Zubaida Bai | |
|---|---|
 Speaking at the World Economic Forum's Growth Summit 2023 | |
| Born | Chennai, India |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation(s) | Social entrepreneur, president and CEO of Grameen Foundation |
| Website | |
Zubaida Bai is a social entrepreneur, an expert in the field of health products for the developing world, and the President and CEO of Grameen Foundation. Her company, Ayzh, designs healthcare products for women and girls living in poverty. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Bai was raised in Chennai, India. [7] She was the first person in her family to pursue post-secondary education; her female relatives typically married in adolescence. [7] Ms. Bai holds a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering Specializing in Development of Modular Products, and an MBA in Social and Sustainable Enterprises.
Due to unsanitary birth conditions, Bai developed an infection after giving birth to her first child, Yasin. [8] which "caused her to suffer for years." [9] This inspired her to help rural women who needed access to healthcare. [9]
Bai founded the company Ayzh in 2010, [8] with the goal of bringing simplicity, dignity, and access to the poorest women in India via their Clean Birth Kit in a Purse by ensuring a safe and sanitary delivery. [10]
In November 2022, Bai was named president and CEO of Grameen Foundation, [11] an international development nonprofit that works with women and girls to end poverty and hunger.
Bai was named a TED Fellow in 2009, an Ashoka Maternal Health fellow in 2010–2011, and an Echoing Green fellow in 2012. [12] In 2011, her design for JANMA, a clean birth kit, was selected by INDEX Awards as one of 61 products "globally designed to improve life." [12]
In June 2016, Zubaida was named an SDG Pioneer at the UN's SDG Global Compact Summit for her work. [13] [14]
The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, DC, that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1 billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turner, who believed the UN was crucial for addressing the world's problems. Originally primarily a grantmaker, the UN Foundation has evolved into a strategic partner to the UN, mobilizing support to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and help the UN address issues such as climate change, global health, gender equality, human rights, data and technology, peace, and humanitarian responses. The UN Foundation's main work occurs through building public-private partnerships, communities, initiatives, campaigns, and alliances to broaden support for the UN and solve global problems. The UN Foundation has helped build awareness and advocate for action on, among others, antimicrobial resistance, regional action on climate change, local implementation of the SDGs, as well as global campaigns such as Nothing But Nets against malaria, the Measles & Rubella Initiative, the Clean Cooking Alliance, Girl Up, Shot@Life, and the Digital Impact Alliance, among others. In March 2020, the UN Foundation was also a key founder of the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), helping to raise over $200 million USD within the first six weeks to support the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, also known as "GFUSA", is a global 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, that uses digital technology and data to understand very poor people, in detail, and offer them—and the entire ecosystem of agencies and actors surrounding them—empowering tools that meet and elevate their everyday realities. Its CEO is Zubaida Bai. Grameen Foundation's mission is, "To enable the poor, especially women, to create a world without poverty and hunger." According to the OECD, Grameen Foundation’s financing for 2019 development increased by 33% to US$45.5 million.
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