Yunus Centre
A Dhaka-based think tank and global resource hub promoting social business, poverty reduction, and sustainability.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
The Yunus Centre is a Bangladesh-based think tank, resource hub, and coordinating organisation focused on the ideas of social business developed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Its work connects research, advocacy, education, social-business development, international networking, and public communication. Although it is associated with the wider Grameen ecosystem, the Centre is not a conventional consumer brand or commercial corporation; its principal role is to disseminate a model of enterprise intended to address social or environmental problems while maintaining financial sustainability. The organisation began in October 2006 as the Yunus Secretariat, shortly after Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize. The original office functioned as a central point of contact for people and institutions seeking information about Yunus’s philosophy, microfinance, and the emerging social-business movement. In July 2008, it adopted the name Yunus Centre, reflecting a broader coordinating and convening role. The Centre has since presented itself as a one-stop resource for social-business information, partnerships, technical support, events, publications, and academic collaboration. Its activities include helping new and existing social businesses, advising start-ups, supporting international partnerships, developing university curricula, and circulating research and publications. It also maintains public information about Yunus’s awards and professional milestones, with archival and museum-oriented initiatives intended to preserve the history of the movement. The Centre has reported support for hundreds of social-business projects, including projects associated with its New Entrepreneur Project, and it has facilitated immersion programmes, exposure visits, internships, and youth-oriented 3ZERO Club activities. The organisation’s public advocacy includes the Poverty-Free World campaign, which links the aspiration of a poverty-free Bangladesh by 2030 with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It also organises Social Business Day, an annual international gathering for practitioners, academics, policymakers, and other participants. The Global Social Business Summit, created in 2009 by the Yunus Centre and Grameen Creative Lab, provides another platform for discussion, partnerships, and action around social-business solutions. Academic engagement is a major part of the Centre’s international role. It has supported Yunus Social Business Centres at universities and other institutions and has worked with academic partners in Europe, North America, and Asia. By August 2025, the Centre reported 114 such centres worldwide. These centres generally promote teaching, research, and practical experimentation related to social business. The Yunus Centre is chaired by Muhammad Yunus, while Lamiya Morshed serves as executive director according to the cited reference material. The organisation operates amid continuing public debate about Yunus, Grameen-affiliated institutions, and the relationship between social enterprises, public policy, and regulation in Bangladesh. In 2024 and afterward, approvals and regulatory decisions involving affiliated organisations attracted scrutiny because Yunus became chief adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government. The Centre and the wider network therefore occupy both a development-oriented and politically sensitive position. Its continuing identity is principally that of an international advocacy, knowledge, and coordination platform for social business rather than a conventional profit-maximising enterprise.
History
The Yunus Centre originated in October 2006, following the joint award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank. A personal office for Yunus was established under the name Yunus Secretariat. Its initial purpose was to promote Yunus’s ideas about social business and to provide a central source of information for people interested in microfinance, poverty reduction, and socially oriented enterprise. The Secretariat developed beyond a personal communications office. It became a coordinating point for social-business initiatives, international contacts, publications, events, and requests for practical assistance. In July 2008, it was renamed the Yunus Centre. The new identity reflected the organisation’s broader institutional function and its ambition to serve as an international hub for the social-business movement. After the renaming, the Centre expanded its activities in several directions. It supported the creation and development of social businesses, provided technical assistance to start-ups, and connected entrepreneurs with partners and knowledge resources. It also circulated information on developments in social business and produced a quarterly newsletter. The Centre’s New Entrepreneur Project was reported to have funded 385 projects in 2014, illustrating its emphasis on practical enterprise development as well as advocacy. The organisation also became a convenor. In 2009, the Yunus Centre and Grameen Creative Lab created the Global Social Business Summit, which developed into a major forum for practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and organisations seeking solutions to social and environmental problems. The Centre separately established Social Business Day as an annual event. These gatherings helped give the movement a recurring international calendar and a space for partnerships and public discussion. Education and research became another enduring part of the Centre’s work. It has supported academic programmes and curriculum development related to social business and collaborated with institutions including Harvard University, HEC Paris, the Asian Institute of Technology, Bocconi University, McGill University, the University of Glasgow, the University of Florence, and the University of Salford. The Yunus Social Business Centre model extended this work through affiliated centres at universities and other institutions. By August 2025, the organisation reported 114 such centres worldwide. The Centre’s advocacy agenda includes the Poverty-Free World campaign, which connects its objective of helping create a poverty-free Bangladesh by 2030 with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Other activities include international networking, immersion programmes, exposure visits, internships, and 3ZERO Club initiatives. The organisation has also worked to archive Yunus’s awards and career milestones, with plans for a museum and digital library intended to preserve the history of the movement. The Centre’s position became more politically sensitive after Muhammad Yunus was appointed chief adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government in August 2024. During the subsequent period, several approvals and regulatory measures involving Grameen-affiliated organisations attracted public scrutiny. Reported developments included approval of Grameen University, a manpower-export licence for Grameen Employment Services, a digital-wallet licence involving a Grameen Telecom concern, changes to the government stake in Grameen Bank, and restoration of a tax exemption. Critics questioned whether the decisions created conflicts of interest or the appearance of preferential treatment, particularly alongside the dismissal of legal cases involving Yunus and associates. The interim government maintained that the measures followed due process, while transparency advocates sought fuller disclosure. As of the cited 2026 reference point, Muhammad Yunus chairs the Centre and Lamiya Morshed is its executive director. The Yunus Centre remains an international resource and coordination platform whose main fields are social business, poverty alleviation, sustainability, education, and development-oriented entrepreneurship.
- 2025
Yunus Social Business Centre network reaches 114 locations
[1]The Centre reported 114 affiliated Yunus Social Business Centres at universities and institutions worldwide by August.
- 2024
Affiliated-network regulatory scrutiny
[1]Regulatory approvals and other government measures involving Grameen-related organisations received heightened public and political scrutiny after Yunus entered the interim government.
- 2014
New Entrepreneur Project reports 385 funded projects
[1]The Centre reported that its New Entrepreneur Project had funded 385 projects during the year.
- 2009
Global Social Business Summit launched
[1]The Centre and Grameen Creative Lab established a recurring global platform for social-business debate and collaboration.
- 2008
Organisation renamed Yunus Centre
[1]The Yunus Secretariat adopted the Yunus Centre name as its activities expanded into international coordination, research, partnerships, and support for social businesses.
- 2006
Yunus Secretariat established
[1]A personal office for Muhammad Yunus was created after Yunus and Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize, providing information and coordination for the emerging social-business movement.
Products and positioning
A global knowledge, advocacy, and coordination platform for social business and poverty reduction, rooted in the work and philosophy of Muhammad Yunus.
Research and knowledge services · 2006
Social-business research and publications
The Centre disseminates material on social business, microfinance, poverty reduction, and sustainability. Its output includes publications, research resources, newsletters, and public explanations of Muhammad Yunus’s social-business philosophy.
Advisory services · 2008
Social-business advisory and start-up support
The organisation provides information, connections, and technical assistance for new and existing social businesses. Its support is intended to help entrepreneurs develop enterprises addressing social or environmental needs while pursuing financial sustainability.
Academic and institutional network
Yunus Social Business Centres
Yunus Social Business Centres are university- or institution-based nodes that promote teaching, research, events, and practical engagement with social business. The network gives the Centre an international academic and educational presence.
Conference and convening programme
Social Business Day
Social Business Day is an annual event bringing together people involved in social enterprises, development, research, policy, and impact-oriented innovation. Its programme addresses themes such as poverty, sustainability, and healthcare.
Controversies
2024
Scrutiny of approvals involving Grameen-affiliated organisations
After Muhammad Yunus became chief adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government, critics questioned a series of approvals and regulatory measures involving Grameen-related organisations. Concerns focused on possible conflicts of interest, perceived preferential treatment, and the transparency of decisions made while legal matters involving Yunus and associates were also changing. The government said the measures followed due process.
Marketing campaigns
- 202515th Social Business Day
Bangladesh · International
The fifteenth edition was held in Savar, Bangladesh, on 27–28 June 2025. It focused on the proposition that social business can be an effective way to expand access to healthcare.
- Poverty-Free World campaign
Bangladesh · International
The campaign promotes the goal of eliminating poverty, with particular emphasis on achieving a poverty-free Bangladesh by 2030 and linking social-business activity with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
- 3ZERO Club initiatives
International
The Centre facilitates 3ZERO Club activities associated with the goals of zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions, using youth participation and social-business ideas as organising principles.
Brand decisions
2009
Launch the Global Social Business SummitOtherBackground
The social-business movement needed a recurring international forum for exchange between entrepreneurs, researchers, policymakers, and partner organisations.
Action taken
The Yunus Centre and Grameen Creative Lab created the Global Social Business Summit.
Aftermath
The summit became an important international venue for discussion, collaboration, and promotion of social-business approaches.
2008
Expand the Secretariat into the Yunus CentreStrategyBackground
The original Yunus Secretariat had been created as a central office after the Nobel Peace Prize recognition of Yunus and Grameen Bank.
Action taken
The organisation changed its name to Yunus Centre and broadened its remit to include international partnerships, social-business support, research, events, and academic collaboration.
Aftermath
The renamed Centre became the principal coordinating and resource hub associated with the global social-business movement.
Recent events
- 2025
Yunus Centre reports 114 Yunus Social Business Centres worldwide[1]
Other
The Centre reported that its Yunus Social Business Centre network had reached 114 university and institutional locations by August 2025.
- 2025
15th Social Business Day held in Bangladesh[1]
Campaign
The fifteenth Social Business Day took place in Savar, Bangladesh, on 27–28 June 2025, with healthcare access as its central theme.
- 2009
Global Social Business Summit established as an international platform[1]
Other
The Yunus Centre and Grameen Creative Lab created the Global Social Business Summit to support discussion, collaboration, and action among social-business stakeholders.
- 2008
Yunus Centre renamed from the Yunus Secretariat[1]
Other
The organisation adopted the Yunus Centre name in July 2008, formalising its role as a broader resource and coordination hub for social business.
Sources2 sources
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