Jehiel oliver biography of william

Jehiel Oliver, then a financial expert working in the United States, was getting restless.

He wanted a new challenge whose impact would be felt by a significant portion of the population.

In his search for impact, he travelled to diverse locations, including Afghanistan, and read widely.

One of the books that spoke to him in an especially significant way was Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, the story of Mohammad Yunus.

Yunus set up a bank in Bangladesh to lend tiny sums to the poorest of the poor in the country, those shunned by banks that saw no business case in lending to this segment of society.

By going against the grain, Yunus ended up founding the multinational Grameen Bank, and won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Five years ago, Oliver found the perfect way to apply the lessons learned from Yunus.

He focused on Africa’s smallholder farmers w