At the Little Bangladesh 4th Anniversary Celebration dinner on November 22, 2014 held at the Universal Sheraton, Thai CDC Executive Director, Chanchanit Martorell, had an experience of a lifetime by meeting Nobel Laureate Professor Muhummad Yunus whom she considers one of her heroes. As a Bangladeshi, he is one of the Bangladeshi community’s own sons whom they are very proud of and whom they highly venerate. He served as the guest of honor and keynote speaker at the dinner.
Known as the “Banker to the Poor,” Professor Yunus’ name is synonymous with “micro-credit” and “social business.” His deep concern for the plight of the poor around him during a 1974 famine while he was a professor of economics at a university in Bangladesh led him to the founding of the Grameen Bank in 1983. He pioneered the concept of small loans to impoverished entrepreneurs. As his brainchild, micro-credit has now been recognized by the international community and has been adopted in many countries around the world as an effective mechanism for poverty alleviation. His vision for economic and social development has had an incredible impact on the world. The bank’s activity has now transcended the country’s boundaries and now has thousands of offshoots worldwide.
In fact, he swung through Los Angeles that weekend to mark the official launch of his Grameen America microfinance organization in the city. Grameen America currently has 19 branches in 11 U.S. cities. Aided by $2.5 million from the California Community Foundation, Grameen America will have 13 branches in Los Angeles and aims to provide more than $650 million in microloans to 91,000 female-owned businesses. The Thai Community Development Center’s Small Business Program will provide Grameen America as an additional source of loans for its women entrepreneur clients.
In his moving and inspiring speech, he talked about “social business” and his experience building social businesses around the world. According to Yunus, 74, social business is a non-dividend company that solves human problems. Conventional business aims at personal profit-making but social business focuses on problem solving without any intention of making personal money. Investors can get their investment money back over a period of time but he/she does not take any dividend after that. Instead, the profit is ploughed back into the business to make it financially stronger.
Famous for saying, “the only place where poverty should be is in museums,” Professor Yunus’ vision is fairly simple. He believes all people are born equal and everyone deserves the same basic amenities of life regardless of birthplace, nationality, and race. He observed that poor people have skills and have the ability to get themselves out of the vicious cycle of poverty provided they are given opportunities. Grameen Bank’s borrowers are predominantly women (97%) and the repayment rate is 99%.
Professor Yunus’ vision of total eradication of poverty from the world is detailed in his latest book, Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism, which Martorell received as a gift from Consul General Damrong K….and Martorell had the honor of having it signed by Professor Yunus that evening.
As a living legend walking on the earth today, Professor Yunus’ dedication and commitment to improving the lives of the poor is an inspiration for Martorell who studied the Grameen Bank while in graduate school and who founded Thai CDC in 1994 based on the idea that all peoples have a basic right to a decent standard of living and quality of life. Professor Yunus’ important work on microcredit and microfinance has crafted a new set of tools in the fight against global poverty. His business approach to the alleviation of poverty has allowed millions of individuals to work their way out of poverty with dignity. As someone who has worked selflessly and tirelessly on behalf of the world’s poor, he has set an example for each and every one of us to follow.
