Impact & Innovation
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. From rural India and Kenya to the inner cities of the U.S., from the environment to nutrition to maternal child health, this series cuts across sectors to examine the convergence of business and society. Take a peek inside the classroom of Dr. Teresa Chahine as she examines the latest trends and pitfalls in social innovation, funding, and impact.
Subscribe to Impact & Innovation in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, or your favorite podcast player.
Teresa Chahine
Sheila and Ron ’92 Marcelo Senior Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship
Read bio
Teresa Chahine is the inaugural Sheila and Ron ’92 B.A. Marcelo Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship. She is the author of Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship, a twelve-step framework for building impactful ventures in new and existing organizations. Dr. Chahine’s research focuses on developing tools to characterize and advance social and environmental determinants of health. She launched the first social entrepreneurship program in the context of public health, at Harvard University. She was also responsible for launching the first venture philanthropy organization in her home country of Lebanon, providing tailored financing and critical management support to social enterprises serving marginalized populations through education and job creation for youth and women.
Dr. Chahine has published widely on financing, measuring, and scaling social impact. She has worked on social innovation and sustainable development within corporate, governmental, academic and non-profit organizations. Among these are the United States Environmental Protection Agency, United Nations Populations Fund, Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs, Malaysian Directors Academy, Sichuan University, Kazakhstan School of Public Health, and Amani Institute in Brazil. She was the recipient of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s inaugural Elizabeth T. Weintz humanitarian research award in 2016 and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s emerging leader in public health award in 2017.
Episodes
Asking Tough Questions
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 way that can also create positive social and environmental benefits? Who is participating and who is benefiting? These are some of the tough questions we discuss in this episode.
Business for Society
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. Business can be one of many tools, if applied with the mindset described in this episode, to help achieve societal well-being for all.
Playing in the Pocket
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Daisy Rosales, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Brio, co-designs global mental health programs with community partners.