Hope and Big Dreams: Meet the Authors of Two Books on Bangladesh Microfinance Pioneers

Alex Counts is the author of Small Loans, Big Dreams. In 1997, he established Grameen Foundation with the support of Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus and became its President and CEO. He did so after having worked in microfinance and poverty reduction for 10 years, mostly spent living in rural Bangladesh. He is currently an independent consultant to nonprofit organizations (including the India Philanthropy Alliance), an adjunct professor at the School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and a senior adviser and ambassador at large for a)plan coaching.

Scott MacMillan is the director of learning and innovation at BRAC USA, an affiliate organization of BRAC, where he has worked since 2011. A former journalist, he served as the speechwriter of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder of BRAC, prior to Abed’s death in 2019. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and daughter, along with a cat, two dogs and four horses.

Valdete Berisha leads the communications strategy for CGAP’s FinDev Gateway platform. Valdete has nearly 20 years of experience focusing on research and communications in international development, including financial inclusion, microfinance, global trade, and agriculture policy. Before CGAP, Valdete worked at the World Bank, leading communications for the Agrifin initiative. She also spent seven years at the International Food Policy Research Institute, conducting research on global trade negotiations and multilateral trade agreements.