Public Health Entrepreneurship and Social Impact
Co-hosted by the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise and the Mailman School of Public Health
A growing number of public health practitioners and innovators combine entrepreneurial skills with their understanding of public health to develop ventures that address some of society’s most pressing health and social problems. These public health entrepreneurs work across disciplines to launch double- or triple-bottom line ventures that bridge the gap between the business world and the healthcare space. This panel discussion featured Columbia alumni who are also founders of health-focused ventures as they discussed their organizations, how they are bridging the gap between public health and social entrepreneurship, their insights on public health-based social entrepreneurship, and what resources they are still seeking to further develop their enterprises.
The panelists included: Dr. Ben L. Bynum BUS ’10, PH ’10, Director of Operations at Vital Healthcare Capital (V-Cap); Jason Friesen PH ’12, EMT-P, Founder and Director of Trek Medics International; Dr. Olajide Williams PH’04, Founder of Hip Hop Public Health; and Casey Santiago BUS’07, MIA ’07, founder of Kangu.
Moderated by Diana Hernandez, Assistant Professor at the Mailman School of Public Health, and an introduction by Sandra Navalli, Senior Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School.
