Nobel Winner Yunus Not at BEA, but His Ideas Are

By Charlotte Abbott -- Publishers Weekly, 5/31/2007 12:51:00 PM

Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning founder of the Grameen Bank and bestselling author of Banker to the Poor, has cancelled his BEA appearance (he was schduled to be at tomorrow’s Book & Author lunch, but will be replacd by outed CIA-agent Valerie Plame). But anyone interested in the socially conscious entrepreneurship he champions in Creating a World Without Poverty (Jan. 2008), will likely find inspiration at Social Entrepreneurs: Changing the World, a panel hosted by Yunus's publisher, Public Affairs, tomorrow, 3-4 p.m, in Room1CO2/03/04.

The idea behind social entrepreneurship is simple: to create sustainable businesses that employ poor people and truly serve their needs, and to reinvest the profits back in the business, not in dividends to investors or elite management. "Unless we do this, we are stuck with the mad drive to make as much money as possible," explained Yunus at a recent event in New York. "The problem with that approach is we don't know where to stop—and we are all threatened by the results."

After a videotaped introduction by Yunus, C-Span founder Brian Lamb will moderate the discussion by four other Public Affairs authors: philanthropists George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry; former World Bank president James Wolfensohn; and Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp.

Those who leave the panel still wishing to meet the Bangladeshi Nobel Prize–winner may get their chance next January, when Yunus will tour the U.S. to promote his new book.

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