[E4C37] Saving Lives at the Bottom of the Pyramid, With Disruptive Technology & Social Innovation – Embrace Innovations – Jane Chen

What’s the most effective way to change the world? If you are anything like me, you’ve probably pondered this question a great deal.

When I reflect on anyone who has made a great contribution – Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama, Madam Curie, Wangari Maathai, Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla - I doubt a single one was thinking,

"What can I do that would massively impact a large swath of the human population, so that what I did would be considered in history as worldchanging?"

These changemakers were acting, wholeheartedly, from passion, a determination to find solutions to problems they cared deeply about, and had a tireless commitment to contribute to something bigger than themselves.

In my opinion, worldchanging is not the exclusive domain of the brilliant minority who have the genius, resources, and the support networks to invent something that's game changing - anyone who wants to make a difference can be a world-changer.

You don’t have to be a disruptive technologist or inventor - everyone has a unique zone of genius and can make a valuable contribution.

So "What's the Most Effective Way to Change the World?" For me, there are 2 answers, which can both occur simultaneously.

The outer game approach. Create a game-changing solution that addresses an urgent social or environmental concern that creates significant positive and minimal negative impact on people or the environment.

The inner game approach. Change yourself – be the change that you want to see in the world.

So what does it take to design a game-changing solution to one of the world’s most pressing social concerns?

Jane Chen, co-founder of Embrace Innovations will tell us how. Embrace Innovations is a hybrid social enterprise that produces a low-cost infant warmer, designed to help the millions of vulnerable premature babies born every year in developing countries survive and thrive. Unlike traditional incubators that cost up to $20,000 and require electricity and skilled technicians to run, the Embrace infant warmer costs around $200 and can be handled by anybody. The device is safe and intuitive to use  - it requires no electricity, has no moving parts, and is portable, washable, and re-useable.

Jane received her Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to her graduate studies, she was the Program Director of Chi Heng Foundation, a nonprofit organization that sponsors the education of children affected by AIDS in central China. Jane was also formerly a management consultant at Monitor Group.

In this in-depth interview, Jane shares her in-the-trenches story of how she and her co-founders were presented with an urgent need, designed a high-tech, low-cost solution, and validated their market to verify that their product would truly serve those at the bottom of the pyramid.

You will learn:

The market research process they followed in order to come up with a viable product idea.

The market validation process they used to determine whether their prototype truly served their target customers, and how it needed to be improved.

Why they chose a hybrid for profit, nonprofit business model, how this structure allows half the organization to focus on developing the best health care products for their market, while the other half distributes them profitably.

The 3 stages of designing for innovation.

Keys to finding and approaching impact investors to fund your social enterprise.

Mentioned in this interview

Warren Buffett

Chi Heng Foundation

Monitor Group

Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Clinton Foundation - Tanzania

Impact Investors Vinod Khosla’s Impact Fund 

Khosla Ventures

Capricorn Investment Group

Jeff Skoll

Where to Find Jane

Embrace Innovations

@JaneMarieChen

@EmbraceInnov

@EmbraceWarmer

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