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Impact & Innovation

Teresa Chahine 54 episodes Latest Nov 14, 2025

Join the conversation as social entrepreneurs from around the world come to Yale SOM to share the challenges they are grappling with and the insights they are gaining in the field. These conversations are available in audio format below or wherever you get your podcasts, and video format on YouTube.

Episodes

Small Businesses as the Fabric of this Country Nov 14, 2025 29:44 In our bonus final episode this season we meet Elizabeth Gore, co-founder and President of Hello Alice, a fintech company that helps small businesses access capital and growth. Elizabeth shares her journey as an entrepreneur launching this company against all odds, and how she navigated barriers in building it. After 200+ rejections, she and her co-founder found the investors who believed in them,

Bending the Arc of Justice Nov 14, 2025 43:03 After many years of zooming in to my class, Rod Bremby is finally here in person! Former health secretary for the state of Kansas, commissioner of the department of social services for Connecticut, and vice president of digital transformation for the global public sector at Salesforce; Rod shares his reflections on the revolving door of public and private sector work. He was fired for turning down

CT Wealth Accelerator Nov 7, 2025 51:00 Yaw Owusu-Boahen returns to SOM to share his experience after graduating, and his most recent role as Director of the CT Wealth Accelerator, an extrapreneurship endeavor bringing together multiple partners who are deeply invested in bridging the racial wealth gap in CT. Building on a government innovation providing "baby bonds" to children born under the poverty line, the Wealth Accelerator is te

KB 2.0 : From Data to Insights, Policy, and Impact Oct 31, 2025 39:53 They're back again! After visiting my podcast in its first year in 2018, Khushi Baby is back to share how they've not only survived the past seven years but completely leaned into their mission and expanded the depth and magnitude of their impact. Founded just over ten years ago, KB started out as a wearable designed to digitize data on childhood immunization in rural India. After conducting fiel

Sink or Swim Oct 24, 2025 33:25 Now is the time when we find out to what degree and how we will swim rather than sink, as public health innovators and practitioners. In this episode, I talk to my former student Olivia Francis, who obtained her MPH in 2025. Like many of her peers, Olivia is navigating the turbulent waters of the political storm surrounding public health. She reflects on past public health challenges and how we ov

Radical Health Oct 17, 2025 37:47 Ivelyse Andino founded Radical Health as the first public benefit corporation in New York state, to build community around health. After navigating the health care system on her own to help support her immigrant mother through cancer, and later through her own pregnancy, Ivelyse realized how isolated most people feel when dealing with health services. Radical Health began with indigenous circle pr

Aligning Incentives Oct 10, 2025 36:05 To what degree and how are current capitalistic structures conducive to reaching public health goals? Sofia Noori shares her journey from grassroots organizing to clinical training in psychiatry, to raising $19 in venture capital for her tech enabled platform, Nema Health. Nema is an online clinic providing intensive care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Utilizing a value-based care mode

Intrapreneurship Oct 3, 2025 32:16 Victoria Bush '23 is passionate about "intrapreneurship:" the idea of innovating within existing institutions. Utilizing her entrepreneurial spirit and skills to improve any organization she is part of, she developed the 3C's framework of Constrain, Create, Champion, to help structure internal innovation. Hear why constraints help creativity, and how to champion change in your organization. Victor

Food As Medicine Sep 26, 2025 50:17 Josh Trautwein, founder of About Fresh, shares his start-up journey in the food as medicine space. Josh started out as a Community Health Worker, helping patients access the things they need to be healthy. He realized the importance of accessing healthy food, in a culturally relevant way, especially for urban areas without fresh food at accessible prices. The concept of "food as medicine" entails

Carving Out Your Path May 8, 2025 37:06 Tagan Engel reflects on different changemaking paths available to each of us. Her own path led her to follow her heart into the kitchen, where she applied her social justice work to food systems. In this episode, she shares the various roles she has played as a chef, educator, activist, and innovator. We discuss food as a driver of health, and as a human right.

Partnering with Government Apr 28, 2025 43:41 Daisy Rosales, SOM '20, is back with her latest insights! After founding Brio seven years ago (see Season 6 Episode 1 for more) and partnering with community based organizations on mental health programming around the world, Daisy found herself positioned to partner with governments to scale these programs. She launched a study to learn more about successful government partnerships, and shares som

Building Trust for Collective Impact Apr 21, 2025 33:07 Adrienne Abbate is back to share the growth and evolution of her collective impact initiative with Partnerships for Community Wellness. To partner across sectors and bring multiple stakeholders to the table, building relationships and trust is key. When circumstances change and that trust is threatened, can shared public health goals bring people together across divides?

We Need a Movement Behind Us Apr 14, 2025 32:43 Rushika Fernandopulle founded Iora Health, which was acquired by One Medical and subsequently by Amazon. Could Amazon ever achieve Iora's health equity goals? In this episode we discuss what a "successful" exit looks like for health equity under our current capitalistic structures, and what happens after you exit. In Rushika's latest start up, Liza Health, he is exploring new structures to protect

It's Time To Be Entrepreneurial In Public Health Mar 28, 2025 38:00 Ashlee Wisdom is back after raising millions in venture capital to connect Black women with culturally relevant health care. She shares advice for navigating venture capital, and her secret sauce for creating community with her users.

Rallying Support – Hafeezah Muhammad and Backpack Healthcare May 9, 2024 32:33 When Hafeezah's son approached her with a mental health crisis, she struggled to find care for him. Formerly an executive in a large mental health company, she often got calls from Medicaid parents like herself, searching for pediatric mental health care. A mother of three, she quit her job and founded a digital health company focusing on pediatric mental health, especially for children of color

Passing the Baton May 3, 2024 38:42 Social change is never achieved at the first attempt. The question is not whether you fail or succeed but to whom you pass the baton and how. In this episode of Impact and Innovation, SOM alumnae Song Kim shares her journey with KovaDx, a start-up working on a medical device that monitors red blood cell health for sickle cell and other blood diseases. Before coming to SOM, Song worked as a human r

A Roller Coaster of Innovation Apr 26, 2024 35:12 Kaakpema Yelpaala (KP) is the new faculty director of InnovateHealth Yale, and a Senior Fellow and Lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health. In this episode of Impact & Innovation KP shares his journey working on social innovation with public health non-profits in Africa, and the launching of his digital health start-ups operating in several East African countries, followed by his most recent

Asking Tough Questions Dec 27, 2023 30:04 Sheena Strawter-Anthony is the Director of Impact Investing Strategy at William Casper Graustein Memorial Fund here in New Haven. She shares their efforts to manage their endowment in a way that is in line with their mission. Doing so requires them to ask tough questions about where their money is going to generate wealth that they then invest in the community. Is it possible to manage wealth in a

Business for Society Dec 20, 2023 26:09 I reflect with this semester's teaching fellows, Lily Engbith and Victoria Bush, on how they apply social innovation principles in the for-profit world. Their roles at Connecticut Innovations (a state owned and run VC fund) and Inbox Health (a local medical billing startup) are driven by their values and vision for collective well-being. Business & society don't have to be two separate things. Bus

Playing in the Pocket Dec 12, 2023 27:54 Ony Obiocha, Executive Director of CTNext, reflects on his team's work in building an innovation ecosystem for the state of Connecticut. It's about who you include and invest in, how they play together, and what kind of place you're creating for them to live and thrive in.

Education as Driver of Economic Development Nov 28, 2023 35:43 Patricia Melton, President of New Haven Promise, reflects on the various roles she has played in strengthening the education system. She discusses the interconnectedness of the health and education systems, and the importance of clarifying your value proposition as a social change maker.

Building Community Wealth and Power Nov 15, 2023 28:37 Erik Clemons returns to share his work as founding CEO of ConnCorp, a sister organization of ConnCAT which has acquired and is revitalizing commercial properties in underinvested neighborhoods in New Haven. Their ultimate goal is to catalyze and support a place-based impact investing ecosystem in the city.

Meanings and Pathways to CEO Jun 26, 2023 28:40 Song Kim, co-founder and CEO of KovaDx, empowers patients with sickle cell disease and other rare blood disorders, while changing our perceptions of what it means to be a CEO and the many paths to entrepreneurship.

Extrapreneurship and Systems Thinking Jun 8, 2023 23:50 Brita Roy, Multiple Principal Investigator of TRUE-HAVEN, innovates within and across the boundaries of existing institutions to tackle gun violence in New Haven.

Design Justice Jun 1, 2023 24:03 Ashlee Wisdom, Founder and CEO of Health in Her Hue, navigates venture capital and the tech start up world, to provide culturally relevant health care for Black women.

Social Entrepreneurs Providing Primary Health Care May 17, 2023 19:02 Lutfi Lokman, founder of Hospitals Beyond Boundaries, mobilizes resources for access to health care among the Cham population in Cambodia.

Design Thinking for Global Mental Health May 10, 2023 26:05 Daisy Rosales, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Brio, co-designs global mental health programs with community partners.

Regenerative Capitalism Jun 1, 2022 37:10 Vincent Stanley, Director of Philosophy at Patagonia, shares the "8 Philosophies of Regenerative Capitalism."

Measuring Social Change May 20, 2022 27:04 Veronica Olazabal, Chief Impact and Evaluation Officer for BHP Foundation and President of the American Evaluation Association, talks about measuring the bottom line of social entrepreneurship: social change.

Collective Power Apr 27, 2022 38:51 Catering Passoni, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Havenly, goes beyond job training and placement to build community and collective power among refugee and migrant women.

A Workforce to Fight Climate Change Apr 11, 2022 29:13 Neil Yeoh, Founder and CEO of OnePointFive, mobilizes talent to keep global warming below 1.5'C by connecting businesses with expertise and technology to solve their sustainability challenges.

IDEAS Generation Apr 11, 2022 26:54 Danny Egol, Co-Founder of IDEAS Generation (IG), is building community and collaboration among next generation leaders working on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, and Social justice (IDEAS).

Hustle Like a New Havener Mar 16, 2020 17:29 Ben Young, Co-Founder of Hugo & Hoby, makes sustainable furniture accessible to corporate customers with their network of local fabrication shops and their partnership with community forestry initiatives.

No Matter How Unlikely Mar 15, 2020 21:13 Greg Grinberg, CEO of ActualFood, fights chronic disease using technology and behavioral science, by building an online grocery system that nudges consumers to make healthy choices.

Just Build It Mar 13, 2020 18:24 Janice Shade, Founder of LocalCap, pursues her vision of democratizing entrepreneurial financing.

Levels of Impact Mar 12, 2020 29:47 Erik Clemons, President & CEO of ConnCAT, shares the work that he does to create impact at three different levels: direct service for individuals, community level initiatives, and policy level work to tackle root causes.

Iterating and Co-creating Jan 8, 2020 12:11 Tanya Yajnik, CEO of Agora, forms an interdisciplinary team of Yale students to build a product and a learning organization to improve mental health on campus.

Questioning the Status Quo Jan 6, 2020 18:25 Andrea Levere, President Emerita of Prosperity Now, questions what's next in building equitable financial markets.

Changing the Face of Tech Jan 2, 2020 21:31 Kathryn Finney, CEO of digitalundivided (DID), quantifies the role of black and latinx women in the startup world.

Artificial Intelligence and Health Jan 1, 2020 23:04 Trishan Panch, CMO of Wellframe, tracks behavioral data to help patients be producers of their own health.

A Market Correction Aug 23, 2019 13:26 Susannah Burrage and Jake Harrison bring it home with their perspectives on business and society.

Be Your Own Second Mover Aug 23, 2019 08:55 Melissa Mazzeo shares her adventures in building a circular economy with her start-up HandMeUp.

Design for Health Aug 23, 2019 13:17 Rebecca Hope and Theo Gibbs co-create youth health solutions through their design firm YLabs.

Nascent Markets Aug 23, 2019 09:09 Erik Wurster tackles inefficient markets in his fight for energy access.

Local Entrepreneurship Aug 23, 2019 13:05 Caroline Smith and Margaret Lee support local leaders building new businesses in New Haven.

The Blue Economy Aug 23, 2019 14:14 Mark Huang, founder of SeaAhead, builds an innovation ecosystem to improve ocean sustainability.

Creating Choices Aug 23, 2019 14:59 Dan Guisti, founder of Chef's Brigaid, tackles the public school food system.

Public Private Partnerships Aug 22, 2019 10:21 Sarah Christie describes Project Last Mile, a multi-stakeholder partnership aiming to strengthen logistics and supply chains for essential medicines in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Collective Impact Aug 22, 2019 12:09 Adrienne Abbate mobilizes stakeholders across sectors to tackle youth substance abuse in Staten Island.

Beyond the Object Aug 22, 2019 12:50 Ruchit Nagar and Mohammed Shahnawaz navigate the health care system to strengthen maternal child health in India.

Building Our Own Agenda Aug 20, 2019 20:21 Moka Lantum, CEO of Sagitarix and MicroClinic Technologies, shares his journey as an African entrepreneur.

An Integrated Bottom Line Aug 19, 2019 12:08 Jean Rogers, founder of the Sustainability Standards Accounting Board, thinks beyond the triple bottom line.

Think Big Aug 19, 2019 17:42 Preethi Venkat, Yale School of Public Health alumnae, leverages technology for rural development with Khushi Baby.

Conscious Capitalism Aug 18, 2019 13:25 Doug Rauch, founder of Daily Table, tackles the food desert in inner cities.