February 18, 2020
Initiative offers honors course in social entrepreneurship
The Population Health Initiative is partnering with the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance to offer an undergraduate course through the Honors Program, “Improving Population Health through Social Entrepreneurship,” in spring 2020. The course will offer students a fundamental understanding 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, impact investment funds and investor expectations in a changing landscape for social investment, innovation and scalability and the importance of policy.
A substantial portion of the class will be a team project, where students will develop innovative solutions to population health issues affecting the UW campus, such as climate change, affordable housing, food security and student mental health.
The class, HONORS 232 A, will be taught by Akhtar Badshah, an author, philanthropist and educator with more than 30 years experience in corporate philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. It will meet on Wednesdays from 11:30 – 2:20 in Denny Hall.