Runa Khan

Runa Khan is a social entrepreneur, humanitarian, speaker and author. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Friendship NGO, a social purpose organization that delivers integrated services to climate-affected and remote communities across Bangladesh. In 2025, Friendship won The Earthshot Prize in the “Fix Our Climate” category.

Khan is recognized globally for her holistic integrated development which addresses challenges across multiple sectors, including climate action, health, education, disaster management, justice, and economic development and also preserving the culture of communities, to bring about holistic change rather than focusing on a single area of need. Established in 2002, Friendship has served over 75 million people thus far and has been bringing systemic changes in service delivery, empowerment, and livelihood to over 7.5 million climate migrants annually, with the promise of Saving Lives, Climate Adaptation, Poverty Alleviation and Empowerment.

Khan is a member of the Club of Rome, Honorary President of the One Sustainable Health (OSH) Forum Approach, Country Chair and Board Member of Global Dignity, and a jury member for the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. She is an Ashoka Fellow (1994), Rolex Laureate (2006) , recipient of the IDB Award for Women’s Contribution to Development (2008), and winner of the Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur Award (2012), among other national and international recognitions.

Before founding Friendship, Khan co-founded Contic, a tourism company offering cruises on renovated traditional wooden boats, and established a boutique Mearee in Dhaka to support indigenous artisans and expand markets for ethnic crafts. Beyond her organizational work, she has been an invited speaker at national and international platforms [the 10000s pic], including INSEAD, the University of Munich, and the Collège de France, addressing themes such as social entrepreneurship, leadership, and value-based development. Khan is also the author of eight books, comprising six works on pedagogy and two collections of children’s stories.