BRITTANY YEAROUT
Perspectives Editor
He calls himself the banker to the poor, he is a Nobel Laureate, he is the founder of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and he is coming to Malibu. On Oct. 20, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Caruso Auditorium of Pepperdine University School of Law, Dr. Muhammad Yunus will lecture on “Social Enterprise: Doing Well by Doing Good.”
In his only public appearance in the Los Angeles area, Pepperdine is one of five universities to host Yunus, other colleges include: Harvard University, University of California of San Diego, University of Washington and a joint lecture with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University.
“We are thrilled to have the Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2006 join our community for part of the day,” said Jim Gash, Associate Dean for Student Life and Associate Professor of Law, who is heading the event. “What he is about is such a great fit with what Pepperdine is about, who we are, and who we strive to be. We are an institution that deeply cares about the poor and about fixing the solvable world problems.”
The lecture is free and open to the public, but a reservation is required. Pepperdine is planning on hosting 600 to 1,000 people for the lecture. However, only 500 people will fit in the auditorium and the rest will be in three other rooms watching a live feed, according to Gash.
Yunus was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for leading the way in microcredit, which is one of the elements of Grameen Bank, a bank that gives out micro-loans to the poor in Bangladesh so that they can start and grow small businesses.
Yunus started Grameen Bank in 1976 as an experimental project and in 1983 it became established as a formal bank. It is considered the opposite of the conventional banking system, providing small amounts of money to the poorest of the poor, particularly women, with no collateral fee and is built on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity, according to its official Web site, http://www.grameen-info.org/index.html.
“Grameen Bank starts with the belief that credit should be accepted as a human right, and builds a system where one who does not possess anything gets the highest priority in getting a loan,” wrote Yunus in his article for the Grameen Bank Web site, “Is Grameen Bank different from conventional banks?” on Aug. 2007. “Grameen methodology is not based on assessing the material possession of a person, it is based on the potential of a person. Grameen believes that all human beings, including the poorest, are endowed with endless potential,” he wrote in the article.
Today Grameen Bank has lent a total of $6.44 billion in loans to 7.27 million borrowers. They also have 2,459 branches, employ 24,163 people and work in 79,539 villages, which covers more than 95 percent of the total villages in Bangladesh, according to the Web site.
“His idea in establishing a system of microcredit is one of the most innovative and revolutionary ways of attacking poverty on a global scale,” said Melanie Howard, the director of Pepperdine’s Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship & the Law, and who has also met Yunus.
“It enables people to lift themselves out of poverty so it is empowering and inclusive to women. These women are in areas where they have been sidelined or regulated to a household,” Howard said.
With such success in Bangladesh, Yunus has decided to bring the first Grameen Bank concept of microcredit to the United States. The company will be located in Queens where it can test ideas and expand.
“Grameen America will provide initial non-collateral credit-establishment of small loans of $500 minimum and savings programs to poor Americans from all backgrounds, with initial efforts focused on the New York City area …” said CEO of Grameen America Philip J. Philliou in an online article in Payments News.
In keeping with tradition, Grameen America will be looking to help women because it was loaning money to poor women that made them successful, according to an online article from ABC news, “Coming to America: The Grameen Bank comes to Queens” on Sept. 30. Grameen Bank has a payment rate of 99 percent and 97 percent of its borrowers are women.
In addition to Grameen Bank coming to America, Yunus has asked Pepperdine to participate in helping the children of the parents in Bangladesh who accept loans from Grameen Bank, according to Howard.
“There is going to be a scholarship fund, with the Nobel Prize money, where the children of the people who have obtained micro loans from Grameen Bank can attend the Pepperdine School of Law,” said Howard. “It is simply another initiative of Yunus’ holistic way of combating poverty.”
Pepperdine’s relationship with Yunus began when the University gave the first of the inaugural Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Palmer Center to him in 2006.
The founder and Executive Director of the Palmer Center Janet Kerr, Program Administrator of the Palmer Center Kim Retts, and Howard, traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh on Jan. 24 to present the award to Yunus. It was on that trip where Yunus expressed a desire to maintain an ongoing relationship between Pepperdine and Grameen Bank.
Pepperdine School of Law plans on doing internships, research projects, and volunteer programs with Grameen America, according to Howard. Also, last summer three students interned with Yunus in Bangladesh and Pepperdine is hoping to send more, according to Howard.
10-11-2007