Enterprising Health is a transformational, entrepreneurial leadership and business development process with an opportunity to receive seed funding for business startup or expansion. It is a continuation of an initiative that was launched in Flint, MI in 2008, the first U.S. application of the Base of the Pyramid Protocol (BoP), as well as the first U.S. healthcare-related BoP initiative. The BoP protocol is a process in which a project team partners with people in vulnerable, underserved communities to identify community needs and to co-create, test and evolve innovative enterprises and ventures.
Enterprising Health is being implemented in the communities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. We have adapted the BoP protocol based on lessons learned in Flint, MI and have evolved our approach by integrating tenets from proven models in community engagement, social entrepreneurship, human-centered design, transformational change, entrepreneurial leadership and small business development models. Our innovative approach to developing and creating businesses will impact how the most pressing health challenges of the community’s diverse and vulnerable populations are addressed.
The Enterprising Health process is designed to facilitate the creation of, sustainable, socially conscious community-based businesses that will have a positive impact on health, wellness, disease management, and prevention and address the most prevalent diseases like diabetes, infant mortality and obesity, in the designated communities. Enterprising Health’s intention is to inspire community members to co-create solutions with members of the broader community. Co-creating is a joint decision-making process that guides business development from beginning to end. With the support of the Enterprising Health team and an expert network of professionals, program participants will:
- Co-create innovations (e.g. services, processes, light technologies, strategies, structures, etc.) that will address the health problems and needs of their communities
- Co-create solutions that will have a sustainable impact on health, wellness, disease management and disease prevention in their communities with emphasis on the most prevalent health needs in the community like diabetes, infant mortality, obesity
- Co-create sustainable, scalable and profitable health-related businesses that are true community assets
Targeted participants are health conscious, passionate, entrepreneurial-minded individuals who are interested in finding new ways to positively impact the health of individuals, families and communities. Participants will be equipped with knowledge, skills, abilities, resources and support t and transformational change coaching. Participants will be introduced to the concepts of:
- Idea Generation
- Innovation
- Transformational Change
- Entrepreneurial Leadership
- Social Entrepreneurship
- Prototype Development
- Business Model Generation
- Co-Creation
- Team Development
- Community Economic Development
- Community Health Improvement
- Job Creation
Additional business development support and seed funding will be provided to selected entrepreneurial leaders who develop innovative concepts that are considered to have the best potential to succeed in improving and transforming the health of the community.
Why Enterprising Health Is Taking This Approach?
Enterprising Health was designed based upon the belief that local community members are the best resource for finding innovative solutions to local health challenges. It is further believed that these solutions will be transformational when they are delivered by viable locally owned and operated businesses that are deemed community assets.
We believe that the businesses created by participants will develop innovative solutions that go beyond those offered by hospitals, clinics, physicians and other traditional health care service providers to address alarming community health needs.