By SGN | 23 Sep 2024
Durreen Shahnaz was just three years old when the Bangladesh Liberation War broke out.
Amidst the turmoil, her family instilled in her and her siblings a deep sense of empathy and social responsibility. They made it a priority to share their resources, frequently inviting the less fortunate into their home for a meal.
“These early lessons in compassion and resilience were pivotal,” Durreen reflects. “Witnessing the struggles of marginalised communities first-hand ignited in me a fierce commitment to empowering underserved populations, especially women.”
These formative experiences fuelled Durreen’s passion for social impact and solidified her commitment to leveraging finance as a force for societal good.
Breaking the glass ceiling
After graduating from Smith College, 21-year-old Durreen Shahnaz began her investment banking career at Morgan Stanley in 1989, making history as the first Bangladeshi woman on Wall Street.
She then returned to Bangladesh in 1991 to work in microfinance with Grameen Bank, and later held roles with the World Bank in Washington and Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.
Through these diverse experiences, Durreen became acutely aware of the financial world’s exclusionary nature.
“Finance was often driven by a myopic focus on profit maximisation, overlooking its broader impacts on all stakeholders,” she reflects. “The industry seldom addressed critical issues like climate change, gender equality, and the needs of underserved communities.”
Durreen’s concern for these matters stemmed not only from her upbringing in Bangladesh, but also from her personal experiences in the male-dominated banking sector.
“There was an unspoken sense of being different. I was frequently given the most challenging and least visible projects. I worked tirelessly to prove myself, while my male colleagues were handed high-profile assignments and greater recognition,” she reflects.
These realisations inspired Durreen to create an impact investment organisation, dedicated to transforming financial markets to serve everyone, not just the privileged few.
A career switch from finance to media
Durreen’s path to founding IIX began with significant career shifts.
After breaking new ground once again as the first Bangladeshi woman to attend The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, she transitioned from investment banking to media.
She moved back to New York City and joined Hearst Magazine International, which publishes renowned titles like Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire.
Durreen switched from finance to media because she saw this as a complementary tool to her financial expertise, aiming to use both fields to drive meaningful change.
“Both finance and media are powerful forces with the potential to drive societal change, either positively or negatively,” Durreen explains. “After my experience in finance, I wanted to explore media to harness that power in a new way.”
During her time at Hearst Magazine International, Durreen made significant strides. She championed diversity by featuring minorities on covers, published magazines on alternative lifestyles, and helped launch The Oprah Magazine.
A golden opportunity in Singapore
In 2004, Durreen Shahnaz seized a golden opportunity to lead Reader’s Digest’s Asia operations as General Manager, prompting her move to Singapore, where she has been based ever since.
During this period, she also began writing about impact investing for Bangladeshi newspapers and her blog, Conscious Capitalism.
Her insightful work attracted the attention of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and the Rockefeller Foundation.
As a result, in 2008, Durreen transitioned from media to academia, joining the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy as a professor. There, she focused on impact investing research with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
“I transitioned from media to academia to integrate impact, finance, and information,” she explains. “My aim was to leverage this combination to drive significant growth and development in impact investing.”
Outside of work, Durreen is proud to call Singapore home for the past 20 years. “Living in Singapore has been profoundly enriching,” she says. “This vibrant city-state has offered a dynamic platform for both my professional and personal growth.”
In particular, her admiration for Singapore’s Peranakan art, food, and culture has even inspired her work at IIX. “I’m thrilled to have infused the Peranakan spirit of cultural blending into our mission of financial innovation for gender equality and climate action.” she adds.
Her family has also thrived in Singapore’s diverse and inclusive environment. Her daughters attended the United World College of Southeast Asia, where the emphasis on charitable work was integrated into their education.
“It’s wonderful that my children’s school emphasised social good as part of their curriculum,” Durreen observes. “This approach helped instill the importance of contributing to society from a young age, making ‘doing good’ a natural part of their lives.”
With its rich cultural tapestry and robust financial ecosystem, Singapore has provided Durreen with the ideal setting for both personal growth and impactful work.
Launching IIX in Singapore
Durreen received a pivotal offer for funding that same year in 2008.
“I was invited by the Rockefeller Foundation to a conference in Italy, where we explored how impact investing could harness capital markets for positive change,” she recalls.
“After the conference, they awarded me a grant of US$495,000 to establish IIX and spearhead the impact investing movement from Asia.”
With this crucial backing, Durreen founded IIX in Singapore in 2009, a decision driven by the city’s strategic role as Asia’s gateway and its dynamic economy.
“Impact investing focuses on generating social and environmental benefits alongside financial returns. It aims to create positive change by directing capital towards projects and companies that tackle global issues like poverty, climate change, and inequality,” she explains.
“Singapore’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and its supportive environment for social enterprises made it the ideal place for our mission,” she says.
This supportive and inclusive environment not only fostered the growth of IIX but also mirrored its mission and values, creating a thriving ecosystem for impact investing. Singapore’s diverse landscape aligns seamlessly with IIX’s goals, making it an optimal location for such initiatives.
Making an impact in investing
Initially, the concept of impact investing drew skepticism. This was especially so in Asia, where the notion that financial returns could align with social and environmental benefits was met with doubt.
Despite these challenges, IIX’s approach has gradually shifted perceptions through persistence, education, and tangible results.
“IIX connects investment capital with high-impact enterprises that address urgent social and environmental issues,” Durreen explains. “We are a one-stop shop for impact investing that offers a comprehensive range of services, including asset management, financial structuring, research, training, impact assessments, capital raising, and capacity building.”
The organisation also supports and invests in businesses that balance social and environmental impact with financial sustainability. Specifically, they back enterprises that are women-owned, women-focused, or women-benefitting, across sectors like healthcare, education, agriculture, and clean energy.
One of IIX’s key initiatives is the Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB), a pioneering funding tool designed to empower women in developing countries.
“Empowering women and integrating climate resilience into business models creates impactful change. By prioritising their empowerment, we achieve both immediate social benefits and long-term sustainability,” Durreen explains.
Through the WLB Series, IIX has invested over $230 million into projects and businesses that improve the lives of women while addressing social and environmental challenges. These investments span sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and clean energy, benefiting more than 3 million women across Asia and Africa.
“Isniwati, one of our beneficiaries from Indonesia, received a water and sanitation loan in 2022. This support saved her up to three hours a day and greatly improved her family’s health and sanitation.” Durreen says. “Her story underscores the WLB’s profound impact, positively transforming the lives of around 3,000 women in Indonesia alone.”
These success stories exemplify the tangible benefits IIX brings to communities.
“By setting clear social and environmental goals and building sustainable business models, we ensure our efforts result in meaningful and lasting change,” Durreen concludes.
IIX’s impressive achievements
Fifteen years later, Singapore remains at the forefront of impact investing.
With its robust financial infrastructure and proactive government support through initiatives like Enterprise Singapore and networks such as the Global Impact Investing Network, Singapore has emerged as a leading hub for impact investing in Asia.
“Singapore’s leadership in this field is truly exemplary and serves as a global model for effective impact investing,” Durreen concludes.
During this time, IIX has mobilised nearly US$500 million, benefiting 160 million women, gender minorities, and underserved communities in the Global South.
Durreen continues to lead the Orange Movement™, a global initiative inspired by the color of the UNSDG5 for Gender Equality. This movement focuses on advancing gender equality and climate resilience by empowering women, girls, and gender minorities.
Through innovative financial tools like the Orange Bond, it channels investment into projects that drive social impact and promote environmental sustainability.
The future of IIX
Looking ahead, Durreen has an ambitious and transformative vision for IIX. “I am committed to advancing the Orange Movement’s goal of empowering 100 million women, girls, and gender minorities globally by securing a groundbreaking US$10 billion in capital by 2030,” she says.
“To achieve this, we will focus on three goals: expanding our reach with new financial tools, working closely with stakeholders to promote diversity and inclusion, and strengthening IIX’s role in impact investing to set new industry standards.”
This vision reflects Durreen’s deep-rooted belief in conscious capitalism. “It’s not only entirely possible, but also essential for our future because it promotes transparency, inclusivity, and sustainability, driving meaningful change and fostering a fairer, more equitable world.”
For those interested in impact investing or social entrepreneurship, Durreen’s advice is to embrace “defiant optimism” — a resilient, hopeful approach to creating change despite challenges. It also happens to be the title of her book, published in June 2023, which details her professional journey in the impact investing space.
“Find your ‘North Star’ and pursue your vision with courage and persistence,” she says. “Align your values with your work, collaborate with allies, and seek guidance from mentors.
“Your dedication can transform industries, uplift communities, and inspire global change.”
Meet Durreen
Durreen Shahnaz is a Bangladeshi American entrepreneur, professor, and speaker. She is the founder of Singapore-based Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), a pioneering organisation focused on mobilising capital for social and environmental impact.
Connect with her here.
