When CSU Channel Islands President Richard Rush was asked to build a new University in 2002, he committed to ensure that students are dedicated to international, multi-cultural, integrative and socially engaged lives. He hired Julia Wilson, a previous director of Grameen Foundation,  early 2008 with the intent of exploring the creation innovative new programs for the young campus.  The California Institute of Social Business was one such program and is slated to launch in Feb 2010 -this is a very fast moving top level diary of events.

July 2008 - Khalid Shams from Grameen Bank came to California to work with our faculty to gain an understanding of where microfinance had come and how it led to Social Business.

First Quarter 2009: Julia as VP for Advancement led the University academic leaders to Dhaka to brainstorm with  Grameen Bank and Dr Yunus.   He thanked her by declaring it was the most joyful time to gain international recognition for the USA's first University to take Social Entrepreneurship to the next level and build a program for Social Business.

May 2009, Professor Yunus visited CSU Channel Islands to meet with faculty and lay the foundation for the work to be done.  They discussed curriculum; research opportunities; the potential of starting a Social Venture fund for capitalizing emerging Social Businesses; and an annual Social Business Plan Competition to commence September 2010.

Nov 2009:  President Rush led a 4-person CSU Channel Islands team - Rush, Wilson, Asish Vaidya (faculty dean), Larry Janss (board member & CIOSB supporter) -  to the first Global Grameen Meeting in Germany where 120+ of the world's most passionate sustainability system designers came to swap Social Business practice stories and commit to Dr Yunus 2010's Joy of Life goals starting with those Global Brand CEO partnerships that demonstrate

• which global markets know how to fully value sustainability's upward exponentials and
• which universities are most urgently interested in connecting together the missing curriculum of sustainability

February 2010:  Professor returns to campus to officially launch the California Institute of Social Business.  Thousands of students from all over the region, corporations, community service agencies, the Bangladesh community and community leaders will all gather to discuss his book "Creating a World without Poverty" and celebrate a new movement to change the world.

Going forward.......raising private partnerships to build a program that fulfills all objectives of Dr. Yunus and President Rush and the global community.