Yunus Centre :: Yunus Centre.org

Mar 03, 2010

Press Release (Yunus Centre)

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus cuts a red ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Grameen Branch at the Old City Hall of Omaha, Nebraska on Monday 1, 2010. Grameen America is working in Queens and Brooklyn in New York for the last two years.

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus cuts a red ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Grameen Branch at the Old City Hall of Omaha, Nebraska on Monday 1, 2010. Grameen America is working in Queens and Brooklyn in New York for the last two years.

With this, Grameen America, a microfinance institution founded by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, headquartered in New York begins to expand nationally to build on its success of the other two branches in Queens, and Brooklyn, New York. Omaha was selected because of strong local support and demand for microfinance services. The branch will initially serve the low-income community in South Omaha and will subsequently expand operations to other areas. The branch expects to extend loans to at least 1200 borrowers by the end of 2010. Professionals, bankers and elites of the city gathered at the opening ceremony.

Professor Muhammad Yunus said, “If we can address the issues of unemployment and welfare dependence properly through microcredit, then Omaha can be a example to the world.” He added, “ We lit a candle in New York and now it has made its way to Omaha”.

Preparations are under way to open the fourth branch of Grameen America in San Francisco in August this year.

Nobel winner unveils social business institute at CSUCI

Mar 02, 2010

Written by Pacific Coast Business Times

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus launched the California Institute for Social Business at California State University, Channel Islands, on Feb. 26. The first of its kind, the endeavor will “make it clear to people what a social business is,” Yunus said.

A university is not “not just a think tank — it's also an action tank,” Yunus said at a press event prior to delivering his speech to a full house of 1,800 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

The institute, which has been in the works for several years, aims to revolutionize the business curriculum at CSUCI and serve as a catalyst for similar institutes at other schools. It seeks to introduce students to the challenges of poverty and environmental problems and teach them to create market-based solutions. It will include student-run social businesses funded on a model similar to Yunus' Grameen Bank.

Launch of Grameen Caledonian Nursing College

Mar 02, 2010

The Grameen Caledonian Nursing College, the very first Grameen Nurse Institute, was launched in the Mirpur area of Dhaka on March 1, 2010. The 40 students are currently going through orientation and will begin classes on March 7. The College is a new organization following the social business model that prioritizes girls’ health and prosperity as fundamental to ensuring the health of future generations and accelerating economic progress. The College is a prototype for a chain of future nursing colleges located in most district towns of Bangladesh. The head of the Grameen Caledonian Nursing College is Dr. Barbara Parfitt, Dean of the School of Nursing Midwifery and Community Health at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Grameen Type Bank Opens In Bahrain

Jan 17, 2010

Press Release

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Charities Organization, Prince Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa inaugurated the Family Bank, a microfinance bank
licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, at a ceremony held at the Gulf Hotel Convention Hall in Bahrain on Thursday, January 14, 2010. The ceremony was held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and attended by the Minister for Social Development Dr. Fatima Al Balooshi.

Professor Cam Donaldson named founding Yunus Professor at GCU.

Feb 10, 2010

GCU Yunus Chair and Fellows

Yunus Chair in Social Business and Health

Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health

First holder of the new Yunus Chair in Social Business and Health was announced in early 2010: Professor Cam Donaldson, one of the world's foremost health economists is the founding Yunus Professor at GCU.

Professor Cam Donaldson, previously headed up the Institute of Health and Society at Newcastle University. At GCU he will bring together a team of researchers to further develop GCU's reputation for allied health research, which is already ranked in the top 10 in the UK.

As Yunus Chair, he will lead a unique research programme evaluating the impact of social business creation on the lives and health of disadvantaged communities in Glasgow and overseas. The new Yunus Centre is named for Grameen Bank founder Professor Muhammad Yunus, in recognition of the Nobel Peace Prize winner's close working relationship with the University. The Yunus Chair and Centre are a key element of the Grameen Caledonian Programme co-ordinated by GCU. Professor Yunus is recognised as one of the world's leading social entrepreneurs for his efforts to create a world free of poverty. He has pioneered the concept of microcredit, which supports entrepreneurs who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans.