1936: It all started when Sir Fazle Hasan Abed was born on 27 April 1936. He was born into the Hasan family, a locally powerful family back then, in Baniachong, British India, now Habiganj, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
1954: He left home to attend the University of Glasgow.
1954 & 1962: Sir Abed took Naval Architecture in an effort to break away from tradition and do something different. He realized there was little work in shipbuilding in East Pakistan and a career in Naval Architecture would make returning home difficult. However, he joined the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London, completing his professional education in 1962.
However, our protagonist returned home to join Shell Oil Company. At Shell, he learned a lot in terms of the inner workings of corporates and large organizations.
1970: The 1970 Bhola cyclone was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) on 12 November 1970. It killed around 300,000 people. The cyclone had a profound effect on Abed. He chose to take action to help Cyclone-affected people.
Starting of HELP: Abed created HELP, a voluntary organization, to provide relief and rehabilitation to the worst affected people from the 1970 Cyclone on the island of Manpura.
1971: Then 1971 happened. Abed went back to London where he lobbied and raised funds for Bangladesh.
BRAC: BRAC came into existence after Independence, 1972 to be exact as Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and subsequently as Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee [BRAC]. Abed sold his flat in London and returned home to build his newly born organization.
Aarong, 1978: BRAC started Aarong as a social enterprise in 1978. It operates production units in rural and semi-urban areas and provides market linkage through its own retail outlets.
BRAC BANK, 2001: Founded on 4 July 2001 as a private commercial bank focused on Small and Medium Enterprises.
Aarong Dairy: BRAC initiated BRAC Dairy & Food Project (BDFP) in 1998 to serve as a market linkage for dairy farmers throughout rural Bangladesh. In 2012, It rebranded and launched with a new brand name 'Aarong Dairy' for its all dairy-based products.
BRAC Chicken: Started out as a broiler processing enterprise in 2004. BRAC Chicken is now a processed chicken products brand as well.
Others: BRAC has tea estate, poultry, feed mills, cold storage, Printing Pack, Handmade and recycled paper, BRAC Artificial Insemination, BRAC Sericulture, and BRAC sanitary napkins and delivery kits.
The BRAC World: Covers 138M Population, Spends 932.4M annually, has 115K employees, and runs 45K Schools.
World Food Prize 2015: The World Food Prize Foundation announced to confer the 2015 World Food Prize on Sir Fazle Hasan Abed.
