The Defiant Optimist
Daring to Fight Global Inequality, Reinvent Finance, and Invest in Women
by Durreen Shahnaz
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Pub Date Jun 27 2023 | Archive Date May 30 2023
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Description
Global inequality is growing. Financial markets disenfranchise women, the 99 percent, and the planet itself. But what if we found the source of power and turned it inside out? What if we made the tools of the system available to all?
When she launched the world's first stock exchange for social enterprises, Durreen Shahnaz started more than a new financial system; she sparked a movement. Defiant optimism--the stubborn belief that systems that enrich the few can be transformed for the good of the many--requires an indomitable spirit. In these pages, Shahnaz illuminates what investing in those excluded from networks of power and opportunity requires.
From growing up with constrained life chances, to working as the first Bangladeshi woman on Wall Street, to becoming a global leader in impact investing, Shahnaz takes us on a mesmerizing trek of innovation, compassion, and enterprise. We accompany her to villages in Bangladesh where she helps women entrepreneurs learn to proudly sign their names, and on visits to venture capitalists who walk past her to shake her male employees' hands. We go to a garment factory where women labor for low wages, and to a town in India where microfinance offers women enough capital to run grocery stores and tailor shops. Along the way, the birth of her two daughters only fuels her relentless pursuit of a world where girls are valued. Finally, armed with financial backers and a plan, Shahnaz crafts the world's first tradeable financial product geared toward investing in underserved women's livelihoods.
Changing how systems work--and who they work for--isn't for the faint of heart. But The Defiant Optimist offers strategies for placing women, the underserved, and the planet at the heart of systems. Together we can locate the levers of power and pull them defiantly in a new direction.
About the Author:
Prof. Durreen Shahnaz, a Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur, is the CEO and founder of Impact Investment Exchange (IIX). A global leader of sustainable finance and impact investing, she is a 2017 Oslo Business for Peace Award Honoree (often referred to as the ‘Nobel Prize for Business’), a financial rainmaker in Forbes 50 over 50, and an Asia Society Game Changer Awardee.
Drawing from a rich career through which she broke down walls and built bridges to connect the backstreets of underserved communities to the Wall Streets of the world, Durreen’s work has helped millions of women, thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, governments, and impact stakeholders around the world play a role in sustainable development and women’s empowerment.
Durreen continues her mission to build a more inclusive and sustainable world by bringing the intersection of climate action and gender equality to the forefront of capital markets. Her newest book, The Defiant Optimist: Daring to Fight Global Inequality, Reinvent Finance, and Invest in Women (June 27, 2023 / Broadleaf Books), provides a compelling account of the author’s unparallel journey from a constricted girlhood to becoming a global leader in the impact investing movement and launching the world’s first social stock exchange.
She and her husband have two daughters and live in Singapore.
A Note From the Publisher
Author is available for interviews, blog tours, autographed tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.
Advance Praise
“An inspiring read by a passionate trailblazer. Durreen Shahnaz shares her remarkable experiences with challenging the status quo, beating the odds, and fueling change.” – Adam Grant, #1 New York Times best-selling author of THINK AGAIN and host of the TED podcast Re: Thinking
“As the world pushes for gender equality and women's representation in the global financial system, Durreen Shahnaz is one of the few who has rolled up her sleeves and done the work of lifting women up. With its compelling and intricate details, this book journeys the becoming of the defiant optimist and how it is with this spirit that Shahnaz goes on to change a system that works only for the 1%. It was touching for me to see how Grameen played a role in it all. The book is timely, necessary, and most importantly, empowering for all who want to create change, however small.” – Professor Muhammad Yunus, Founder, Grameen Bank - Nobel Prize Winner, 2006
“In this book, Durreen Shahnaz details her boundary-pushing experiences with candor, wisdom, and vivid storytelling. Documenting her journey from war-torn Bangladesh to the pinnacle of the financial markets, Durreen effectively weaves in the importance of finance in sustainable development and women empowerment. As President of the Rockefeller Foundation, which supported some of her groundbreaking early work in impact investing, I have seen the driving force of her passion and her intellect. This same passion flows through The Defiant Optimist™, inspiring women and girls and reminding them of the power they behold if they only dare to dream. She is a wonderful role model for girls and women everywhere.” – Dr. Judith Rodin, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation and Former President of the University of Pennsylvania
“There are few in our field who have been as steadfast and engaged in advancing a vision of finance with justice as has Durreen Shahnaz. The opportunity to learn from her journey and lessons in activism and financial innovation is not to be missed!” – Jed Emerson, Global Lead Impact Investing, Tiedemann Advisors
“This book is a rare looking glass into what 'impact investing' really means on the ground, bridging the back streets to the Wall Streets of the world. Few are armed with the tenacity Durreen has, and even fewer go on to chart exceptional paths in creating impact for those the financial system leaves behind. I'm proud to have been a fellow pioneer in the movement, and this book reminds us that a revolutionary change starts from a small step. Let that step be ‘The Defiant Optimist™’ and it will inspire you for miles to come.” – Antony Bugg-Levine, Co-Founder, Global Impact Investment Network
“Durreen Shahnaz's poignant account of her life's journey, especially the courageous steps she has taken on her career path, highlight three key lessons: promoting women's education and empowerment; advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion; and summoning the courage to identify sources of power. This memoir will inspire college students to embrace what Shahnaz calls the “defiant optimist” mindset, as they strive to create better futures for themselves and for the world.” – Kathleen McCartney, President of Smith College
“Read it and be inspired to make your journey of inclusion and sustainability. This book by Durreen Shahnaz is the silver lining to the challenging climate we live in today -- be it vis-a-vis the environment, society, or economy and a reminder that within all of us, there is a defiant optimist who can make a change. There is an instant connection to her through her captivating stories and deep insights; this is the firestarter for our own journeys we never knew we needed. As a woman entrepreneur committed to creating sustainable and responsible growth for the company, I could relate to the struggles Durreen went through, and how one needs to persevere in our business journey in co-creating for the Greater Good. I applaud her vision, mission, and courage.” – Ms. Claire Chiang, Co-founder, Banyan Tree Holdings
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781506480763 |
| PRICE | $27.99 (USD) |
