The GHIC Innovation Prize offers two cash awards in the amounts of $10,000 and $5,000 to the two best social enterprise pitches that are presented at Unite For Sight’s 12thannual Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale on March 28-29, 2015.  The GHIC Innovation Prize supports outstanding early-stage ideas, programs, and organizations which are locally-developed and locally-responsible.  The GHIC Innovation Prize is a new program of the Unite For Sight Global Health & Innovation Conference, which is the world’s largest and leading global health conference and social entrepreneurship conference.  The Global Health & Innovation Conference annually convenes more than 2,200 participants from all 50 states and from more than 55 countries.

What is a social enterprise pitch? The social enterprise pitch is an idea, program, project, or organization that is in the early stage of development or implementation.  The pitch submission should be program-focused and can be targeted for any country or countries worldwide.  Categories include, but are not limited to, global health, NGOs and community-based programs, social innovation and entrepreneurship, development, education, energy, environment, and technology. 

Who is eligible? Professionals and students, and non-profit or for-profit organizations, are eligible to apply for the GHIC Innovation Prize.

How do I apply? Complete details and application instructions can be seen at http://www.uniteforsight.org/conference/innovation-prize Applications are accepted on a rolling application deadline, and the first quality applications will be accepted for the semi-finalist round.  Applicants are encouraged to submit their application as soon as possible; the available semi-finalist round spots are expected to fill quickly.

Complete details about the 2015 Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale can be seen at http://www.uniteforsight.org/conference

We have all heard the facts – preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia take the lives of 2 million children each year, more than 805 million people lack enough food to lead a healthy life, 61 million children of primary school age are out of school, etc.  We have also all heard the call to action – that while the development world is making progress in addressing these issues, we need new, innovative ways to solve the world’s greatest challenges.

At the USAID Technical Convening a few weeks back, we had the opportunity to place ourselves in the shoes of an international development decision-maker through the innovation marketplace. We were given 1000 development dollars to “invest” in innovation[s] being presented, and it was our decision how to allocate those dollars.

I will be the first to admit that I am drawn to development work because of an opportunity for impact. In my mind, I wouldn’t really say that the specific type of impact matters much; the idea that the work that I am doing will have tangible (positive) impacts on the world around me is enough. So, when given the chance to “invest” in new ideas, I decided that I would give my money to the impactful innovations.

And looking back, I still remember walking in and feeling overwhelmed by the 40+ innovators vying for my attention.  I still remember strolling around the room once, twice, and even three times before selecting a place to start.  I still remember, many conversations later, staring at the development dollars in my hand, questioning whether I could even make an investment.

Because sometimes impact is not enough.

During conversations at the USAID Technical Convening, the idea of purpose within innovation was always emphasized.  Purpose meant that you knew (1) what issue you were trying to address, and (2) how that issue fit into the bigger picture.

Because sometimes impact is not enough.

My weekend at the USAID Technical Convening helped me to realize the significance of strategy behind innovation.  We are living in an incredibly exciting time, where globalization and the rise of modern technology bring us all just a little bit closer.  And this translates to the potential for small ideas to make huge impact. But when there are limited resources, impact is only one factor in creating the development agenda. 

In September, SEAD announced that it was awarding research grants to four exciting university projects that will contribute to our understanding of how to best scale the impact of global health innovation.  One of the projects, “Postpartum Hemorrhage Education via Simulation,” led by an inter-professional team in the Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center (HSPSC) at Duke Medicine, is pioneering the use of scalable, distributable healthcare simulation using commercial game technology with a multi-player module that specifically addresses PPH. Through the SEAD grant, the HSPSC team is funding a proof-of-concept training session between Duke and Mulago hospital in Kampala, Uganda. 

One of SEAD’s core goals is to meaningfully engage students in learning and experimentation around global health innovation, so SEAD was particularly pleased that HSPSC proposed to allow Duke students to compete for a spot on their research team and join them for field work in Uganda in Spring 2015.  HSPSC received applications from students across the university and were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet and interview so many impressive students.  The group ended up selecting Emily Comstock, an MSc in Nursing student, to join their team.  Emily comes to Duke with experience working in Haiti, Kenya, and Uganda, and demonstrated to the team that she had a realistic understanding of the challenges they could face in implementing the project.  Emily is excited about the prospect of working on innovative inter-professional trainings on a topic of great importance in the developing world.  Stay tuned for updates following their work in Uganda in Spring 2015.

What’s in a word?

I had never really heard the word resilience used until this conference, especially not in the context of global health. Resilience is often used in the context of talking about coming back from a fight or not letting adversity hinder your goals.  Resilient Africa Network, a partnership of 20 African universities focused on nurturing and scaling innovation, describes resilience as “the capacity of people and systems to mitigate, adapt to, recover, and learn from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces vulnerability and increases wellbeing.”  At first I wondered if the usage of the term was simply jargon, but by the end of the conference I know it was much more than that.

The power of language and the power of storytelling is something that was discussed multiple times. It wasn’t until after the fact that I understood the importance of the term “Resilience”. Resilience stands for knowing there is a long was to go but willing to put in the energy to get there. Resilience stands for not letting difficulties halt the course of advancement. Resilience stands for a lot of other things too but most importantly it’s a symbol of solidarity and empowerment. Having such a powerful term makes the cause seem stronger. It sets the stage for the future of international development and presents the ideals that are going to be at the core of the field.

The power of language and story telling cannot be undermined in what is to be the future of the world. How else can you captivate people to believe in a cause? One of the sessions we were asked to identify a goal we want to achieve in the next 5 years, the people who we are going to have to work with, the barriers we are going to face, and the principle we will use. I didn’t know what to say, because I had not idea what my goals are. I do not know where I will be in 5 years and I am ok with that. 

At the same time I know how important it is to define your goals. This is where the language comes in. Especially for a task as large as poverty reduction you not only need goals to mark success but to also make a statement for the work you are doing. It is important to make sure the importance of the work in international development is not taken lightly. This is why “resilience” means so much, because it creates that human reaction that makes people what to be a part of the movement. I do hope to see a resilient world one day and I think huge strides are being made in that direction. 

TechCon 2014 brought together the Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN) – a partnership between the U.S. Global Development Lab and seven universities to create a rich network of HESN Development labs. Over 400 attendees - ranging from young innovators, academics, investors, and government leaders – came together to discuss, ideate and share creative and best practices for international development.

Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator shares that, “This network represents something new and especially exciting in development – something more than a simple collection of universities. It represents a groundbreaking partnership…united by a single purpose: to mobilize the energy and ingenuity of a new generation…[to] harness the power of science, technology, and innovation to deliver transformational results in development.”

I have taken a few photographs to highlight the inspiring presentations, conversations, and panels I had the honor of attending.