While in Bangkok, Professor Yunus will launch a number of YCA
initiatives focusing on Southeast Asia, including a unique learning
partnership with the Thai Social Enterprise Office (TSEO). Later, YCA
officials will escort a group of Thai social business leaders to visit
Dhaka on April 18.
A number of regional pilot initiatives are also being finalized with
corporate and citizen sector partners in the fields of mobile
healthcare, safe drinking water, and knowledge management, YCA director
Dr. Faiz Shah said.
Responding to YCA's invitation to visit, Professor Yunus said he was
delighted that AIT would be introducing his Social Business Design Lab
to Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia, and that the YCA would
be also attending the upcoming Social Business Design Lab in Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
Established in August 2009, the YCA is among the first collaborative
ventures in a number of countries that promotes social business
precepts, a concept being championed world-wide by Prof. Yunus, who was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
According to Dr. Shah, at a meeting on March 15 in Bangladesh Prof.
Yunus reviewed progress on ongoing YCA programs since its
administrative reorganization in 2012 to be a part of AIT Extension,
and advised on upcoming initiatives planned for this year and
2015.
The director said the center has recently contributed to social
business events in Vienna, Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur, and works to
strengthen linkages with peer initiatives in Canada, Germany, Italy,
Japan, Malaysia, and the United States.
Last month, Dr. Faiz Shah, Faisal Alih, Mariana Botero and Steven
Rubinyi of YCA participated in the Social Business Design Lab, which
will now be offered at AIT, along with an international youth
initiative of exchange programs, internships and a global
competition.
YCA has now consolidated its work into six program portfolios that
span learning and experience-sharing in pro-poor technologies. A new
work plan calls for YCA to become a self-sustaining program unit by
recouping AIT's social and financial investments, and contributing
tangibly to AIT's current outreach work and emerging sustainability
mission, Dr. Faiz said.
Ongoing pilot initiatives include a social business case-writers'
workshop series, and an interactive learning resource on behavior
change approaches for social business, he added.