Basics of Licensing’ written by Danny Simon (Ex President of LIMA now Licensing International) and licensing now Purple Turtle in various categories. 

Being a franchisee of RE/MAX and Purple Turtle Pre Schools, he holds the experience of more than 10 years in franchising.

With 30 years of experience in the Printing and Publishing business he brought innovative patented products and also exported print services to 20 countries. Always creating new formats with innovation. In-depth understanding of compliance, which led to Aadarsh becoming a Disney Approved Printing Company.

Biography

Dr. Micaela Mazzei is a Senior Lecturer at the Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health, Glasgow Caledonian University. She holds a PhD in human geography from Durham University and an MA (Econ) in Applied Social Research from the University of Manchester. Dr Mazzei leads the MSc Social Innovation programme at GCU and her interest in social innovation and social economy is threefold: understanding the contextual determinants of social enterprise development and performance; understanding the dynamics of local (and regional) economies – through the lens of a diverse economy approach; and the involvement of voluntary and community organisations in delivery of public services. Among her expertise she was the principal researcher for the national team of the EFESEIIS (Enabling the Flourishing and Evolution of Social Entrepreneurship for Innovation and Inclusive Societies) project (EU FP7). She was recently work package coordinator for the Common Good First project (Erasmus Plus) to support and grow the emerging South African social innovation sector, capturing and showcasing social impact projects in South Africa. She also led the assessment of the progress to-date of the Strategic Public Social Partnership model in Scotland (Scottish Government funded) and the consultation with key stakeholders on social enterprise business support awareness and perceptions (Scottish Enterprise/Social Value Lab). Dr Mazzei was also a supervisor/advisor on the research teams of the Common Health Project (MRC/ESRC funded) on the role of social enterprise as a public health initiative. She has extensively researched issues of social economies and of social exclusion in northern English city regions (Greater Manchester and Tyne and Wear) both as an academic and a consultant for a think-tank in Manchester (Centre for Local Economic Strategies). Dr Mazzei has also extensive experience of evaluating place-based regeneration programmes, as well as contributing to the revision of Indices of Multiple Deprivation (Wales) while working at the Centre for Urban Policy Studies, University of Manchester.

Biography

Vincent Defrasne is a French athlete who was Olympic Champion in Biathlon in 2006 and flag bearer for the French team in 2010.

After his sports career, Vincent Defrasne has been working for the Youth Olympic Games, he also directed a corporate foundation dedicated to social causes, and he created in 2013 the crowdfunding platform « Les Petites Pierres », to help people suffering from indecent housing.

In 2020, Vincent Defrasne founded AYAQ, a technical sportswear brand, eco-responsible and committed, to offer more ecology and respect for nature in mountain sports activities.

Biography

Dr. Abdul Hannan Chowdhury is the current Dean and Professor of School of Business and Economics (SBE) at North South University (NSU). Earlier, he served as the Vice Chancellor of Primeasia University and the Pro Vice Chancellor of Eastern University from 2014 to 2017.. He has 32 years of teaching and research experience with various reputed institutions in Bangladesh, Canada, and the United States of America. He is conducting research in the areas of Quantitative Analysis, Business Statistics, Statistical Quality Control, Total Quality Management, Operations Management and Social Business.

He led a project with HEC, France to train faculty members of NSU on Social Business (2010-14).Dr. Chowdhury has more recently added the area of Social Business academia, researches, practices to his expertise and he has extensive experiences of working directly with the Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus in promoting the idea of Social Business globally.

Biography

Prof Pradeep Ray leads the multi-disciplinary (Engineering, healthcare, business and entrepreneurship and social sciences), multi country initiative (since 2018) called Technology Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development (TESD) involving Yunus Social Business Centres (YSBC) in five countries. He led to completion a social business entrepreneurship project called mHealth for Belt and Road (mHBR 2018-2020) involving more than 50 researchers from 14 countries, as presented in the book (2020) “Mobile Technologies For Delivering Healthcare In Remote, Rural Or Developing Regions” https://shop.theiet.org/editors/pradeep-kumar-ray-naoki-nakashima-ashir-ahmed-soong-chul-ro-yasuhiro-soshino. He has been the founder Director (2013-2016) of the WHO Collaborating Centre on eHealth at the University of New South Wales (UNSW)-Australia. He has been the co-founder of the Yunus Social Business Health Hub (2014) and the Chair of the Technical Committee for Yunus Social Business Academic Conference (SBAC2015) that was held in Berlin in Nov 2015. He has chaired sessions and presented at past events of YSBC, such as Social Business Academic Conference (2018,2019) and the Social Business Day (2015).

Biography

Dr Restrepo has studies on Economics, Master in Economics and Doctorate in Management. He has been in charge of research centers and units in public and private entities. He has served as a consultant to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on economic policy matters; the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in programs for the development of regional clusters; and the Colombian government in the design of productivity and competitiveness policies, and strategies to attract foreign direct investment. He has been a teacher for more than 20 years in undergraduate and graduate programs. He has published books on industrial economics, business development and social policy. His articles have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals, included in systems such as Web of Science and Scopus. He has been invited as a lecturer at academic events in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and the United States. He currently serves as Director of Research at the School of Management of Universidad Externado de Colombia and as leader of the Research group on Business Environment.

Biography

Giuseppe Torluccio is Professor of Banking and Finance at the University of Bologna. He was appointed as a faculty of centre of excellence at the University of Bologna (Collegio superiore).

Giuseppe is involved into consulting and has authored publications in financial intermediation, management of credit risk and business financing. He earned an MBA at the Olin Business School – Washington University in St. Louis. Visiting scholar at Washington University in St. Louis, College of Business at Arizona State University, Bangor University UK.

He is a Director of Master Financial Markets and Intermediaries at the University of Bologna and he is advisor of PhD students at Management program at University of Bologna. He is involved in many social studies and related activites, as Director of Yunus Social Business Centre – University of Bologna, and as a Vice president of Grameen Italia Foundation.

Biography

Didier Chabaud is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management at the IAE Paris – Sorbonne Business School, University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne, France, director of the Chair ETI (Entrepreneurship Territory Innovation, http://chaire-eti.org/), and Past-President of the French Academy of entrepreneurship and innovation. He has published more than 100 articles, chapters and books on the processes of entrepreneurship, social networks, and family business, and is co-responsible for entrepreneurship programs of IAE Paris.

Biography

Biography

Elisabetta Righini is a lecturer at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, where she has served since 1993 as a researcher, since 2004 as an associate professor and from 2019 till at present as a full professor and where she teaches commercial law and financial markets laws in the Schools of Law and Economics.

Since 2019 she has been director of the research center “Yunus Social Business Center” of the University of Urbino (member of the International Network of Yunus Centers, founded by the economist Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus).
For many years she has been scientific director of the “Enterprise and Culture. Culture as an engine of economic and social development "Project of the Department of Law of the University of Urbino.

Graduated in Law (Laurea Magistrale, University of Bologna, 1984), in Psychological Sciences and Techniques and in Clinical Psychology (Bachelor's and Master's Degree, University of Urbino, 2012 and 2018) and in Religious Sciences (Bachelor's Degree, Italo Mancini Institute of Religious Sciences, Urbino, 2009), she obtained a PhD in Commercial Law at Bocconi University in Milan in 1991 and a first level Master's Degree in Live Entertainment Management (University of Urbino, 2003).

She is the author of numerous publications in the fields of commercial law and financial market law (including the monographs "I valori mobiliari", Giuffrè, Milan, 1993 and "La gestione finanziaria del patrimonio dei fondi pensione chiusi ", Giuffrè, Milan, 2006) and in the field of behavioral law and economics, including, for FrancoAngeli's types, “Behavioral law and economics. Problemi di policy, assetti
normativi e di vigilanza "(Milan, 2012) and "Educazione finanziaria. Uno strumento per cittadini, risparmiatori e mercati" (Milan, 2020).
She has experience as a member of the board of directors of important Italian listed companies in the financial and the industrial sector (Unipol Gruppo Finanziario, Unipolsai Assicurazioni and Biesse Spa) She was a member of the Ethics Commission of the cooperative Coop Adriatica, a consumer cooperative operating in the largescale distribution food sector.

Biography

Masahiro Momono is a United States Certified Public Accountant. After working for PwC consulting and as Managing Director of Protiviti (former Arthur Andersen), he became Director / COO of Grameen Nippon in September 2018. Since August 2017, he has been a founding member of the Grameen Nippon Preparatory Organization and participated in the establishment of Grameen Nippon.

Biography

Michelle holds a BA and MBA from the University of Victoria in BC and a Doctorate of Education in social entrepreneurship from the University of Liverpool. She has a passion for working within the community and helping launch socially enterprising ideas. She lives in beautiful British Columbia where you can find her outdoors year-round embracing the beauty of nature and bringing sustainability into her teaching practice.

Biography

Marc Lijour is the Vice-President leading Capacity and Innovation Readiness initiatives at the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC). Marc started his career as an Educator, teaching Mathematics and Computer-related topics in several countries. He played a leading role at the Ontario Ministry of Education during the revision of the Technological Education curriculum and the launch of the Ontario e-learning Strategy. In recent years, Marc worked in the private sector for IT companies leading the 4th Industrial Revolution, such as Cisco Systems, Savoir-faire Linux, and ConsenSys. He worked closely with startups and large organizations alike to create exponential business value driving economic and social growth. Marc is passionate about new technologies and helping people and organizations innovate. He contributes to several industry program advisory committees for leading postsecondary institutions in Canada. Marc holds degrees in Mathematics, in Computer Science, and in Management (MBA in Technology and Innovation). He serves on the board of multiple not-for-profit organizations in the Tech industry, such as La French Tech Toronto, TechConnex, ColliderX, and the Toronto French Business Network.

Biography

Professor Waswa Balunywa is currently the Principal of Makerere University Business School, (MUBS). He has been teaching in the University for over 30 years primarily in the area of Business Administration, Accounting, Finance and Management. In recent years, he focused onto teaching and Researching into Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Change Management and
Leadership.

He led the team that started private programmes in Makerere University, changing the landscape of higher education not only in the country but in the region. He is some of the architects of MUBS, created MUBS, a leading Business Schools in the region. The School started as a Faculty of Commerce, with one Degree programme and about 220 students. It now has over 20 undergraduate programmes, 11 Masters Programmes, and a PhD. The current student population in MUBS is approximately 20, 000 students

Prof. Balunywa holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship from University of Stirling in the United Kingdom and has a B. Com an MBA from the University of Delhi, India.

In his profession, Prof. Balunywa has published books and articles in various journals.  He is a blogger and writes extensively on the economy management and social issues (http://waswabalunywa.blogspot.ug).

He has been a member of different Boards including Bank of Uganda, Uganda Airlines, Coca Cola among others. He currently serves on the Madhvani Board. He is a patron of different Associations including AIESEC and YPMA.

Prof. Balunywa is also a social entrepreneur and works with members of his family to support vulnerable Women, Youth especially the Girl child in his community. The Balunywa Foundation of which he is a Director is trying to put girls who have been denied education into Schools.

He is widely travelled and has interest in Yoga and wrestling.

Biography

Dr. Isa Nsereko is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Entrepreneurship and Business Administration, department of Entrepreneurship at Makerere University Business School (MUBS). He has vast experience in teaching, management, research, curriculum design and review. He has taught for 18 years at secondary level, undergraduate and post graduate levels. He is a business expert and has proven working experience in the public, private and the informal sectors. His research focuses on social entrepreneurship, migration entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial ecosystem, entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial mindset and business startup. His published work deals in constructs of sustainable leadership, personal initiative in social entrepreneurial ventures and the moderating role of networks on social entrepreneurial venture among others.  For years, Isa has advanced in organising, communication, planning, coordination, leadership, team building and financial management skills. Dr. Nsereko has field experience, were he has designed and implemented training programmes at the MUBS Entrepreneurship innovation and incubation centre and Leadership center. He has been part of a number of research projects namely; markets, family businesses, leadership sustainability, poverty among others. He has participated in grant writing and implementation of projects like Entrepreneurial Leadership & Sustainability Survey in East Africa funded by Investment Climate and Business Environment Research Fund (ICBE) and Trust Africa (2011-2013); Gender, capital acquisition and business startup funded by National council for Higher Education; the Small and/ or Early Stage Small and Growing Businesses Segmentation Study funded by USAID and he was one of the Consultants who conducted an Assessment of Market potential of M-Mulimisa and Akorion Agricultural innovation platform funded by USAID under Resilient Africa Network.

Biography

Lamia Hafiz is the Community Lead at YY Ventures and Impact Hub Dhaka. Apart from managing her work by mobilizing stakeholders, she works towards making the earth a more eco-friendly one by turning waste into something useful. She has 2.5 years of experience in the food and service industry and fancies herself the foodie. Lamia played for the national Basketball team and dreams going back on court as soon as the pandemic is over. She’s a person of the people, and hopes to grow in the field of communications

Biography

As an experienced leader of innovative global organisations, organisational and personal development consultant and experiential learning designer Gabriela is committed to building organisations and systems that enable people and planet to thrive and meaningful visions to get accomplished. She spent her last 10 years working as a manager or consultant with a mix of not for profit and for profit global organisations spanning over 50 countries around the world. As a manager, she worked for AIESEC International and Romania, Future Considerations and Impact Hub. As a consultant, her clients included HSBC, KPMG, BP, TATE Britain and 10 key art galleries in England, ProVita Romania, RoPot, Human Invest. Throughout her career, Gabriela had coaching engagements with over 40+ leaders. This all was fun and makes up for her more than 5 passports used up to date. Currently, she happily works for the Impact Hub network as a global director, helping build a global infrastructure for catalysing and scaling social enterprises and change making businesses that address the key issues of our time. And with this pursuing her stand of a connected humanity acting as a power for good. *Gabriela is based in Vienna, Austria.

Biography

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 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

Jyoti Chandra Ojha is the Chief Executive Officer of the RMDC Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd, a prominent wholesale lending organization in Nepal. He has more than 3 decades of experience and vast knowledge in the financial sector and had served in Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) in various management capacities and was retired as Executive Director. Besides he was also the Chairman of Neco Insurance Company Ltd; Executive Director of the Western Rural Development Bank in Nepalgunj and also served as the Board of Director of Nepal Lube Oil Ltd. and National Banking Institute (NBI) Ltd. Aside from Management skills, he has also written more than dozen articles in the leading newspapers. He holds an MBA Degree from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand.

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography

Biography