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NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

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Alex Counts

Alex Counts is the author of Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind: Leadership Lessons from Three Decades of Social Entrepreneurship (Revised Edition), an independent consultant to nonprofit organizations, and an adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

In 1997 he established Grameen Foundation with the support of Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus and became its President and CEO. A Cornell University graduate, Counts’ commitment to poverty eradication deepened as a Fulbright scholar in Bangladesh, where he witnessed innovative poverty solutions being developed and implemented on a large scale by Grameen Bank. He trained under Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, and co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Since its modest beginnings, sparked by a $6,000 seed grant provided by Prof. Yunus, Grameen Foundation grew to become a leading international humanitarian organization.

Counts was a founding member of the Advisory Council of the Center for Financial Inclusion, and served on it for 12 years before becoming a member emeritus in May 2020. He has served as the chairman of Fonkoze USA and co-chair of the Fonkoze Family Coordinating Committee—two governance bodies of the largest microfinance institution in Haiti. He serves as the part-time Executive Director of the India Philanthropy Alliance.

He has been published in the Washington Post, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Philanthropy News Digest, and elsewhere. He is the author of four books including When in Doubt, Ask for More: And 213 Other Life and Career Lessons for the Mission-Driven Leader and Small Loans, Big Dreams: Grameen Bank and the Microfinance Revolution in Bangladesh, America and Beyond.

Before establishing Grameen Foundation, Counts served as the legislative director of RESULTS and as a regional project manager for CARE-Bangladesh.

 

 

Articles by Alex Counts