Durreen Shahnaz is the founder of Impact investment Exchange (IIX) and IIX Foundation. IIX is the home of the world’s first social stock exchange, and the largest impact investment private placement platform. IIX is also a leader in impact assessment methodology and innovate financial structures. IIX bridges the gap between finance and development by carving out a third space for social and environmental solutions through financial mechanisms. IIX and IIX Foundation’s work has unlocked millions of investments capital and impacted over 10 million lives.
Born in Bangladesh, with a career that has spanned the globe, Shahnaz has built a track record as a successful social entrepreneur, banker and media executive at Morgan Stanley (New York), Grameen Bank (Bangladesh), Hearst Magazines International (New York), and the National University of Singapore. She founded, grew and sold oneNest (New York) – an impact enterprise and online marketplace for handmade goods. Through these roles, she has broken down walls and built bridges that connect the Wall Streets of the world to the backstreets of underserved communities.
Shahnaz is the recipient of the 2017 Oslo Business for Peace Award, often referred to as the “Noble Peace Price for Business” and was awarded the 2016 Asia Game Changer Award by the Asia Society in addition to the prestigious Joseph Wharton Social Impact Award in 2014 given by the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, she currently serves on the advisory board for UNDP, United Nations ESCAP, G20 Steering Committee for impact investing, and was also an appointed member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council. She has been a program advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative, and a 2010 TED fellow, and is frequently invited to contribute as a resource person to media, foundations and universities. Shahnaz holds a BA from Smith College; a joint degree – MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a MA from the School for Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University.
