Hope Over Fate: Fazle Hasan Abed and the Science of Ending Global Poverty

Wednesday, September 28th, 2022

We are pleased to invite you to a book launch event featuring Scott MacMillan to discuss his recent book Hope Over Fate: Fazle Hasan Abed and the Science of Ending Global Poverty. This event will consist of introductions by IIEP’s Steven Suranovic, a fireside chat between Chair of the GWU Economics Department Stephen Smith and author Scott MacMillan, a book reading, and a short video presentation. Following the presentation, there will be a Q&A and book signing with the author. Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Hope Over Fate tells the story of Fazle Hasan Abed, who Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times called “one of the unsung heroes of modern times.” Fazle Hasan Abed was a mild-mannered accountant who may be the most influential man most people have never even heard of. As the founder of BRAC, his work had a profound impact on the lives of millions. A former finance executive with almost no experience in relief aid, he founded BRAC, originally the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee, in 1972, aiming to help a few thousand war refugees. A half-century later, BRAC is by many measures the largest nongovernmental organization in the world—and by many accounts, the most effective anti-poverty program ever.

With 100,000 BRAC employees reaching more than 100 million people in Asia and Africa, Abed’s methods changed the way global policymakers think about poverty. By the time of his death at eighty-three in December 2019, he was revered in international development circles. Yet among the wider public, he remained largely unknown. His story has never been told—until now. This is the story of a man who lived a life of complexity, blemishes and all, driven by the conviction that in the dominion of human lives, hope will ultimately triumph over fate.

This event is co-sponsored by BRAC, the GW Department of Economics, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and the Institute for International Economic Policy (IIEP).

About the Author:

Scott MacMillan works as Director of Learning and Innovation for BRAC USA, where he manages BRAC USA’s portfolio of research grants along with other special projects. A former journalist, he served as the speechwriter of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder of BRAC, prior to Abed’s death in 2019.

About the Host:

Stephen Smith is Chair of the Department of Economics, and Professor of Economics and International Affairs. He also served as the Director of IIEP from 2009-2012, and 2015-2017. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Cornell University and has been a UNICEF Senior Research Fellow, a Fulbright Research Scholar, a Jean Monnet Research Fellow, an IZA Research Fellow, a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings, a Fulbright Senior Specialist, a member of the Advisory Council of BRAC USA, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. In the 1990s, he designed and served as first director of GW’s International Development Studies Program.

He is Principal Investigator for the research project, “Complementarities of Training, Technology, and Credit in Smallholder Agriculture: Impact, Sustainability, and Policy for Scaling-up in Senegal and Uganda,” funded by BASIS / USAID.

From 2004-2008, he served as co-Principal Investigator, along with Prof. Jim Williams, of GW’s partnership with BRAC University (in Bangladesh).

Smith has done on-site research and program work in several regions of the developing world including Bangladesh, China, Ecuador, India, Senegal, Slovenia, and Uganda. He has been a consultant for the World Bank, the International Labour Office (ILO, Geneva), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), USAID, and the World Institute for Development Economics Research (UN-WIDER, Helsinki). Smith has also conducted extensive research on the economics of employee participation, including works councils, ESOPs, and labor cooperatives, which has included on-site research in Italy, Spain, and Germany.

All attendees are welcome to attend this event in person at the address below or via Zoom. We require that guests follow the George Washington University Visitor guidelines.

Elliott School of International Affairs
Lindner Family Commons, Suite 602
1957 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20052