Value the social business: MBS receives Professor Muhammad Yunus & presents its Chair in Microfinance
Raising awareness on social business with Professor Yunus
Founder of the Grameen Bank, Professor Yunus has developed a system now recognized worldwide as a means to fight against poverty, by allowing project owners with limited resources to obtain a loan. Exceptional guest at Montpellier Business School thanks to the YY Campus Tour, the father of social business came to share his vision of an alternative economic model and defend strong values held dear by MBS – openness, diversity, equal opportunities & global responsibility. A real source of inspiration for our students, future managers, trained to become responsible actors in a changing world.
“We are all born entrepreneurs. It’s in the very nature of the human being. We are not job seekers but job creators! That’s how we grow, how we thrive” explains Professor Yunus in front of an amphitheater filled with students. “We need to question the functioning of our society and the established rules. We created this system, so we also have the power to redress it. By becoming entrepreneurs, you can make this world a different, new, better place. You are the main actor of this change. You just have to be convinced, trust yourself, and trust the others. The concept of microcredit is entirely based on trust, and it works! Even in the United States” he argues. “But social business remains a business. Of course it must be financially viable, otherwise it is a charity organisation. “
A large number of students came to attend the conference. They were able to deepen their knowledge of social business and to measure the impact of microfinance on a global scale: the Grameen Bank has supported more than 9 million entrepreneurs so far. In order to develop the subject, MSc in Finance students & graduates with social business projects were invited to speak next to Professor Yunus. Among them, Jason Moses came to present his mobile application aimed to compare the impact of international solidarity projects – a project that had also been awarded with the Innovative Company Award and Responsible for the MBS Foundation in 2018.
A Chair in Microfinance at Montpellier Business School
A few months ago, MBS created its Chair in Microfinance with the Microfinance Institution Créa-Sol (founding member) and the support of Caisse d’Epargne Languedoc Roussillon. Officially presented on March 4 by its chairholder Dr. Anastasia Cozarenco, the Chair in Microfinance of MBS is the only one to focus on developed countries, with 3 main axes: academic research through studies mobilizing an international network of multidisciplinary researchers; pedagogical support in the new programme Master of Science in Responsible Finance, and the organisation of international events (conferences, workshops) – the next one to come being the 6th “European Research Conference on Microfinance” in partnership with the University Paris – Dauphine and the French National Research Institute for Development (IRD). In addition to these activities, the Chair announces the will to develop its network of partners and to create a Yunus Social Business Center, like HEC & La Sorbonne, to train students, future managers, in social business.
