Updated Dec 07, 2020
Dristy Shrestha
Send MessageThe need to combat extreme poverty and drive systemic change has never been more urgent. It has created a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions putting millions of the world’s poorest at risk of being left behind without resources to overcome the shock. At the beginning of 2020 an estimated 700 million people lived in extreme poverty around the world. By the end of 2020, more than 70 million people could be forced to join them, unraveling decades of progress toward poverty alleviation.
We work to support those stuck in a poverty trap by providing a pathway out through our Graduation programs. Graduation — an approach we invented in 2002 — is designed to meet the complex and interconnected needs of this hard-to-reach population. Breaking the cycle of extreme poverty requires a holistic approach. Through a set of carefully sequenced steps, participants graduate from a state of severe destitution to a level where they can maintain sustainable livelihoods with dignity.
Projected Cumulative Lives Impacted | 50,000,000 | |
New Feature | Create stronger learning and knowledge management systems and support. |
Shameran is Senior Director of Microfinance and Ultra-Poor Graduation programs. He leads the organization’s work in financial inclusion and ultra-poverty globally and chairs the board of BRAC Bank’s mobile financial services subsidiary, bKash. Lindsay Coates is the Managing Director of BRAC UPGI. Lindsay leads the advocacy agenda to leave no one behind using effective, multidimensional approaches to change the lives of the most marginalized people.
EXECUTIVE TEAM INCLUDES WOMEN