
The Defiant Optimist™
Sharing Power with Millions of Women
Global inequality is growing. Financial markets disenfranchise women, the 99 percent, and the planet itself. But what if we found the source of power and turned it inside out? What if we could share this power with women across the world whose voices often go unheard? And what if you could play a part in making it happen?
When she launched the world’s first stock exchange for social enterprises, Durreen Shahnaz started more than a new financial system; she sparked a movement. Defiant optimism—the stubborn belief that systems that enrich the few can be transformed for the good of the many—requires an indomitable spirit. In these pages, Shahnaz illuminates what investing in those excluded from networks of power and opportunity requires.
From growing up with constrained life chances, to working as the first Bangladeshi woman on Wall Street, to becoming a global leader in impact investing, Shahnaz takes us on a mesmerizing trek of innovation, compassion, and enterprise. We accompany her to villages in Bangladesh where she helps women entrepreneurs learn to proudly sign their names, and on visits to venture capitalists who walk past her to shake her male employees’ hands. We go to a garment factory where women labor for low wages, and to a town in India where microfinance offers women enough capital to run grocery stores and tailor shops. Along the way, the birth of her two daughters only fuels her relentless pursuit of a world where girls are valued. Finally, armed with financial backers and a plan, Shahnaz crafts the world’s first tradeable financial product geared toward investing in underserved women’s livelihoods. Changing how systems work—and who they work for—isn’t for the faint of heart. But The Defiant Optimist offers strategies for placing women, the underserved, and the planet at the heart of systems. Together we can locate the levers of power and pull them defiantly in a new direction.
The Defiant Optimist™
Synopsis

When she launched the world’s first stock exchange for social enterprises, Durreen Shahnaz started more than a new financial system; she sparked a movement. Defiant optimism—the stubborn belief that systems that enrich the few can be transformed for the good of the many—requires an indomitable spirit. In these pages, Shahnaz illuminates what investing in
those excluded from networks of power and opportunity requires.
From growing up with constrained life chances, to working as the first Bangladeshi woman on Wall Street, to becoming a global leader in impact investing, Shahnaz takes us on a mesmerizing trek of innovation, compassion, and enterprise. We accompany her to villages in Bangladesh where she helps women entrepreneurs learn to proudly sign their names, and on visits to venture capitalists who walk past her to shake her male employees’ hands. We go to a garment factory where women labor for low wages, and to a town in India where microfinance offers women enough capital to run grocery stores and tailor shops. Along the way, the birth of her two daughters only fuels her relentless pursuit of a world where girls are valued. Finally, armed with financial backers and a plan, Shahnaz crafts the world’s first tradeable financial product geared toward investing in underserved women’s livelihoods.
Changing how systems work—and who they work for—isn’t for the faint of heart. But The Defiant Optimist offers strategies for placing women, the underserved, and the planet at the heart of systems. Together we can locate the levers of power and pull them defiantly in a new direction.
Praise for The Defiant Optimist™
Strategic Advisor

The Defiant Optimist™
If We Can Change the World Together, Why do it Alone?
A Defiant Optimist™ can only be defiant about her vision of a better world when she has the practical chops to get there and to build a realistic pathway for others to join her. In ‘Defiant Optimist™’, I am sharing what I learned, and I invite you to join me on this path.

With every step, I knew in my heart, my north star was to create a better world than the one I was born into. A world of inclusion, opportunity, and sharing of power. But the brave women of Bangladesh and many other countries across the globe demonstrate that while women suffer the consequences of war, they don’t always see themselves as victims. They heroically carry on
Durren Shahnaz
Endorsements
Endorsements
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