Alex Counts

Alex's latest offering is a 2022 edition of his classic book on microfinance, "Small Loans, Big Dreams: Grameen Bank and the Microfinance Revolution in Bangladesh, America, and Beyond" (Rivertowns Books).

His 2020 book, "When In Doubt, Ask for More: And 213 Other Life and Career Lessons for The Mission-Driven Leader" follows on his acclaimed 2019 book "Changing the World Without Losing Your Mind" that Forbes magazine called "essential reading" for nonprofit employees, which was released as a revised edition in 2021.

Alex Counts established the Grameen Foundation and became its President and CEO in 1997, after having worked in microfinance and poverty reduction for 10 years. A Cornell University graduate, Counts’ commitment to poverty eradication deepened as a Fulbright scholar in Bangladesh, where he witnessed innovative poverty solutions being developed by Grameen Bank. He trained under Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, and co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Since its modest beginnings, sparked by a $6,000 seed grant provided by Prof. Yunus (who was a founding board member and continues as director emeritus), Grameen Foundation has grown to become a leading international humanitarian organization.

Counts propelled Grameen Foundation’s philosophy through his writings, including "Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance Are Changing the World" and "Voices from the Field." Counts has also been published in The Washington Post, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Stanford Social Innovation Review and elsewhere. In 2007, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Horace Mann School. While at Cornell University, he received the John F. Kennedy Memorial Award, given annually by the Class of 1964 to the graduating senior who is the best example of the ideal of public service articulated by our 35th President.

He speaks Bengali and lives in Maryland with his wife, Emily and cat, Meena. He loves listening to and promoting live music in intimate venues, especially blues and bluegrass, as well as other genres.