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Muhammad Yunus started a movement that has lifted millions from poverty. When he formed the Grameen Bank in 1983 and started giving out micro-loans, Yunus bridged the divide between business and society. He describes how he created microcredit, collateral-free lending, and began offering other business services to the poor.
Yunus lays out the path to his extraordinary vision and success which is driving global social change. The first to advise against his plans were the established financial institutions -- who were reluctant to provide Yunus with financial backing. But the key to moving families out of poverty, Yunus soon discovered, is providing that first dollar which allows the self employed to go on and make another dollar.
Grameen bank is serving people without collateral, with repayment rates greater than 98%, which allows self employed peoples in Bangladesh and around the world to invest in their businesses. Yunus shares his experiences and insights gained from his struggle to set up this revolution in micro-financing.
Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank and a Bangladeshi economist. Yunus' family was prosperous and he was able to attend preperatory school and college in his home country, earning a MA in economics. After an excursion into the printing business which he pawned off onto other members of his family, a Fulbright Scholarship and 98th percentile score on the Graduate Record Exam permitted Yunus to attend Vanderbilt University where he earned a doctorate in Economics. He taught in Colorado and now teaches in Bangladesh.
Upon returning to Bangladesh and observing the poverty of rural citizens and their dealings with extortionist moneylenders, Yunus came upon the idea of microlending. His discovery was that a tiny bit of money had a great impact if it were lent to the women of Bangladeshi families. After hesitation from banks, a state bank was chartered for this purpose and three million families have received loans.
Yunus, author of "Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty" received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He now is embarking upon an effort to "elminate poverty entirely" in Bangladesh, and by extension via the U.N. to other places, by using these and similar techniques.
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