NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Social entrepreneurs from Yale Univeristy are changing the nature of public health, from creating replacement arteries to training the global health leaders of tomorrow.

At a panel on public health innovation Monday, a trio of social entrepreneurs with Yale ties talked about the challenges they face and how they measure success.

“I never set out to be an entrepreneur,” said Barbara Bush, the former First Daughter who co-founded Global Health Corps, a group that pairs young professionals with public health organizations around the world.

Bush said it was a Yale class on the societal impact of AIDS that led her to switch from studying architecture to a career in public health. She helped start Global Heath Corps in 2008 and since then GHC has placedhundreds of young people into fellowships with groups that deal with health issues at all levels.