Healthymagination Mother and Child Programme Welcomes its Second Cohort of Social Entrepreneurs Addressing Maternal & Child Health in Sub-Saharan Africa

The program is designed to help the organizations acquire business fundamentals, improve their strategic thought processes, and articulate business plans that demonstrate impact, growth and long-term financial sustainability

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 26, 2017/ --

    GE and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship launched the second cohort of the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme to continue to accelerate health innovations in Africa
    This programme has selected 14 African social entrepreneurs who will benefit from training and mentorship aimed at improving maternal and/or child health outcomes

Today, the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme announces its second cohort of social enterprises that will receive training and mentorship aimed at improving and accelerating maternal and/or child health outcomes in Africa. The programme – launched in March 2016 (http://APO.af/LZCqo8) by GE (www.GE.com) and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship – aims to continue to accelerate health innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

After a rigorous application and evaluation process, 14 organizations were selected to be in the programme’s second cohort of social entrepreneurs and accelerate maternal health outcomes across Africa with impact areas including, Benin, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and more. The second cohort of entrepreneurs are currently attending a three-day, in-person workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa. This kick-off workshop packs core business principles into a powerful forum facilitated by senior-level Miller Center mentors and GE business leaders. The program is designed to help the organizations acquire business fundamentals, improve their strategic thought processes, and articulate business plans that demonstrate impact, growth and long-term financial sustainability.

“Solving local health challenges calls for locally-adapted interventions and innovations, and Social Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa are playing a major role in this regard.” said Robert Wells, Executive Director of healthymagination. “The healthymagination Mother and Child programme will continue to provide them with mentorship and in-depth training, accelerating health innovation and furthering our goal to increase the quality, access and affordability of maternal and child health.”

“GE’s mission to work on better health for more people is evidenced by our continuing partnership to help social enterprises scale their impact,” commented Thane Kreiner, Ph.D., executive director of Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. “This cohort’s impact aligns with the target indicators for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3. Miller Center is honored such amazing social enterprises applied to this Mother & Child accelerator program.”

The kick-off workshop will be followed by a six-month, online accelerator programme with in-depth mentorship from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders. The accelerator and mentorship programme will culminate in a “Premier Pitch” event in Africa where the 14 organizations will present their respective enterprises to an audience of potential investors.

“Nurturing a vibrant social entrepreneurship ecosystem is key for sustainable healthcare development and is a major focus area for GE in Africa,” said Farid Fezoua, President & CEO, GE Healthcare Africa. “Through their various initiatives to strengthen mother and child care, these social entrepreneurs are bringing innovative approaches to tackle some of Africa’s biggest challenges and this is truly exciting. By leveraging GE’s domain expertise and the business-building skills imparted by Miller Center’s Silicon Valley mentors, we are honoured to provide mentorship and guidance to these great organizations.”

The 14 social enterprises that have been selected for the second cohort of the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme are: Afya Research Africa – STONE HMIS® (http://AfyaResearch.org), Cedars Diagnostics, doctHERs (www.DoctHERs.com), Early Reach (www.EarlyReach.com), Liberian Energy Network (www.LightingLiberia.org), Maternity Foundation (www.Maternity.dk), MDaaS (www.MDaaSNigeria.com), MOBicure, Neopenda (www.Neopenda.com), Sevamob (http://Sevamob.com), Sisu Global Health (www.SisuGlobalHealth.com), Southlake Medical Centre - under LiveWell (www.LiveWellClinics.co.ke), SubQ Assist (www.imohedas.com/subq-assist) and Totohealth Tanzania (https://Totohealth.org/tz).

For more information on the programme, please visit www.SCU-social-entrepreneurship.org/mother-and- child.

Distributed by APO on behalf of GE.

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About GE:
GE (NYSE: GE) (www.GE.com) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the “GE Store,” through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry. 

About GE’s healthymagination commitment:
GE’s healthymagination commitment is about better health for more people. We continuously develop and invest in innovations that deliver high-quality, more affordable healthcare to more people around the world. For more information about our healthymagination commitment, visit www.GESustainability.com.

About Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship:
Founded in 1997, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship is one of three Centers of Distinction at Santa Clara University in California. Miller Center’s mission is to accelerate entrepreneurship to end global poverty and protect the planet. The Global Social Benefit Institute (GSBI®) at Miller Center is the largest and most successful university-based social enterprise accelerator in the world. To learn more about Miller Center and its programs, visit www.SCU.edu/MillerCenter.

About Santa Clara University:
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 9,000 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business and engineering; master’s degrees in business, education, counseling psychology, pastoral ministry and theology; and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.’s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.SCU.edu.

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