on 18 july 2007 in johannesburg, south africa, nelson mandela, graça machel, and desmond tutu began a group of world leaders to help the world. nelson mandela announced this new group, the global elders, in a speech he on his 89th birthday. archbishop tutu is to serve as the chair of the elders. yunus is one of the first members of this group. other members include machel, kofi annan, ela bhatt, gro harlem brundtland, jimmy carter, li zhaoxing, and mary robinson. the elders are to be funded by some of its first members, such as richard branson, peter gabriel, ray chambers, michael chambers, bridgeway foundation, pam omidyar, humanity united, amy robbins, shashi ruia, dick tarlow, and the united nations foundation.