Durreen Shahnaz (born April 24, 1968) is a

Bangladeshi American Bangladeshi Americans () are American citizens with Bangladeshi origin or descent. Bangladeshi Americans are predominantly Bengali-speaking Muslims. Since the early 1970s, Bangladeshi immigrants have arrived in significant numbers to become o ...

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

, professor, and speaker. She is the founder of Impact Investment Exchange (IIX). She has had a particularly pronounced role in the development of

impact investing Impact investing refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is about an a ...

in Asia and the Pacific.

Early life and education

Shahnaz was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

began when she was three years old. At 17 Shahnaz moved to the United States where she attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, graduating in 1989 with a double degree in government and economics. She later became the first Bangladeshi woman to attend the Wharton School of Business University of Pennsylvania and also received a joint master's degree from School for Advanced International Studies at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Career

Early career

After graduating from Smith College, Shahnaz worked in

investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

in New York and

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

in Bangladesh before shifting industries with a move to media and publishing.

Investment banking

Shahnaz kicked off her investment banking career at

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

, becoming the first Bangladeshi woman on Wall Street. She later worked at

Grameen Bank Grameen Bank () is a microfinance, specialized community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It provides small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requiring collateral. Grameen Bank is a statutory ...

, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, and

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

(working for short periods of time at each of these institutions (between 1-2 years)).

Media and publishing

Shahnaz headed the Asia operations of ''Hearst'' Magazines. She also worked at ''

Reader’s Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

''.

Entrepreneurship and impact investing

In 1999 Shahnaz founded her first business, oneNest. Within a year Shahnaz and oneNest were featured in the book Dotcom Diva by Elizabeth Carlassare. The online marketplace was a first of its kind designed to connect conscientious consumers with ethical producers. The company sold in 2004 at which point Shahnaz began lecturing on social entrepreneurship and innovation at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

. Her publications and blog ''Conscious Capitalism'' focused on innovation and new ways of thinking about capital structures and economics in Asia. After the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, Shahnaz was invited by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

to confer on ways to move flawed financial systems forward. Out of this Shahnaz founded Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), the world's first social stock exchange which Shahnaz continues to operate today. Since its beginnings, IIX has expanded to include various investment platforms, financial structures, and research and accelerator programs and has positively impacted over 159 million lives in over 57 countries. The concepts driving much of this work were illustrated in her 2013

TED talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

, ''How capitalism and philanthropy can collaborate to solve big problems.''

Awards

In 2014 Shahnaz was awarded the prestigious

Joseph Wharton Joseph Wharton (March 3, 1826January 11, 1909) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was instrumental in the development of the nickel and zinc metal industries in the United States. He created the first plant in the United Stat ...

Social Impact Award by her alma mater

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

for her notable contribution to leveraging financial markets for social impact. In 2016 the

Asia Society The Asia Society is a 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle) and around the world (Hong Ko ...

honored Shahnaz with the

Asia Game Changer Award The Asia Game Changer Awards is an annual award ceremony held in recognition of individuals and organizations within and connected to the Asian community that have made positive contributions to the development and improvement of Asia and societ ...

for changing the lives of millions through impact investing. In 2017 Shahnaz received The Oslo Business for Peace Award for her work in transforming financial and capital markets into mechanisms for social good as well as profit.

Books

* 2001: DotCom divas : E-business insights from the visionary women founders of 20 net ventures, featured in Ch. 13 * 2014: New frontiers of philanthropy : a guide to the new tools and actors reshaping global philanthropy and social investing, Ch. 4 *2023: The Defiant Optimist: Daring to Fight Global Inequality, Reinvent Finance, and Invest in Women.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahnaz, Durreen Living people Bangladeshi businesspeople 1968 births Asia Game Changer Award winners