How to Assess Kenya Mobile Health Care Project Viability - Michael Olsen

In Chapter 14 of 16 in his 2010 Cature Your Flag interview, social entrepreneur and technology consultant Michael Olsen walks through the Kilifi Kids non-profit decision making process for its mobile health (mhealth) project. First, Olsen and his team confirm there is community-based support within Kilifi to provide project resources. Two, his team identifies senior public health support, specifically at the Kenya Ministry of Health (MOH). Third, Olsen reviews at technology capability, ease of use, cost, and scalability and confirms technology, developed by organizations such as UNICEF, available and ready. Lastly, Olsen then confirms there is a story and an investment pitch that will resonate with project funders. Only after working through these decision inputs does Olsen green light and initiate the mobile health project.

Why Cell Phones Will Revolutionize Developing World Health Care - Michael Olsen

In Chapter 13 of 16, social entrepreneur and technology consultant Michael Olsen details the transformative potential of mobile health care - or mhealth - solutions across the developing world. Olsen specifically highlights public health and medical services access issues and how high cell phone penetration, especially in developing nations, can improve services scheduling, messaging, and provisioning in areas long without access to care.

How Non-Profit Assembles Mobile Health (mHealth) Project Team - Michael Olsen

In Chapter 11 of 16, social entrepreneur and technology consultant Michael Olsen founds a non-profit, Kilifi Kids (www.kilifikids.org) and builds relationships with Kenya-born project team members. The relationships develop across IT, education, and public health project initiatives and inform the organization's decision to pursue a mobile health care, or mhealth, initiative to use cell phones to improve health care data collection and service provisioning in Kilifi, Kenya local communities.

How Non-Profit Created Investor Friendly Kenya Public Health Project - Michael Olsen

In Chapter 8 of 16, social entrepreneur and technology consultant Michael Olsen starts a non-profit with a focus on measurable and scalable positive outcomes. Olsen finds initial computer lab financing efforts difficult to map to outcomes (e.g. national testing, job placement) and looks to alternative project ideas. He finds intestinal parasites a huge challenge across schoolchildren and focuses project financing on high-impact, low-cost deworming medication solutions that connect 30,000 medicated students to an added 6,000 years of community schooling as a result of fewer sick days and drop outs.

Michael Olsen is the co-founder and executive of the non-profit organization Kilifi Kids (www.kilifikids.org) and is based in Atanta, Georgia.  Michael is currently pursuing a joint masters degree in business administration (MBA) and public health (MPH) at Emory University in Atlanta.  Olsen graduated from Stanford University, where he studied symbolic systems and the synthesis of computers, psychology, and philosophy.  After graduating Stanford, Olsen started web and SaaS applications consultancy Redwood Strategies. 

Why Managing International Project Teams Starts With Trust - Michael Olsen

In Chapter 6 of 16, social entrepreneur and technology consultant Michael Olsen shares how lessons learned doing software consulting have taught him the importance of building trusted relationships managing international projects. Olsen's non-profit, Kilifi Kids (www.kilifikids.org) works with a Kenyan team to execute initiatives. While Kenya carries a corruption stigma, Olsen has identified groups, specifically Kenyan Rotary Clubs, to provide a trusted foundation for money transfer, project staffing, and initiative execution. As a result, the organization continues to effectively roll out education and public health programs to support children, from scholarships to deworming to mobile health care.

How Stanford Global Health Education Reshapes Non-Profit - Michael Olsen

In Chapter 5 of 16, social entrepreneur and 2003 Stanford graduate Michael Olsen starts a non-profit, Kilifi Kids - www.kilifikids.org - with his brother to provide secondary school scholarships to Kenyan children.  After working with Rotary International on scholarships, Olsen references his Stanford International Health class and his studies on high impact, low cost interventions.  Using notes, Olsen steers his organization to finance deworming medication for 30,000 school children at 25 cents or one quarter per child. 

Why Cross Discipline Work Fosters Creative Problem Solving - Michael Olsen

In Chapter 1 of 16, social entrepreneur and technology consultant Michael Olsen shares why he believes creative problem solving is so powerful when working at the intersection of disciplines. Olsen highlights his current work for www.kilifikids.org applying mobile technology solutions in context of public health in Kenya. Olsen finds motivation by seeking creative ways to use existing products and services by applying them in new industries.

Why to Value Personal Identity Over Social Expression - Richard Moross

In Chapter 8 of 17, entrepreneur, innovator and Moo.com founder Richard Moross starts a business about personal expression. Over time, social expression became dominant over personal and professional identity. Listening to customers, Moross finds identity fundamental to the business, akin to how, as a creator, a tailor develops a relationship with a customer.

Why Loving What You Do Each Day Defines Success - Richard Moross

In Chapter 11 of 17, entrepreneur, innovator and Moo.com founder Richard Moross measures success by how much he loves what he does each day. Moross points out that working is hard. If you can love it and wake up and go to bed each day smiling and happy, that is success. Moross notes enabling factors include creating great things people love as well as working with people you love.

How CEO Learns by Trial and Error - Richard Moross

In Chapter 16 of 17 of his 2010 Capture Your Flag interview with host Erik Michielsen, entrepreneur, innovator and Moo.com CEO Richard Moross learns to prioritize and order responsibilities as his leadership experience grows. The trial and error experience builds over time and allows Moross to filter less important tasks from more pressing ones.  Moross is founder and CEO of Moo.com.  Before starting Moo.com, an award-winning online print business, Moross was a senior design strategist at Imagination, the world's largest independent design company.  He graduated from the University of Sussex, where he majored in philosophy and politics.

How Weight Loss Enables Presence and Participation - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 17 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis shares what it felt like being overweight. Curtis felt invisible. Once he started losing weight, his confidence improved and he became a participant in the activities.

Why Great Fitting Shoes Create Path to Weight Loss and Fitness - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 16 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis begins a 140-pound weight loss program and lifestyle change by finding a great fitting pair of shoes. Curtis finds that the running shoe store researches his gait and puts him into shoes that support his weight and limit the stress on his joints. As a result Curtis is able to embrace an exercise regimen that not only helps him lose the weight but also provides peace of mind while engaging in long morning walks.

How Losing Weight Helps Control Anxiety and Depression - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 15 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis makes a lifestyle change to become more active. By working out and eating healthier, Curtis proceeds to lose over 140 pounds and begins to effectively manage issues with anxiety, temper, and depression. The healthier Curtis gains confidence and also finds himself thinking more clearly through daily activities.

Why Relocate from the Suburbs to the City - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 14 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis explains his motivation to leave suburban Austin, Texas for downtown living. Curtis had space, but also felt isolated, often staying inside for a weekend. Upon relocating downtown, Curtis becomes more active and engaged in the community. He purges tons of stuff - VHS tapes, Hall and Oates audio tapes, Renaissance fair swords - and finds a simplified life more enjoyable. Living in a 600-square foot apartment pushes Curtis to explore his neighborhood, meet neighbors, and participate as a member of the community.

What Mentors Teach About Happiness and Perspective - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 13 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis meets each morning with a mentor group at the Austin, Texas Whole Foods flagship store. The group ranges from 47 to 71 in age and has an array of experiences, ranging from former CIA operatives, former CEOs, former firefighter union leaders and musicians. The group advises Curtis to keep a balanced perspective on what is and is not important. The group also advises Curtis on the benefits of positive perspective. These experiences in turn teach Curtis how to better set the tone each day in his life.

How to Find Fulfillment Serving Others in Crisis - Matt Curtis

In Chapter 3 of 17, public affairs and communications strategist Matt Curtis shares how an early Catholic education ingrains a lifetime focus on serving others. Curtis finds fulfillment serving community in Austin, Texas, where he balances simple tasks such as helping eldery with groceries with more complex ones, such as Hurricane Katrina disaster relief. Throughout, Curtis finds immense fulfillment helping others each day.

How Sharing and Reciprocation Improve Learning - Nina Godiwalla

In Chapter 2 of 14 of her 2010 Capture Your Flag interview, author Nina Godiwalla answers "Why are sharing and reciprocation essential to how you learn?" Godiwalla highlights human nature to compare and contrast oneself with others.  Sharing and reciprocation highlight how there is so much to learn from others.  Using this approach enables improved personal growth.  Godiwalla notes how sharing and reciprocation have allowed her to be progressively more open-minded as an adult.

Nina Godiwalla is the author of "Suits: A Woman on Wall Street" and the founder and CEO of Mindworks, a provider of leadership, stress management, and diversity training programs. Before starting her business and writing her book, Godiwalla worked at Johnson & Johnson and Oxygen Media and investment banking at Morgan Stanley. Godiwalla earned an MBA from Wharton, a MA from Dartmouth and a BBA from the University of Texas.

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: Why are sharing and reciprocation so essential to how you learn?

Nina Godiwalla: I definitely look to other people to learn about myself, I think we define ourselves through other people, we’re constantly… when we’re with people we decide how we’re going to be like that person and how we’re not going to be like that person, it’s just our nature of comparing and contrasting and I think that sharing and reciprocating is just critical in doing that because you’re taking things to a different level, you’re not just saying ‘this is the way it is’, you’re saying ‘ how can I, how can we learn from each other’ and for me I think that’s just a critical way of, again, going back to growth, growing as a person.

Erik Michielsen: And how as that approach kinda changed as you’ve gotten older?

Nina Godiwalla: I think when I was younger I thought I knew everything and there’s moments where I still think I know everything but really I definitely see it as… I definitely think I’ve transformed quite a bit in that I realize there’s so much I can learn from other people and I was definitely one of those kids that didn’t always see the world that way.

Why to Challenge Yourself to Experience New Things - Nina Godiwalla

In Chapter 4 of 14, author Nina Godiwalla answers "How has experimentation helped you live more fully in how you live each day?" Godiwalla shares why she constantly seeks new experiences to broaden her perspective on life and the decisions she makes.  Godiwalla prioritizes pushing beyond the socioeconomic and professional environments she sees daily.  She finds value seeing how other people operate and do things differently.

Nina Godiwalla is the author of "Suits: A Woman on Wall Street" and the founder and CEO of Mindworks, a provider of leadership, stress management, and diversity training programs. Before starting her business and writing her book, Godiwalla worked at Johnson & Johnson and Oxygen Media and investment banking at Morgan Stanley. Godiwalla earned an MBA from Wharton, a MA from Dartmouth and a BBA from the University of Texas. 

Transcript:

Erik Michielsen: How has experimentation helped you live more fully in what you do each day?

Nina Godiwalla: I just think it’s critical to my world. I constantly want to see new things, I want to see how people are operating, I want to have a better understanding of other people and people’s perspectives and, you know, we live in our world and a lot of times as much as I do like to experiment and see different things, day to day I’m with people not that different from me, I’m with people that are just similar, professionally, socioeconomic class and I love to get out and do and see different things. And really what it is, is it challenges me, it challenges me to realize I’m operating on assumptions everyday and that is what I think is critical in life. To me that’s growing, that’s growing as a person, trying to understand other people’s perspective, trying to move forward and come up with something that’s bigger than just ‘This is my – this is my little life in my little world’.