Many entrepreneurs know the importance of storytelling but few do it well. What’s essential to storytelling is to inspire and captivate the audience, driving them to take action. At this year’s 5th Annual Forum, many of our network innovators did just that.
On April 4th and 5th Innovations in Healthcare hosted our 5th Annual Forum in Washington, D.C. We welcomed over 160 participants from Nigeria, Kenya, India, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, the UK and many other countries. The event was an incredible collection of regionally focused conversations, presentations, networking opportunities, insights, and deep dives into compelling subjects across global health.
Sprinkled throughout the two-day event, the audience heard from senior representatives of more than 20 innovator organizations – some new, and some more ‘veteran’ members of the Innovations in Healthcare network. Each of them had one thing in common – a strong message to convey. A few in particular shined and their stories of change, triumph and failure resonated with the audience.
Edith Elliott CEO of Noora Health, whose experience caring for her own mother after brain surgery as a young teenager and then her brief time at a hospital in India, inspired her to better prepare family members to provide care in the hospital and at home. While observing a nurse caring for a patient, Edith had the idea of providing hands-on training to families to ease the burden on over-worked nurses and help give family members the tools they need to provide care to their loved ones.
With more than 15 million people suffering from diabetes in Mexico, Javier Lozano, the CEO of Clínicas del Azúcar started his journey to create a “one stop shop” for diabetes care in 2010 after watching his mother battle the disease without proper or efficient care for decades.
From the new cohort, Shreyas Nevatia, executive director of Rural Health Care Foundation explained to the audience how the organization started from the vision of his uncle and father, and their desire to bridge the gap of available low-cost primary care in rural areas of India.
Another Innovations in Healthcare ‘newbie’ Xavier Urtubey CEO and co-founder of AccuHealth in Chile wanted to address the rising tide of chronic disease and created an interactive, patient-centric tele-monitoring service that allows health providers to virtually assist patients and access patient data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
At the closing of the Annual Forum while saying goodbye and wishing participants safe travels I asked a table of attendees what they enjoyed most during the event. Their reply, “the stories.” Each of the examples I mentioned helped participants connect the dots and understand the “why” while also provoking curiosity and compassion, ultimately bringing the innovation to life.
We are quickly approaching yet another season to scout and collect information on the latest innovations around the world during our annual innovator selection process. Each year, during this process, we hear from a number of CEOs, co-founders, and senior executives of social impact organizations that one of their key challenges is storytelling and conveying the value of their business. Being involved in our exclusive network allows innovators to address these challenges by learning from some of the best.
If you’re interested in becoming a part of our network, too, please visit: http://www.innovationsinhealthcare.org/apply-to-be-an-innovator/
When you follow this link, you will find more information about about our network and selection process, and you can sign up to be notified when applications open for the 2016-2017 cycle. I look forward to hearing more stories from our amazing innovators!