Course Details

In recent years, social innovation and social entrepreneurship have emerged as important mechanisms by which interventions with a socially beneficial impact can reach communities. The concept of social innovation focuses on how to generate solutions that create social value, as well as the processes by which these solutions are generated. Social enterprises apply commercial strategies to improve human or environmental well-being, and values social impact alongside financial returns for external investors. “Improving Population Health Through Social Entrepreneurship” will offer students a fundamental understanding of social innovation and the role that social enterprises can play in addressing population health challenges. Through a combination of lectures, guest speakers, case studies and a team project, students will learn how organizations can advance work that has a positive societal impact while also remaining financially sustainable. Topics covered in the course will include the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and population health challenges, new philanthropic models, impact investment funds and investor expectations in a changing landscape for social investment, scalability of social enterprises and the importance of policy. A substantial portion of the class will be a team project, where students will learn to use entrepreneurial tools to develop innovative solutions to population health issues, such as climate change, affordable housing, food security and mental health.