What does it take to disrupt traditional ways of fighting poverty, delivering aid, and providing healthcare in Africa? Veteran digital health / healthtech entrepreneur Rowena Luk interviews social entrepreneurs, impact investors, and activists on how they went from an idea to demonstrating impact, raising funds, and creating sustainable social enterprises. For anyone looking for a better way to do good, explore the strategies and tools successful innovators are applying to make change that lasts. AidEvolved.com
Episodes
Wednesday Sep 29, 2021
In Country and Behind the Scenes with Marie Ahmed of USAID
Wednesday Sep 29, 2021
Wednesday Sep 29, 2021
Marie Ahmed has worked within USAID to strengthen health systems in Nepal, Rwanda, Côte d'Ivoire, and Thailand. She has a long career in the non-profit and public sector, including time with the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan and over a decade with USAID, the largest contributor of foreign aid in the world.
In this conversation, we recall what inspired Marie to work in the aid sector; her surprise placement in Uzbekistan; and the hard financial realities that constraint who can work in aid. We also peek behind the scenes to understand what it's like being someone with the responsibility of directing US Foreign Assistance overseas. In her role, Marie is constantly balancing her accountability to the American taxpayer with the unique needs of different countries which have hosted her. She needs to act according to the deadlines and the policies of the American Congress, while deeply understanding the needs of vulnerable communities that she is trying to serve elsewhere. Marie provides an honest and human perspective on what it's like navigating the aid industry. She tackles head-on some of the common pet peeves people have with aid, opening our eyes to the realities and responsibilities that come with managing public funds.
This interview is an eye-opener to the financial and political mechanisms which anyone working in the modern aid industry needs to work with.
To find out more, access the show notes at https://AidEvolved.com
Let us know what you think of this episode on Twitter (@AidEvolved) or by email (hello@AidEvolved.com)
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Growing 10X in a Year with Evelyn Castle of eHealth Africa
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Evelyn Castle is a woman who just doesn't know when to stop. She has founded multiple social ventures in the technology and health space in Africa. She is best known for her work as Executive Director and Co-Founder of eHealth Africa, a leading digital health implementer for Nigeria that was founded and run from Kano, Nigeria - and now has a growing footprint elsewhere in Africa. She also founded EHA Clinics, a private set of clinics providing quality healthcare in Nigeria, and EHA Impact Ventures, an impact investing firm targeting female-owned startups in Africa.
In our conversation today, we talk about Evelyn's fateful decision to drop out of college in California so she could pursue her dream in Nigeria. She shares the explosive growth that eHealth Africa experienced - growing by 10X in a single year! - and the kind of pressures that put on the organization to expand and to deliver. She shares how she built a chain of private sector clinics, driven by the need to provide quality care to her growing staff. And finally we hear Evelyn's vision for her new impact investing work, and how it will power the next generation of tech founders to do even better.
To find out more, access the show notes at https://AidEvolved.com
Let us know what you think of this episode on Twitter (@AidEvolved) or by email (hello@AidEvolved.com)
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Charting Your Own Course with Erica Layer of D-Tree
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Erica Layer is the CEO of D-Tree International, a global digital health organization dedicated to ensuring everyone has access to quality primary healthcare through integration of digital tools into community health systems. In this conversation, Erica shares how she found her way into the field of digital health, for reasons that had nothing to do with technology. She recounts how she was scared, inspired, and guided by Dr. Marc Mitchell, the founder of D-Tree who passed away two years ago. Finally, we trace Erica's journey stepping into the role of CEO, and how she's had to carve out her own style of leadership. Erica never imagined she would take on this role... but when the time came, everyone else in the room knew she was the right woman for the job.
To find out more, access the show notes at https://AidEvolved.com
Let us know what you think of this episode on Twitter (@AidEvolved) or by email (hello@AidEvolved.com)