Today is the sixth year since Sir Fazle Hasan Abed died. He founded BRAC, a massive global development NGO. He was 83 when he passed in Dhaka after an illness.
His career path changed completely because of a huge cyclone and the Bangladesh Liberation War. He quit his corporate job in Pakistan to help organize support from London. After independence, he went back to Bangladesh, specifically to a wrecked area called Sunamganj. He started BRAC there as a tiny relief project when he was 36, believing people could change their own lives. That small effort became a monster organization. It now operates in 14 countries across Asia and Africa, affecting over 145 million people.
The guy got a ridiculous number of awards, both before and after his death. His country gave him its top civilian honor, the Independence Award, posthumously. International prizes included the World Food Prize, the Lego Prize, and a knighthood from the Netherlands. Groups like Ashoka called him a global great, and Forbes listed him among the world’s top leaders. He also racked up honorary degrees from Ivy League schools like Princeton, Yale, and Columbia. His basic idea, that everyone has potential, still drives BRAC’s work.
His career path changed completely because of a huge cyclone and the Bangladesh Liberation War. He quit his corporate job in Pakistan to help organize support from London. After independence, he went back to Bangladesh, specifically to a wrecked area called Sunamganj. He started BRAC there as a tiny relief project when he was 36, believing people could change their own lives. That small effort became a monster organization. It now operates in 14 countries across Asia and Africa, affecting over 145 million people.
The guy got a ridiculous number of awards, both before and after his death. His country gave him its top civilian honor, the Independence Award, posthumously. International prizes included the World Food Prize, the Lego Prize, and a knighthood from the Netherlands. Groups like Ashoka called him a global great, and Forbes listed him among the world’s top leaders. He also racked up honorary degrees from Ivy League schools like Princeton, Yale, and Columbia. His basic idea, that everyone has potential, still drives BRAC’s work.
