DURHAM, N.C. April 6, 2004 - Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, spoke to over 275 students and community members Tuesday at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Yunus, who was there to receive the 2004 CASE Leadership in Social Entrepreneurship Award, went on to say that access to credit should be a human right.

In 1974, Yunus was a Professor of Economics at Chittagong University in Bangladesh when his country was devastated by famine. Suddenly, he found himself frustrated with the impact he was having as a teacher. He recalled, "You teach elegant theories in the classroom, telling your students how to handle economic problems, how to resolve them, how to bring development...and you walk out of the classroom and see people dying of hunger, not because of disease, just not having enough to eat."

Seeking to understand the reality of the economics of the daily life of the poor, he set out to learn from the nearby villagers. Eventually, out of his own pocket, he loaned the equivalent of $27 to 42 women so that they could buy materials to make and sell stools. These tiny loans helped them break the devastating cycle of poverty and demonstrated to Yunus the power of “micro-credit” and self-employment in helping poor people generate income. Recognizing that the existing banking system was designed to “keep poor people out” and, in his world, “reject women,” Yunus had taken his first concrete step towards becoming the “Banker to the Poor.” He soon established the Grameen Bank, a revolutionary financial institution that extends small loans for income generation to the poor. Grameen does not rely on collateral, long-term loans, lump-sum repayments, and legal agreements, but rather on peer lending groups, one-year loans, weekly installments, and trust and faith in the human potential.

In Bangladesh today, Grameen has 1,084 branches, with 12,500 staff serving 2.1 million borrowers in 37,000 villages. On any working day Grameen collects an average of $1.5 million in weekly installments. Of the borrowers, 94% are women and over 98% of the loans are paid back, a recovery rate higher than any other banking system. Grameen methods are applied in projects in 58 countries, including the US, Canada, France, The Netherlands and Norway.

Yunus ended his presentation with a challenge: "How easy it is for us to underestimate people and their resolve. If you could get over that and believe in the potential of human beings, and design everything with that as the basis, we would have a world without any poor people and poverty truly would be in the poverty museum, no where else in the
world."

Watch the streaming video of Muhammad Yunus at Fuqua. (RealPlayer required).

Give a Coffee Break
(or a day) to give a Fuquan a Summer

Help your fellow Fuquans interning in the nonprofit sector! Donate the equivalent of a week's worth of coffee breaks or a day's salary to help build the Social Impact Club's Summer Fellowship program. CASE is matching up to $20K, so let's make sure we hit the goal. Stanford, Columbia, Yale, and other top schools all have successful programs. Let's make sure Fuqua is in that list.

For more information, contact FY David Gordon at dmg24@duke.edu

Upcoming Events

Monday, April 19

Business and Environment Club Meeting

The first meeting of the Social Impact Club's Business and Environment Club will meet on Monday, April 19, at 7:00 p.m. in Classroom B.

Food and drink provided! Please RSVP to Chris Murphy at
christopher.murphy
@duke.edu

Thursday, April 22

NC GreenPower
at Fuqua

North Carolina GreenPower (NCGP) is unique in the nation. It is the only state-wide multi-utility program in the country. Launched in the fall of 2003, NCGP offers individuals and companies in the state the option of buying some or all of their electricity from sustainable sources. John Morrison, Vice President of Advanced Energy, will be speaking about the program and the marketing of green power. Join the brown bag lunch discussion on April 22 at 12:30 p.m. in conference room 11. For more information, see the Events section of the CASE website or download the flyer (".pdf" format).

Communications

Thank you for your interest in ConnectCASE! Please help us spread the word--if you know someone who might be interested in receiving this e-newsletter, please pass it along and ask them to contact us to be added to our list.

Questions or Comments?
We are always looking for opportunities to further the field by providing news and information, and highlighting individuals and organizations impacting our world. Contact Shawn Rubiera with any questions about ConnectCASE, or with content ideas- rubiera@duke.edu

Job Opportunities for Fuqua Students

As many of you have heard us say, nonprofit organizations don't typically follow the standard MBA hiring schedule. As a result, great opportunities for summer internships and full-time positions continue to roll in! Be sure to check ICON and the CASE 2004 folder on the I Drive* for the latest additions.

Full-time Opportunities:

The Orton Family Foundation, an operating foundation that promotes civic engagement in land use planning through tools and education, seeks a Director of Communications. See their website for a full job description.

AYUSA Global Youth Exchange, a member of World Study Group, is looking for an Assistant Director of Operations. Download the full job description from the CASE 2004 Folder on the I Drive*, and be sure to check out their website.

StreetWise Partners, Inc. (SWP) is a nonprofit organizations that develops the professional skill set and builds the confidence of low-income individuals facing employment barriers through on-on-one mentoring sessions with dedicated corporate volunteers. SWP is seeking a Director of Business Development and Planning. Download the full job description CASE 2004 Folder on the I Drive* and see their website for more information on their mission and history.

Summer Internship Opportunity:

From the MBA Nonprofit Connection--A summer intern is needed at a west coast nonprofit financial institution that empowers the working poor to create economic self-sufficiency for themselves through the acquisition of assets. By providing financial tools and training, this organization promotes asset development at the household level (a home, business, or education) while also financing the infrastructure (affordable housing, jobs and community services) needed to help these families and individuals stabilize their lives.

For the organization name and job description, check out the CASE 2004 Folder on the I Drive*

*Fuqua students only

Visit our web site to learn more about the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship.

Welcome to the New ConnectCASE
E-Newsletter

Since the ConnectCASE MBA newsletter was launched in September 2003, we have been providing social entrepreneurship news and information semi-monthly. We are excited to introduce our new format, that for non-students, will be moving to a monthly version this fall.

Fuqua students will continue to receive a bi-monthly newsletter which will also include career resources. All newsletters will be accessible on our website to everyone.

Please let us know what you would like to see more of! We are very open to suggestions and content ideas. Our last issue of this school year will be published on April 30.

Alumni Spotlight--Eric Woodson, '95

I never expected to find myself working in the nonprofit sector when I graduated from Fuqua in 1995. I had a great career working at American Airlines in a variety of positions, but with all the issues facing the airline industry post 9/11, I found myself RIFed (Reduction in Forces) in July 2003.

I'd done volunteer work with a group called Airline Ambassadors for several years. When they heard I'd been laid off, I was offered the opportunity to take on the Executive Director role, leading a 1,500 member organization that hand delivered over $4.3 MM in aid in 2003.

Airline Ambassadors International’s mission is to provide opportunities for ordinary people to travel to make a difference. Composed of mostly airline employees, we hand-deliver humanitarian aid to children at home and abroad as well as escort orphans to new homes and children to hospitals for medical care. We are the only organization of our kind to leverage capabilities of the airline industry. We have access to low-cost transportation, economical transport of goods and flexible volunteer schedules, so we can provide a professional service to other humanitarian organizations by hand delivering aid directly to children in orphanages, clinics and remote communities. Airline Ambassadors’ members act as a human link, connecting world resources to world need.

Working in the nonprofit world is certainly eye-opening. You have limited resources. You rely a great deal on volunteers. Funding is always an issue. And as Executive Director, you wear every hat possible: operations, marketing, finance, logistics, schmoozing, etc...all those skills you learned at Fuqua. But, the reward is much greater as well. You can see when you actually make a difference both in how the organization performs, as well as in touching peoples lives (both your volunteers and the people you serve). It's not a career path for everyone, but if you're looking for something rewarding, with an opportunity for greater responsibility, consider the nonprofit sector.

For more information about Airline Ambassadors, please visit the website at www.airlineamb.org.

CASE Managing Director Recognized by MBAA for her ABCDs

Congratulations to Beth Anderson on being recognized by Fuqua students in Term 3 for going Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (ABCD Award). According to the nominator, "Beth has helped to direct many students who have a clear interest in the field of social entrepreneurship but do not yet have the field knowledge and network to pursue this field fully. Beth is simply amazing in her positive attitude and her willingness to help with career counseling, job searches, and networking. She has gone above and beyond her responsibilities as Managing Director of CASE to mentor students and provide resources and opportunities that we would not have known possible."

Congratulations Beth!

NEWS

EBay Founder to Invest in Social Change

Pierre Omidyar, the Founder of EBay, Inc., is taking a new approach to giving. Omidyar, estimated to be worth at least $8 billion, established the Omidyar Foundation in 1998. Growing frustrated with the lack of measurable results from the nonprofit organizations his foundation funded, he decided to take a new approach. By creating the Omidyar Network, Omidyar will continue to fund nonprofits but will also focus on for-profit ventures. Omidyar recently said that some businesses he's financed "have produced more lasting social change than most charities have." EBay, the world's largest online auction service, has done so by building communities of users, he said.

Read the full article in the Daily Review Online.

CNN Reports More Business Students Seek "Meaning Over Money"

A recent article on CNN.com reports that corporate social responsibility is a growing interest among MBA's. "Experts say they're part of a new breed of MBA student, influenced by everything from corporate scandal to the dot-com bust to concerns over the effects of globalization on everyday people. They also note that the curriculum at business schools across the country has been changing in recent years, placing more emphasis on ethics, nonprofit work and corporate social responsibility."

Read the full article on CNN.com.

Fuqua on Board--A New Program for the Fall

Since 2002, the Fuqua on Board (FOB) program has matched first and second-year MBAs with local nonprofit organizations as non-voting board members who work with the organization to complete a consulting project over the course of the academic year. The mission of the FOB program is to encourage and prepare future business leaders for responsible, thoughtful community leadership, while also providing a valuable service to the local nonprofit community.

FOB has placed over 50 students with 15 nonprofit organizations. To this point, FOB has been solely run by students who have made a significant commitment to maintaining the success of this program. Beginning this fall, however, CASE will bring FOB in-house with CASE Assistant Director Shawn Rubiera acting as the program manager. Based on feedback from both students and nonprofit leaders, we have found that in order to preserve institutional memory, have more time with the nonprofit organizations, and expand the program to include educational opportunities for students, alumni, and local civic and business leaders on nonprofit governance and volunteerism, it makes the most sense to utilize the CASE office and experience.

Over the last three months, CASE has met with student and nonprofit participants in FOB. We found, overwhelmingly, that both sides value the program and are committed to continuing and growing the program.

Download a summary of our meetings, and plans for the fall. (Microsoft Word ".doc" format)

Thank you to everyone who has participated. We are grateful for all of your valuable feedback!!

Net Impact Calling for "Best MBA Paper" Entries — $5,000 prize

If you are a current student and would like to gain prestige and recognition from your peers, be honored at the Academy of Management Conference in New Orleans, published in the Journal of Corporate Citizenship and win $5,000 . . .then it’s time to enter the “Best MBA Paper” competition sponsored by The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College and Net Impact. If you or your team submits a paper that addresses some aspect of corporate citizenship or corporate social responsibility you could be selected as one of the 2004 “Best MBA Paper” winners. Complete competition rules and guidelines can be found at the web site.

The application deadline is May 28th. Good luck!