Media advisory: Dr. Muhammad Yunus to present ‘social business’ vision at McGill University
Nobel Peace Prize recipient allies with McGill World Platform for Health and Economic Convergence
Throughout the world, social businesses have emerged to tackle problems in sectors such as health care, education, affordable housing, clean technology and finance. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has been the leading figure in this movement.
Dr. Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide micro-loans to the poorest people of Bangladesh. Grameen now has 8.3 million members, and has provided a total of US$9.7 billion in loans since its inception. Around the world, microcredit programs inspired by Grameen are blossoming.
Dr. Yunus will visit McGill from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 to share his vision of social business and the financial institutions needed to support it. His visit is made possible by the McGill World Platform for Health and Economic Convergence as part of its ongoing collaboration with the Grameen program and the Desautels Faculty of Management. The MWP, an initiative led by McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management and the Faculty of Medicine, seeks to harness the best minds and leading organizations in the health, business, and scientific fields to ensure sustainable health and wealth for all members of society.
Media are invited to attend the following events:
WHO: Dr. Muhammad Yunus
WHAT: McGill World Platform for Health and Economic Convergence
WHEN: – Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010, 7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. – dinner presentation followed by a panel on the theme “Can a Social Wall Street Become a Reality?”, including Emmanuel Faber, Deputy Director General of Danone and Alban D’Amours, Former President and Director of Desjardins Group
– Friday, Oct. 1, noon - 2 p.m. – luncheon presentation on the theme “Social Business: The Positive Impact Business Can Have in the World” (hosted in collaboration with the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations and the Montreal Millennium Summit). Media scrum after presentation.
– Friday, Oct. 1., 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. – Social Business Lab, a one-day workshop designed to accelerate the spread of social business (hosted in collaboration with the Grameen Creative Lab)
WHERE: Centre Mont-Royal, 2200 Mansfield St., Montreal
In addition, Dr. Yunus will deliver the Beatty Memorial Lecture on the theme “Building Social Business - The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs”, Saturday, Oct. 2, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Centre Mont-Royal. The lecture will be webcast.
Media interested in attending any of these events should contact the McGill Media Relations Office, as indicated below.
