13 Facts About Runa Khan

Runa Khan is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and the founder and executive director of Friendship NGO.

Runa Khan won the Rolex Awards for Enterprise in 2006 for work through Friendship to preserve the declining craft of traditional boat building in Bangladesh.

In 1996 Runa Khan established Contic as a tourism company which gives tours on traditional wooden boats.

Runa Khan is the Country Chair for Bangladesh at Global Dignity.

Runa Khan was born on November 17,1958, to an aristocratic family descended from the zamindars or landowners of Bengal.

Runa Khan studied at the Dhaka Preparatory and Farmview International Schools.

Runa Khan went on to study geography at the Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata and did a second BA in humanities from the Eden Mohila College in Dhaka.

Runa Khan was first married at the age of 20 to one of her direct cousins, and had two children before that marriage ended.

Runa Khan wanted to continue her work and studies in geography.

In 1988, Runa Khan started a boutique to provide work for Biharis and indigenous Bangladeshis.

In 2008, Runa Khan won the IDB Prize for Women's Contribution to Development.

An interview of Runa Khan was published by Harvard Business School in 2019 as part of a series of conversations with Harvard faculty titled Creating Emerging Markets.

On September 11,2023 Runa Khan hosted the French president, Emmanuel Macron on Friendship's traditional panshi boat, the Fleche d'Or, the largest and one of the last of its kind, during an official visit to the country.