Entrepreneurship Summit 2024: Keynote speech by Maria Ida Palmieri

Summary

In her keynote speech, ‘The power of dignity to drive systemic change. Muhammad Yunus,’ Maria Ida Palmieri explains the origins and impact of Muhammad Yunus' social business approach based on developments in Bangladesh. The starting point is criticism of traditional aid and development models that seek to alleviate poverty without changing the underlying systems. She understands social business as an entrepreneurial approach that specifically solves human and social problems while being economically sustainable.

Using the emergence of Grameen Bank as an example, she shows how microloans, trust instead of collateral and a consistent focus on women have lifted millions of people out of extreme poverty. The principle of dignity is central to this: people are seen not as recipients of aid, but as responsible entrepreneurs. The keynote speech makes it clear that genuine systemic change occurs where economic activity, social responsibility and long-term thinking come together. Finally, Palmieri applies these principles to today's global challenges and calls for social business thinking to be applied to local contexts.

Key insights for founders

1. Business can solve problems:
Companies do not have to serve only to maximise profits, but can also address specific social and environmental challenges.

2. Dignity as a success factor:
Giving people trust, responsibility and access to resources unleashes enormous entrepreneurial energy.

3. Change systems instead of symptoms:
Sustainable impact is not created by handouts, but by new economic structures.

4. Start small, think scalable:
Big changes start with small experiments that grow step by step.

5. Systemic thinking is crucial:
Founders should consciously question existing systems of power, dependency and incentives so as not to reproduce injustices.

About the speaker

Maria Ida Palmieri is an expert in social business and international development cooperation. She works closely with Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and is active in the global dissemination of the Grameen approach. Her focus is on systemic change, social entrepreneurship and the empowerment of disadvantaged groups, especially women. In her work, she combines economic thinking with social responsibility and advocates for dignified, sustainable development models worldwide.