MIT World Hosts

Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship

The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship was founded on the belief that economic progress and good governance in low-income countries emerge from entrepreneurship and innovations that empower ordinary citizens. The Center was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007 through a structured gift of $50 million from Legatum, a global investment firm. The Center administers programs and convenes events that promote and shape discourse on bottom-up development. Led by Iqbal Z. Quadir, founder of GrameenPhone and Emergence BioEnergy, the Center runs a highly competitive fellowship program for MIT graduate students who intend to launch enterprises in low-income countries. In addition, the Center convenes an annual conference, hosts lectures, and supports teams of enterprising men and women at MIT who are passionate about starting viable businesses in the developing world.