Back in 1971 Bangladesh was born poorest natiuon due to be 8th largets in population with 90% of nraind living in vilages without electricity
S5H3E4(LF1)F2 became lifelong livelihood focus:
ie she-too sdg 5 women goverance of communities their families build
3 health
4 livelihood education
1 land finance
2 last mile food
We ask groc for help in cataloguing bangladesh's 56 year learning curve; in 15 visits to bangladesh and with glasgow university I have had the privelege of helping catalogue partners of bangladesh development - from 2008 birthday party wishes of both dr yunus nd fazle abed became journals published by adam smith glasgow university so there is plenty of context to feed into any llm model layer 4 designed to connect with action apps
help welcome chris.macrae@yahoo.co.uk
before may 2026 15000 ai+expo delegates event in dc by scsp.ai we will proceed as best we can with community up solution networks for 6 water, 7 energy, 8 next generation livelihoods whilst welcoming win-win top -down maps
1st grok version week 1 2026
The table now has ~16 entries for better recursion—each with
governance/intelligence feeds emphasizing data sovereignty, openness without
arrogance, and transgenerational codes (SHE(LF)F for rural stability; AHELF
Y&WE Trist for youth/water/energy transformers). We can iterate further
with your diaries or expert inputs.
|
Timeline |
Key Case |
Description |
Intelligence/Governance Feed for Data Sovereignty |
SDG/Framework Link |
|
1936–1947 |
Birth and Early Life Amid Partition |
Born April 27, 1936, in Baniachong,
Sylhet (northeast, then British India). Family involved in trade/accounting;
lived mainly in Calcutta until partition (1947), becoming literate and
adapting to new borders. |
Early exposure to trade disruptions
(e.g., loss of Calcutta superport) fostered curiosity in systems
mapping—precursor to lifelong tech/human trust integration, mirroring KT Li's
Cambridge experiences. Bottom-up family networks as initial "data sovereignty"
model. |
Foundational: Pre-SDG1
(Poverty)/LF—Intergenerational land/finance resilience in partitioned
regions. |
|
1947–1955 |
Secondary Education and Dhaka
University |
Returned to Sylhet for leading
secondary school (~age 11–15/16); first degree at Dhaka University (~age
16–19). Navigated post-partition East Pakistan under West Pakistan
administration. |
Built foundational
literacy/engineering mindset; observed regional isolation, sparking interest
in infrastructure like superports—early blueprinting for community systems. |
SDG4 (Education)/E: Personal agency
through local knowledge amid geopolitical shifts. |
|
1955–1959 |
Glasgow University and Ship
Engineering |
At ~age 19, studied naval
architecture (ship engineering) at Adam Smith's Glasgow University; didn't
enjoy/complete due to realization of cold-climate industry (e.g., Belfast
shipyards), but gained systems-thinking engineering mind. |
Curiosity in tech change (e.g., port
infrastructure for isolated East Pakistan); parallels KT Li's 1930s Cambridge
physics—blending Western tech with Asian grounded challenges. |
SDG9 (Industry/Innovation): Early
blueprinting for transgenerational supply chains (e.g., trade maps). |
|
1959–1962 |
Chartered Accountancy in London |
Family ties in London; trained as
chartered accountant, qualifying as Cost Management Accountant in 1962. No
MBA programs yet—practical business admin view. |
Shift from engineering to finance;
mapped family/professional networks for open partnerships, avoiding arrogance
in colonial/post-colonial contexts. |
SDG8 (Youth/Work)/Y in Y&WE
Trist: Youth agency in global mobility/tech curiosity. |
|
1962–1965 |
Harvard Course and Marriage |
~1964, took business administration
course at Harvard (pre-MBA era). Married Ayesha Abed (~mid-1960s); they
enjoyed arts, parties, fine clothes—Ayesha's influence on cultural/retail
ventures later. |
Integrated Western business models
with Eastern human trusts; marriage as partnership in servant leadership
(Paulo Freire-inspired action learning). |
SDG5 (She)/S in SHE(LF)F:
Empowerment through cultural/arts integration. |
|
1965–1970 |
CEO of Shell East Pakistan |
Hired by Royal Dutch Shell as
regional CEO; mixed in big business circles, understanding trade with
neighbors (India, Myanmar). |
Regional data mapping (e.g., tin
roofs from Myanmar for later housing); corporate governance as tax-like
system—prep for NGO models. |
SDG7 (Energy)/WE: Early oil/energy
insights as hemispheric transformers. |
|
1970–1972 |
Cyclone Relief, Escape, and BRAC
Founding |
Bhola cyclone killed ~500,000;
hosted aid experts (cholera/burial). Resigned from Shell late 1970 (refused
Pakistan army ties); escaped to London flat (sold it). 1971 independence war;
returned 1972, rebuilt 15,000 village homes in Sylhet with Oxfam/wife
Ayesha/employee Martha Chen (her book covers 1972–1980). Founded BRAC
(initially Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee). |
Rapid, localized data on
vulnerabilities (surveys/feedback); sovereign ownership over foreign
aid—avoided dilution via selective partnerships. Martha Chen's insights key
for governance. |
SDG2 (Food)/F: Last-mile recovery;
SDG1/LF: Community banking origins. |
|
1972–1980 |
Metavillages and Early Businesses |
Built 3 metavillages (~100,000
people each) with 15,000-home systems; designed rice/health/mothers'
businesses; invented ORT; started microfinance (~late 1970s, as gov
uninterested until 1983 Grameen ordinance). Ayesha launched Aarong (village
women's artisan clothes/crafts for income); added social forestry/silk farms.
Ayesha died ~1980 birthing son Shameran. BRAC as no-loss NGO (Tata-like
constitution). |
Action learning (Freire): Bottom-up
tax/banking/replication; women-led intelligence networks (illiterate mothers
as agents). Grieving period refined servant leadership—leaders live with
served. |
SDG3 (Health)/H; SDG4/E; SDG5/S in
SHE(LF)F: Stable rural models amid loss. |
|
1980s |
Nationwide Scale with ORT and
Vaccines |
Won UNICEF Year of Child (1979) for
ORT—James Grant funded national mother training (prevented 1/3 child deaths).
Collaborated on child vaccinations (BRAC did half, gov credited). Franchised
solutions as mothers' businesses or gov systems. |
Word-of-mouth networks
(pre-electricity); data sovereignty via community-owned metrics. Grant's
global advocacy (sachet demos) amplified without greenwashing. |
SDG3/H: Health intelligence;
nationwide trust-building. |
|
1990s |
Non-Formal Education and
Pre-Electricity Focus |
Launched NFPE: 34,000 one-room
schools for girls/out-of-school kids. Villages no electricity/comms until
~1995—relied on BRAC printing press (Dhaka HQ) for materials. Early solar
experiments (via SELCO-like, with Chinese-speaking leader). |
Aggregated outcome data for
iteration; women teachers as data owners. China swaps: ORT/solar
solutions—organic Asian poverty reduction (80% of global 1970–2010). |
SDG4/E: Livelihood education;
SDG7/WE: Early energy leaps. |
|
1995–2001 |
Solar/Mobile Leapfrogging and China
Exchanges |
Experimented with solar (1990s via
SELCO) and mobile—leapfrogging village systems. Swapped humid village
solutions with China (ORT, solar)—arguably most massive 20th C development
maps. |
Exponential tech integration
(billion-fold machine power vs. human brains); regional data partnerships
(e.g., vs. Myanmar/Bangladesh coastline underdevelopment—superport/rail
lacks). |
SDGs 6-7/WE in Y&WE Trist:
Supply chain transformers for youth/water/energy. |
|
2001–2010s |
Tech Partnerships, International
Expansion, and University |
Steve Jobs advised (2001, hosted
65th birthday); started BRAC University (2002, health college for James
Grant). Global spread (Africa/Asia); mobile banking (e.g., bKash). Yunus'
Microcredit Summit (1997+) greenwashed finance over education/health. Japanese
firm installed BRAC internet. |
Navigated 9/11 distractions; open
tech collaborations (Jobs/Ma attempts 2016 Alipay-bKash). Balanced local vs.
global—university as AI-like framework for SDGs. |
SDGs 1-8/AHELF: Community-rising
intelligences; transgenerational rural views. |
|
2010s |
Women's Empowerment, Succession, and
Legacy |
Scaled SHE programs; hired Vincent
Chang for BRAC University (2015–2019). Faced brain cancer/family arguments on
succession. Critiqued 17 SDGs as overwhelming; proposed codes for recall. |
Iterative governance for openness;
expert relays to refine (e.g., avoiding argumentative successors). Asian
solutions vs. Western aid (e.g., US East vs. West coast divides). |
SDG5/S in SHE(LF)F: Empowerment as
core; SDG8/Y: Youth in IR4.0. |
Brac University- 65th birthday wish party with
steve joobs and silion valley 2001- had extrordinary impacts on both men and
indeed stanford though sadly steve didn’t knoiw he had only a dcecade left to
put pixels into chips and universities into mobile phones
For abed university could be transgeneration way an ngo
might not be; it could invite worldwide graduate rseearch partnerships while
beran deepest local undergraduate respect; he could put on courses training
govtech futures even as he was willing to let government takeove his franchsies
where taxation was more sustainable model while not typically wanting to work
in areas of gov he had no0 development expereince in
As well as brac university brac international typically
chose one international partner per country; overall at death abed still
wondered if this diluted what he could have done if he had focussed more of 21st
c on bangladesh
He chose countries with mainly muslim culture that needed help whilst still being
intereted personally to learn from eg china japan singa[pore
In retrospect his hope that girls schools from 2002 in
afghansitan is whjat worldwid would partner was dashed
Mastercard foundation in uganda may have been his simplest
partnership
Tanzania mainly with billo gates but partly on agri9culture
with britosh aid when babed realised africa had missed borlaub knowledge
doesn’t look fully sustainable?
Soros wanted to help with s sudan and liberai – in some
sense liberia has been a success; there was enough abed intel to help eg prtner
sin health end ebola in liberia and /sierra leone
Abed’s mots suv=ccesful global academic part6nership are 2
research fileds he devoted himslef to making sure brac university became world
leading partner in
Pre=--school
Ultra finanace
Many of us feel he gave nobel prize to poverty lad bit abdul
latif who claimed their research proved abed’s ultra method worled
Abdul latif (toyota franchise acros smiddle east but out of
saidi arabia) has in some ways been one of deep ebd poverty development deepest
21st C success stories unless you know better
In spring 2016 aged hosted hos 80th birthday
dhaka- he wasn’t well enolugh to attend un september review of sdg4 learning
but his friends including jack ma and jim kim demnded an ai revoluytion to
education and this was picked up by jack ma and melinda gates with some support
fby fei-feil li and assigned to ITU ; for 3 years the annual updates to
gutterres were superb tranmsformational model – eg 5 difital windows ai changed
every way tecahers spent their time ; every way youth spoent tehir toime ;
assuming universal connectivity of where people studied and complete
transformation in data ciding; these 5 digotal components of gov2.o integrated
with un’s 4 legacy purposes inclusion within places bodrers; rights beyond
boders; trust-safety in every human rel;ationship; investment in partenrships
that traingularised whatever biggets corporate or nations actioned by next
generation community solutions
Before his death in 2019 abed had designed about 6 operation
epicenters instead of just the main dhak headquarters which had been center of
everything up to late 1990s before tech
Winnoning a national vilage markets is not same as winning
its natiponal market leadership once tech connects sity and vilage
So abed set up entreprise leadership in about 8 sectirs to
own national vale chain as well as vilage models
Banking was first to separate from hq with botyh crac city
bank and then virtual bank bkash having their own partners and ceos
Brac city bank sems to have been successful ; it was
positioned to be cuty bank for girls emigrating to the city and running women
led businesses
Bkash provided the quadirs who had first worked with yunus
bringing mobile phones to grameen the platform with brac and partenrs to be
efinance largest population wise and this included jack ma alipay partenrship
just before trouvles hit ma and ill helath hit abed; still the quadirs have
kept the bkash model goig
Overall helath went to james grant colege at university and
partly merged withy the nations chiolera lab; at the same time the half million
para health worlers were still mainly trained out of the original hq- but by
now they were also the equivalent of a pedesyrian doordasjh each supply 300
families wekly basic medicines; brac had become the nations largest wholesaler
of these basic medicines
Arraong is realy complicated as it is run by abed’s daughter
who also aims to rin the whole of brac with her husbangd; I personally don’t
think it has the right partnerships to eg transform fashion sustainability but
a lot went on under hasina 2009-2024 which made fashion value chain
particularly difficult including the factiry disaster wehre 1000 garmet worlers
died; while nor related to brac this was related to a lot of hasina netwirkers
as well as international fashion chains
We can make a list of whom abed though had promised to
continue partnerships into 2020s with his death in dec 2019 nd then covid as
well as other crised -abed had great relationship with japans abe – much in
2026 is not the way it would be if sir fazle was still around
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