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The Defiant Optimist: Daring to Fight Global Inequality, Reinvent Finance, and Invest in 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 made the tools of the system available to all?
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.
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.
- GenresNonfictionMemoirBusiness
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 27, 2023
9 people are currently reading
1497 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 19, 2023
This is a beautifully written book, and the author's inclusion of her personal life story only enhances the message.
This is a must-read for anyone who is working on international development, wishes to fight global inequality, and recognizes that women MUST be included as full and equitable partners.
Excellent work.
This is a must-read for anyone who is working on international development, wishes to fight global inequality, and recognizes that women MUST be included as full and equitable partners.
Excellent work.
August 28, 2023
Another book I just couldn't put down. Fantastic book about discrimination and then again women power. A beautiful book!
August 15, 2023
Exceptional blend of how personal experiences shaped professional goals. Riveting read from the adventures of Durreen Apa from the turmoil of liberation war to graduate school to Wall Street to forming her own company to academia to finally forming IIX. Must read if you are interested in how financial markets can create lasting impact.
July 21, 2023
Good read. Recommended.
October 19, 2025
Badass incredible true story
December 31, 2023
I remember picking up this book, at a time I was failing horribly in my professional life. It felt suffocating because I felt like I wanted a life that I was only capable of dreaming, not achieving. In one word, I was lost.
And no, the book didn't save, but I remember, staying up at night, crying through the first few chapters, because I felt represented. As a Bangladeshi young woman, with ambitions surpassing the typical middle-class limits, I was represented. In her childhood stories of pinching money in the family when she was young, in her young adult stories of being expected to see marriage as a success, I felt seen. And in this overwhelmingly westernized world, it is not often a Bangladeshi young woman feels seen.
So, in her own words, Durreen did prepare me to be defiantly optimistic, and maybe that is the reason why I was handed better news following September.
In terms of literary finesse, the book felt repetitive after a while, and the last third of the book was mainly promotion material for IIX Investment Exchange. I wish she focused more into her personal stories, not promoting her venture but I guess we all gotta get the bread somehow.
Over all, a solid read. A tad bit emotional, because I was in a bad state when I picked up, and considerably better state when I put it down. Hence, expect a biased rating of 4 stars.
And no, the book didn't save, but I remember, staying up at night, crying through the first few chapters, because I felt represented. As a Bangladeshi young woman, with ambitions surpassing the typical middle-class limits, I was represented. In her childhood stories of pinching money in the family when she was young, in her young adult stories of being expected to see marriage as a success, I felt seen. And in this overwhelmingly westernized world, it is not often a Bangladeshi young woman feels seen.
So, in her own words, Durreen did prepare me to be defiantly optimistic, and maybe that is the reason why I was handed better news following September.
In terms of literary finesse, the book felt repetitive after a while, and the last third of the book was mainly promotion material for IIX Investment Exchange. I wish she focused more into her personal stories, not promoting her venture but I guess we all gotta get the bread somehow.
Over all, a solid read. A tad bit emotional, because I was in a bad state when I picked up, and considerably better state when I put it down. Hence, expect a biased rating of 4 stars.
June 7, 2023
How do we live our best lives and take actions that help others as well as address some of the most daunting problems of our time, such as poverty, climate change and human rights? This is a question for the ages, and most of us come up short. The Defiant Optimist is the personal story of Durreen Shahnaz, born in one of the poorest countries on earth, Bangladesh, who took the skills, know-how and privilege she acquired from her Western education and work experience and added grit, vision and eternal optimism to found IIX (Impact Investment Exchange), which brings innovative capital solutions to women-led enterprises in the “Global South”.
Durreen might have chosen to live a privileged life as a banker or internet entrepreneur - or even as an NGO executive helping developing countries “from above”, but ultimately, she chose a different path. Writing about her journey, Durreen repeatedly reflects upon her dual identities as:
- a Muslim woman from a poor country who witnessed poverty first hand and whose parents expected her to be educated in Asia and become a traditional, subservient wife and mother, and…
- A woman educated at top universities in the US (despite her parents’ reservations) who began a career as an investment banker at one of the most prestigious Wall Street institutions, and later worked as a publishing executive and founded a successful online startup in the early dotcom days.
Durreen also spent a year “inside the field” of developing country microfinance, working as a loan officer for the microlending pioneer, Grameen Bank and seeing first hand how directing capital to women can alleviate poverty. This experience undoubtedly inspired her to eventually dedicate her career and life’s work to creating innovative financial solutions to empower women and create economic growth in some of the poorest places on the planet. Durreen was also blessed with two beautiful daughters, one of whom suffers from a rare and debilitating skin condition, and it is clear throughout the book that her daughters further her determination to empower women.
The Defiant Optimist is a valuable read for people interested in market based solutions for addressing some of the world’s most intractable problems (i.e. the UN’s sustainable development goals). As we learn in the book, IIX’s success in raising and investing capital where social impact is equally as important a measure as financial return, depends also on non-market forces such as seed funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, pro-bono legal work, an investment from a committed friend and, somewhat alarmingly - Durreen and her husband’s pledge of their life savings to back an extraordinary “women’s livelihood bond” when the market balked at the innovative instrument.
What is the future of impact investing? Most companies and their boards speak of their commitment to “ESG” but given hyper competitive market forces these measures must still link to their bottom lines, and therefore, are necessarily limited. Throughout the book, we see that Durreen’s vision is often limited by investors’ apprehension to the idea of sacrificing financial return for “impact”. Yet many of these potential investors, as individuals are generous philanthropists, seemingly unwilling to combine their separate interests of return and altruism. IIX, and impact investing generally, reflects the intersection of capitalism, philanthropy and economic development.
The world struggles to balance the competing interests of promoting economic prosperity while protecting the planet (the mission of the UN’s sustainable development goals). IIX is a prototype for future investment and capital allocation; while I might have less optimism than the defiant optimist (Durreen) that rational investors will - with scale - choose to forego incremental financial return for “impact”, the world likely benefits in the long run if governments, philanthropists and nonprofits contribute the “impact subsidy” to ensure investment in enterprises that empower women, lift people out of poverty, and protect our planet.
The world needs more defiant optimists like Durreen. Read this book!
Durreen might have chosen to live a privileged life as a banker or internet entrepreneur - or even as an NGO executive helping developing countries “from above”, but ultimately, she chose a different path. Writing about her journey, Durreen repeatedly reflects upon her dual identities as:
- a Muslim woman from a poor country who witnessed poverty first hand and whose parents expected her to be educated in Asia and become a traditional, subservient wife and mother, and…
- A woman educated at top universities in the US (despite her parents’ reservations) who began a career as an investment banker at one of the most prestigious Wall Street institutions, and later worked as a publishing executive and founded a successful online startup in the early dotcom days.
Durreen also spent a year “inside the field” of developing country microfinance, working as a loan officer for the microlending pioneer, Grameen Bank and seeing first hand how directing capital to women can alleviate poverty. This experience undoubtedly inspired her to eventually dedicate her career and life’s work to creating innovative financial solutions to empower women and create economic growth in some of the poorest places on the planet. Durreen was also blessed with two beautiful daughters, one of whom suffers from a rare and debilitating skin condition, and it is clear throughout the book that her daughters further her determination to empower women.
The Defiant Optimist is a valuable read for people interested in market based solutions for addressing some of the world’s most intractable problems (i.e. the UN’s sustainable development goals). As we learn in the book, IIX’s success in raising and investing capital where social impact is equally as important a measure as financial return, depends also on non-market forces such as seed funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, pro-bono legal work, an investment from a committed friend and, somewhat alarmingly - Durreen and her husband’s pledge of their life savings to back an extraordinary “women’s livelihood bond” when the market balked at the innovative instrument.
What is the future of impact investing? Most companies and their boards speak of their commitment to “ESG” but given hyper competitive market forces these measures must still link to their bottom lines, and therefore, are necessarily limited. Throughout the book, we see that Durreen’s vision is often limited by investors’ apprehension to the idea of sacrificing financial return for “impact”. Yet many of these potential investors, as individuals are generous philanthropists, seemingly unwilling to combine their separate interests of return and altruism. IIX, and impact investing generally, reflects the intersection of capitalism, philanthropy and economic development.
The world struggles to balance the competing interests of promoting economic prosperity while protecting the planet (the mission of the UN’s sustainable development goals). IIX is a prototype for future investment and capital allocation; while I might have less optimism than the defiant optimist (Durreen) that rational investors will - with scale - choose to forego incremental financial return for “impact”, the world likely benefits in the long run if governments, philanthropists and nonprofits contribute the “impact subsidy” to ensure investment in enterprises that empower women, lift people out of poverty, and protect our planet.
The world needs more defiant optimists like Durreen. Read this book!
September 15, 2023
I don’t often do book reviews, apart from my annual listing of my best reads. But this one simply couldn’t wait, considering the impact it had on me. The author of 'The Defiant Optimist', Durreen Shahnaz, is one of the accomplished Bangladeshis creating waves in the international domain. Her checkered career in investment banking, microfinance, development finance, media, social entrepreneurship, and academia held her in good stead when she founded Impact Investment Exchange (IIX).
The initial chapters of the book cover her journey from childhood in postwar Bangladesh to the US for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Smith College, John Hopkins, and Wharton. This was a major feat, especially for a woman from a typical conservative middle-class family in the 1980s. Her indomitable spirit as a young Wall Street professional—probably the first Bangladeshi female—helped her navigate racism, inherent systemic biases, and misogyny. She could have settled for a cushy banking job, but instead, she decided to relocate to Bangladesh and settle for an underpaid but fulfilling job in a microfinance bank. After stints at a multilateral development bank and with a media conglomerate, she decided to try her luck as a social entrepreneur in the US. Her venture, One Nest, was the manifestation of her true calling as an evangelist for alleviating poverty by creating market-driven opportunities for disadvantaged women.
After selling off her enterprise, she relocated to Singapore and eventually became an academic. While conducting extensive research, the idea behind using finance for good started to coalesce, which eventually led to the creation of a stock exchange dedicated to social enterprises with backing from the Rockefeller Foundation. Her contribution to developing a methodology for measuring the impact of social enterprises has further enriched the impact investment discipline. Her ingenuity as a visionary was further manifested as she spearheaded the launch of the Women Livelihood Bond, the first of its kind in the world.
The initial chapters of the book cover her journey from childhood in postwar Bangladesh to the US for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Smith College, John Hopkins, and Wharton. This was a major feat, especially for a woman from a typical conservative middle-class family in the 1980s. Her indomitable spirit as a young Wall Street professional—probably the first Bangladeshi female—helped her navigate racism, inherent systemic biases, and misogyny. She could have settled for a cushy banking job, but instead, she decided to relocate to Bangladesh and settle for an underpaid but fulfilling job in a microfinance bank. After stints at a multilateral development bank and with a media conglomerate, she decided to try her luck as a social entrepreneur in the US. Her venture, One Nest, was the manifestation of her true calling as an evangelist for alleviating poverty by creating market-driven opportunities for disadvantaged women.
After selling off her enterprise, she relocated to Singapore and eventually became an academic. While conducting extensive research, the idea behind using finance for good started to coalesce, which eventually led to the creation of a stock exchange dedicated to social enterprises with backing from the Rockefeller Foundation. Her contribution to developing a methodology for measuring the impact of social enterprises has further enriched the impact investment discipline. Her ingenuity as a visionary was further manifested as she spearheaded the launch of the Women Livelihood Bond, the first of its kind in the world.
August 28, 2023
Read this book because it was a personal recommendation from a friend. It’s a masterpiece - of self promotion, leveraging on the “southern” identity of the author and the context she supposedly have worked in. The book is a disguised self-promotion of an author using a facade full of jargons, stereotypes and cliches (I.e. a woman from conservative family, gender/investing, impact investment). It is evident the author has some experience with the development world complexities (albeit on the surface). And attempts to propose some “unique” formula of impact investment revealed by God to the author, and her organisation - but a quick research on her work provides a glimpse of more jargons and the same traps that she accuses the development world of. Perhaps her first hand experience of profiting from opportunistic programmes with the banner of “emancipating women in the third world” in order to support her privileged life in Singapore gave her some interesting insights. I can go on forever. But will conclude by requesting the author to stop commodifying poverty, and impoverished women in the south in the name of profit and fame. It’s bad enough when the “white men” do it, but worse, and even heartbreaking when one of their own does it. If you wish to self promote and self celebrate, there are other means of doing so.
June 23, 2025
In many ways I found this book inspiring. Durreen’s pursuit of an education and life beyond the one laid out for her in Muslim Bangladesh. I admire her desire to help others and her belief that education is a solution. But, her story is diminished by her constant attacks on men, economic systems and the “1%”. Her portrayal of the housing market crash makes no mention of the US governments hand in the debacle - which was significant; forcing banks to make loans they knew would never be repaid hurt both lenders and homeowners, some who lost everything. It makes me question what other facts were omitted because they did not support the narrative.
Her portrayal of investment banking in the 90s is spot on as is how institutions meant to help the poorest spend an awful lot of time and money in palatial offices lining their own pockets and not really investing in sustaining enterprises.
But boy does she enjoy playing the victim.
She clearly had a privileged upbringing and a lot of help. But never once acknowledges that privilege. Even when describing her daughter’s condition, which is heartbreaking and would limit travel and personal success for anyone without great means.
Her portrayal of investment banking in the 90s is spot on as is how institutions meant to help the poorest spend an awful lot of time and money in palatial offices lining their own pockets and not really investing in sustaining enterprises.
But boy does she enjoy playing the victim.
She clearly had a privileged upbringing and a lot of help. But never once acknowledges that privilege. Even when describing her daughter’s condition, which is heartbreaking and would limit travel and personal success for anyone without great means.
July 2, 2023
The Defiant Optimism was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The author’s life story is beautifully intertwined with her lifelong mission, giving readers a close-up view of where the author comes from and her personal and professional journey. The anecdotes peppered at critical junctures of her journey along with key facts shared about the state of the world makes her call to all humankind to be a Defiant Optimist compelling. The book leaves you feeling inspired and touched at the same time. Highly recommended!
August 20, 2023
An inspirational memoir highlighting the elements of Durreen's story which drive her unwavering quest to secure a better society for all using her knowledge of the financial markets. I finished days ago, and I'm still pondering how to best respond to her challenge... and invite you to join me.
"What if we all together became defiant optimists? Could we dare to imagine a world where we break down walls to fight to heal the planet's ills?"
"What if we all together became defiant optimists? Could we dare to imagine a world where we break down walls to fight to heal the planet's ills?"
December 14, 2025
Full review incoming.
I wonder what it would have been like to read this before knowing the industry reputation of IIX. What was a 5 star experience to read feels a little tarnished by this real life knowledge. It’s like I’m drinking the cool aid of the writing but also know what’s behind the brand. Hmm need to ponder deeper for a full review.
I wonder what it would have been like to read this before knowing the industry reputation of IIX. What was a 5 star experience to read feels a little tarnished by this real life knowledge. It’s like I’m drinking the cool aid of the writing but also know what’s behind the brand. Hmm need to ponder deeper for a full review.
July 2, 2023
A timely masterpiece!! Our world needs 'Definat Optimists' like Prof. Durreen Shahnaz now more than ever, motivating hundreds of others to make a change. It was indeed a captivating and thought-provoking read.
January 24, 2025
Such a good read! First book in a while I’ve read so quickly. I didn’t know much about the finance world but this was a beautiful introduction and Durreen explained things so well. Very inspiring, and very hopeful. Definitely recommend.
Read
December 18, 2023Super good v interesting
July 28, 2024
This one will be reread and passed on. A very inspired and inspiring book
September 10, 2024
If you are interested in impact investing, alternative and inclusive ways of business, or gutsy entrepreneurs that are persistent as hell, I recommend Shahnaz's story.
September 21, 2024
I hope everyone reads this
September 26, 2023
Durreen Shahnaz has had a fascinating life and clearly experienced a lot of discrimination/sexism/racism in the US as a Bangladeshi woman. However, this book struggles because it can't decide if it's a memoir or a promotional material for the idea of impact investing. The memoir bits are interesting but often shoehorned awkwardly into the narrative. She also kind of has a tone of innocent naivety about places like the World Bank and doesn't really engage with the fact that people+social movements have been fighting against these places forever, so it's frustrating when she presents herself as the sole iconoclast challenging their power. As always whenever I read impact investing/social business stuff about harnessing the power of capitalism for good I always feel like the contradictory ideas collapse in on themselves - she herself frequently points out how financial systems/investors only want financial returns. So the power/faith in social impact being part of the "return" (if only they could be measured) is incredibly hard to realize, especially when she herself points out how markets operate through exploitation and environmental extraction. So why would further "financial inclusion" really change this power dynamic?? The book presents impact investing as this great rebellion against the financial system - but, and the support and positive reception IIX has received should make clear - it actually fits in super well with predominant neoliberal social ideals in the 2000s (markets as unleashers of human freedom etc.).
April 3, 2024
The gripping adventure of a modern day Hamilton story from a towering figure of the Global South. Required reading for anyone in the impact space.
December 24, 2023
Amazing read - one I couldn’t put down! The Defiant Optimist opens your eyes to the power of perseverance and self determination, teaching us all extremely valuable lessons
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews