GE and Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship Partner to Accelerate Mother and Child Health Innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa

GE’s healthymagination commitment and Miller Center’s GSBI® will
provide expertise, resources and growth opportunities for social
entrepreneurs working on maternal and child health

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–GE and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social
Entrepreneurship today announced a partnership that blends Silicon
Valley entrepreneurial acumen with venture impact investing to tackle
one of the world’s most pressing problems: maternal and child health.

The partnership will focus on a training and mentoring program for
social entrepreneurs working on maternal and child health innovations in
sub-Saharan Africa. The program enables more women to experience better
health by improving the quality, access and affordability of care.

The partnership objectives support key elements of ‘Good Health and
Well-being’, which is #3 of the 17 “Sustainable Development Goals” set
by the United Nations, and focuses on the reduction of the global
maternal mortality ratio and ending preventable deaths of newborns and
children under 5 years of age.

The healthymagination Mother & Child program will help social
enterprises operating in sub-Saharan Africa addressing maternal and/or
child health strengthen their business models, refine business plans,
reinforce organizational development, manage talent and learn how to
scale sustainably. The program is being offered to 15-to-20 selected
participants.

“This program supports GE’s long track record in developing innovations
for emerging markets while increasing positive health outcomes,” said
Sue Siegel, CEO, GE Ventures and healthymagination. “We are excited to
join Miller Center to accelerate the growth of social enterprises and
commercialize innovative ideas while serving as a resource for
entrepreneurs working to improve access, affordability and quality of
maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa.”

The healthymagination Mother & Child program utilizes Miller Center’s
Global Social Benefit Institute (GSBI®) methodology, which has been
proven and refined over 12 years of helping accelerate more than 560
social enterprises worldwide. The program will begin with a three-day,
in-person workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, followed by a six-month online
program accompanied by weekly, in-depth mentoring from Silicon
Valley-based executives. Additionally, by introducing participants to
GE’s portfolio of products, organizations will gain specialized support
and training on technologies and resources for the maternal and child
health sector.

“We share GE’s healthymagination vision for innovating new ways to
address global health challenges,” said Thane Kreiner, Ph.D., executive
director, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. “The partnership
between GE and Miller Center highlights the potential for social
entrepreneurship to improve maternal and child health in a region of the
world that has limited access to skilled health care providers.”

“This unique collaboration is an opportunity to increase the access and
familiarity of GE solutions in Africa,” said Jay Ireland, President and
CEO of GE Africa. “The healthymagination Mother & Child program will
empower sub-Saharan African social enterprises with skills training and
economic development needed to improve maternal and child health across
communities.”

Social Enterprises Invited to Apply to the Program

The healthymagination Mother & Child program is aimed at social
enterprises focused in the following areas:

  • Delivery of health services to mothers and children
  • Medical equipment distribution, training, use or maintenance
  • Development of products or technologies that improve knowledge and/or
    access to care, such as telemedicine, mobile technologies, data
    analysis or image interpretation or
  • Infrastructure services or facilities associated with needs from
    pregnancy to pediatric care

To be considered for the program, qualified leaders of for-profit,
non-profit or hybrid enterprises need to apply online by May 18, 2016.
The selected finalists will be announced after a formal review and
interview process by a panel of judges from GE and Miller Center.

The panel will evaluate applicant social enterprises based on whether
they:

  • Have operating ventures beyond the ideation stage
  • Have a validated business model with a product or service in the
    marketplace
  • Have a sustainable financial model that can be scaled over time

Six-Month Accelerator Program Capped by Investor Showcase

The healthymagination Mother & Child program will end where it launched,
in Nairobi, with an Investor Showcase event in February 2017. The
15-to-20 program finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their
enterprises and health care innovations to a large and wide-ranging
group of active investors in early-stage social enterprises.

For more information on the program and application, visit http://www.scu.edu/mother-and-child

About GE

GE (NYSE:GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming
industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are
connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global
exchange of knowledge, the “GE Store,” through which each business
shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and
intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application
across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and
scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the
language of industry. www.ge.com

About GE’s healthymagination commitment

GE’s healthymagination commitment is about better health for more
people. We continuously develop and invest in innovations that deliver
high-quality, more affordable healthcare to more people around the
world. For more information about our healthymagination commitment,
visit www.gesustainability.com.

About Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Founded in 1997, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship is one of
three Centers of Distinction at Santa Clara University. Miller Center
accelerates global, innovation-based entrepreneurship in service to
humanity. Its strategic focus is on poverty eradication through its
three areas of work: The Global Social Benefit Institute (GSBI), Impact
Capital and Education and Action Research. To learn more about Miller
Center or any of its social entrepreneurship programs, visit www.scu.edu/MillerCenter.

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university
located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley,
offers its more than 9,000 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in
arts and sciences, business and engineering; master’s degrees in
business, education, counseling psychology, pastoral ministry and
theology; and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.’s. Distinguished
nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S.
master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education
institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social
justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.

© 2016 GSBI is a registered trademark of Santa Clara University. All
rights reserved.

Contacts

Media:
For GE:
Kristin Schwarz, 646.682.5601
or
For
Miller Center:
Pat Haines, 408.551.7118

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