Runa Khan, a social entrepreneur, humanitarian, author and visionary leader, has devoted her life to serving Bangladesh’s most vulnerable. Born on November 17, 1958, into a Bengali family descended from the Zamindars of Bengal, she has worked tirelessly to transform the lives of people in the country’s most remote and climate-affected regions.
As the Founder and Executive Director of Friendship, she has turned compassion into lasting impact, empowering millions through innovation, empathy and an unwavering sense of purpose.
Her academic journey shaped her global outlook. Educated in East Pakistan and Murree, she later earned degrees in Geography and Humanities from Lady Brabourne College in Kolkata and Eden Mohila College in Dhaka. In 2013, she completed the Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management program at Harvard Business School, followed by the Leadership for System Change program at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2018.
What began as a single floating hospital in 2002 has grown into one of Bangladesh’s most transformative NGOs. Under Runa’s leadership, Friendship has brought systemic change to underserved communities through healthcare, education, climate resilience, women’s empowerment, and sustainable enterprise, transforming over 75 million lives.
Her entrepreneurial journey began in 1988 when she founded a boutique employing Bihari and indigenous women. In 2002, alongside Yves Marre, she co-founded Friendship, launching the Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital – a floating hospital that brought medical services to the riverine communities of Bangladesh. From there, Friendship grew into a beacon of holistic development, addressing healthcare, education, climate resilience, women’s empowerment and sustainable enterprise.
Under Runa’s leadership, Friendship introduced solar villages, women-led literacy programmes, vocational training and ‘Friendship Colours of the Chars’, Bangladesh’s first slow fashion brand, empowering women artisans from marginalised communities. Her achievements have earned her prestigious honours including the Rolex Award for Enterprise, the Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur Award and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the Friendship Centre. Friendship recently also received the prestigious Earthshot Prize in 2025 for turning climate vulnerability into community resilience.
In 2023, she hosted French President Emmanuel Macron on Friendship’s traditional Fleche d’Or boat, a symbolic meeting that showcased Bangladesh’s leadership in climate resilience and humanitarian innovation.
As an author, advocate and tireless changemaker, Runa Khan continues to remind the world that true progress begins with compassion. Her journey proves that even in a nation defined by adversity, one woman’s courage can turn isolation into connection and despair into lasting hope.
