1. What is NSBC?

The proposed Social Business center (SBC) at North South University (NSBC) aims to advance the principles of social business pioneered by Nobel Laureate Professor Dr. Mohammad Yunus. This center will serve as a hub for innovation, education, and collaboration, empowering students, faculty, and the broader community to create sustainable solutions to social challenges. By integrating the social business model into academic and extracurricular activities, NSU will position itself as a leader in fostering socially responsible entrepreneurship in Bangladesh.

NSBC will pursue and promote social business. Social Business is a type of business designed to solve social problems in a financially sustainable way. It was pioneered by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh.

2. Why NSBC?

Establishing a Social Business Center at North South University, Bangladesh is a strategic and impactful and a very timely initiative. Here are the key reasons why such a center is important and valuable:

1. Promote Sustainable Development

A Social Business Center can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by encouraging solutions to social problems such as poverty, education, health care, and environmental sustainability — all through business approaches that reinvest profits for impact, not personal gain.

2. Empower Students and Faculty

It provides a platform for students and faculty to:

• Learn about social entrepreneurship and innovative business models.
• Engage in real-world problem solving.
• Develop leadership skills focused on ethical impact and responsibility.

3. Drive Innovation for Social Impact

Universities are hubs of ideas. A Social Business Center connects theory with practice, helping transform research and student projects into viable social business ventures that can address pressing local needs.

4. Foster Collaboration with Communities

The center can serve as a bridge between the university and local communities, fostering community engagement, capacity building, and inclusive development by working directly with marginalized populations.

5. Support the Vision of Muhammad Yunus

As the birthplace of Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, Bangladesh is globally recognized for pioneering the idea of social business. A center at a university aligns with and strengthens this legacy by nurturing the next generation of social business leaders.

6. Create Employment and Entrepreneurship Opportunities

It encourages youth entrepreneurship and job creation by supporting socially conscious startups and providing resources like mentorship, training, and seed funding.

7. Promote Ethical Business Education

The center integrates social business principles into the curriculum, promoting values-driven education and preparing students to be responsible business leaders.

3. Mission and vision

Promoting social business ideas across the globe to create impact

4. Objectives of NSBC?

• Leadership & Strategy:
• Develop and execute a strategic vision for the center, aligned with social entrepreneurship and community impact goals.
• Build partnerships with stakeholders, including government agencies, NGOs, private sector partners, and academic institutions.
• Program Development & Management:
• Design and oversee programs on entrepreneurship, startup incubation, and women-led ventures.
• Launch skills training initiatives tailored to market needs, with an emphasis on digital, financial, and business skills.
• Promote social business models that address community challenges sustainably
• Connect all the YSBCs across the globe and create a greater, broader and impactful ecosystem
• Social Business Startup Incubation & Support:
• Provide mentorship and arrange resources for startups, including funding opportunities, networking platforms, and technical guidance.
• Facilitate access to markets, investors, and grant programs for social business starts ups initiated by NSU
• Connect angel investors across the globe and help our student entrepreneurs go beyond borders
• Connect our local startup with the global start-up ecosystem and assist them in taking the business globally (especially in Europe, Africa, and Oceania market)
• Women's Empowerment:
• Create targeted programs that empower women entrepreneurs through mentorship, capacity-building workshops, and access to capital.
• Advocate for gender inclusion in entrepreneurship and leadership spaces.
• Monitoring & Impact Evaluation:
• Measure the effectiveness of programs and ensure alignment with social and economic development objectives.
• Report outcomes to stakeholders and implement continuous improvements based on feedback.
• Resource Mobilization:
• Secure funding through grants, sponsorships, and partnerships.
• Manage the center's budget effectively to ensure sustainability and impact.

5. Strategic Plan and activity from NSBC

Our next one-year strategic plan and activity will be –

1. Strategic Leadership: Providing strategic direction to the center, aligning its objectives with the principles of social business and NSU’s academic mission.
2. Program Development: Designing and implementing academic programs, workshops, and training sessions on social business for students, faculty, and external stakeholders.
3. Collaboration and, Partnerships: Establishing partnerships with national and international organizations, NGOs, and business to promote collaborative social business projects and funding opportunities.
4. Research and Innovation: Overseeing research initiatives in social business, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, and publishing findings to enhance the knowledge base of the field.
5. Mentorship and Support: Mentoring students and faculty in developing and launching social business ventures, providing guidance on feasibility and sustainability.
6. Community Engagement: Organizing outreach programs and community-based projects to address pressing social issues through innovative social business models.
7. Resource Mobilization: Identifying and securing funding sources, including grants, sponsorships, and donations, to ensure the financial sustainability of the center.
8. Operational Management: Managing the center's budget, staff and resources to optimize efficiency and impact.

Undertaking any other suitable tasks instructed by the Vice-Chancellor of NSU as and when Necessary.

6. Stakeholders of NSBC

NSBC will liaise with many local, national, and international stakeholders in its domain of work and will continuously create linkages. The stakeholders are-

7. Directors' BIO

Being a Professor at the North South University, Dr. Rafi has a long track record of working at home and abroad for the last 19 years. Besides teaching, he is working as a pracademic (practicing academics for both industry and academia). He has a notable blend of both research and academic career on business, entrepreneurship and digital technology domains.

His current research focus is on social business, start-ups, entrepreneurship, Kidspreneurship (Innokids), 4IR and 5IR skills and technology (Artificial intelligence, business and marketing analytics etc.) and major social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube) with their impacts.

He pursued his MBA from DU (Marketing), Masters in International al Business (MIB) in 2009 from the University of Melbourne (funded by Uni Melbourne Graduate Merit Scholarship) and PhD (2014 to 2019 from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia on Social Business (Kidspreneurship and early skills) funded by Australian Government Scholarship i.e. Australia Award Scholarship.

He has a long track record in running YSBC (Yunus Social Business Center) at La Trobe University and acted as the founding Chief Operating Officer from 2014 to 2019. He organized many events in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand during that period).

Dr Rafi has participated in almost all Social Business days (SBDs) and Social Business Academic conferences (SBAC) and Social Business Summits held from 2014 to 2019 in France, Japan, Mexico, Thailand. He published two articles (social business area) in higher-ranked journals, which are considered A * (Journal of Business Research and Journal of Cleaner Production)

His qualification sneak peek/Summary:

• Strong background in social entrepreneurship, business development, or nonprofit management.
• Proven experience in leadership roles, especially in program development or managing entrepreneurial initiatives.
• Expertise in skills training, women's empowerment, or startup ecosystems.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and partnership-building skills.
• Proficiency in project management, budgeting, and fundraising.
• Passion for driving social impact and empowering underrepresented groups.

8. Centers organogram

9. Impacts of the center:

Potential Impact areas of NSBC:

1. Support hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs to launch sustainable and scalable social ventures.
2. Increase economic participation of women and marginalized communities.
3. Advance innovative solutions to social challenges through entrepreneurship.
4. Student entrepreneurship through entrepreneurial skills (DUEDC, INNOKIDS and DU BRAC BANK entrepreneurship development programs.
5. Working as a trainer in industry for a long time in various capacities.

10. Conclusion

Social Business Center at North South University aims to create impacts, promote social business across the globe, and educate people on social business with an innovative solution to reduce unemployment and create jobs for society as a whole.

Email: Rafiuddin.ahmed@northsouth.edu.