Collective impact is a new term for an old concept: non-profit organizations working together to do what none of them can do individually. In the words of an influential article on the subject in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, “Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, yet the social sector remains focused on the isolated intervention of individual organizations.” Alex Counts will be speaking about a tangible example of the idea of collective impact in action, in his capacity as a co-founder and co-chair of the Microfinance CEO Working Group, recently renamed the Partnership for Responsible Financial Inclusion. He will also speak about his more recent work bringing this approach to organizations focused on social change and poverty alleviation in India.
Speaker bio:
Alex Counts founded Grameen Foundation and became its President and CEO in 1997, after having worked in microfinance and poverty reduction for 10 years. A Cornell University graduate, Counts’ commitment to poverty eradication deepened as a Fulbright scholar in Bangladesh, where he witnessed innovative poverty solutions being developed 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 (who was a founding board member and continues as director emeritus), Grameen Foundation has grown to become a leading international humanitarian organization. Counts stepped down as CEO of Grameen Foundation in 2015, yet remains involved in the organization in a voluntary capacity.
Counts propelled Grameen Foundation’s philosophy through his writings, including Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance Are Changing the World (John Wiley and Sons, 2008). His articles and blog posts have been published widely.
Counts is a founding member of the Advisory Council of the Center for Financial Inclusion. Since January 2017, he has been an adjunct professor at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland College Park specializing in philanthropy, non-profit leadership and social entrepreneurship. Today, he serves as a senior adviser to the American India Foundation and Indiaspora.
