Muhammad Yunus, Micro Lender

Celebration
By 1983, with further support from the Ford Foundation and the UN, the Grameen project had loaned to 59,000 individuals. The $7.6 billion it has loaned over the years have helped the poor start businesses in everything from seeds to livestock to clothing. In this photo, Yunus, joined by French soccer star, Zinedine Zidane, are welcomed to a village whose residents had prospered because of Grameen loans.