Muhammed Yunus - Banker to the Poor

In conjunction with my previous post...

I'm currently reading the book "Banker to the Poor" by Muhammed Yunus, founder of the the Grameen Bank in India and a man committed to the proliferation of micro finance organizations restoring so many in extreme poverty around the world. Mr. Yunus was formerly an acclaimed economic professor in Bangladesh before the outstanding famine of 1974 hit Bangladesh. Experiencing people of mere skin and bones arriving in the great city, strew on sidewalks and train station platforms, incapable in their hunger to find energy even to beg, shocked Yunus out of the classroom and into the countryside were the famine was so widespread. In the countryside, Mr. Yunus became (first) an anthropologist, studying in a new way his people in a time of crisis. His interviews and relationships led him to begin the Grameen Bank, the first of its kind, creating small loans for ingenious peoples who simply lacked the capital for their skill to create gain.

Last year Yunus was awarded for his own ingenuity by obtaining the Nobel Peace Prize. This man understood the power of microfinance long before it gained its modern-day popularity.

I first learned about Muhammed Yunus through the Chicago Council on Global Affairs of which I am apart. He is coming this month to speak on his experience and knowledge of microfinance, bringing it into the context of urban Chicago in a way many others have failed to articulate.

Crain's Business is onto the trend and have put together a presentation, which includes a clip on Mr. Yunus, on the intersection of globalization and microfinance (one concept more complex than another).

You can find this presentation on the Crain's Business website.