When he couldn't persuade bankers to lend to impoverished people in his native Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus started Grameen Bank.  Grameen Bank pioneered the practice of giving very small loans to very poor people without requiring collateral (or lawyers)--what we now call microcredit.  Microcredit grew rapidly as a practice--as both an antipoverty strategy, and as a business strategy for bnaks like Grameen.  And Yunus and Grameen Bank were recognized in 2006 with the Nobel Peace Prize. The Wharton School invited Yunus to give its commencement address this year, and according to the New York Times, he told graduates that the global economic crisis provides an opportunity to reshape the underlying financial structure and "shake things up in a positive way that will lead to permanent social change."

He spoke with Knowledge@Wharton and talked about founding Grameen, the future of microcredit, and how his for-profit bank was able to make an impact where so many aid groups were unsuccessful: