Population Health

February 20, 2024

Summer 2024 Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship applications due March 29

Image of student engaged with a virtual reality headsetThe University of Washington Population Health Initiative is again partnering with the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, CoMotion and the Evans School for Public Policy & Governance to offer its summer Social Entrepreneurship Fellows Program. Applications are due by the end of day, March 29, 2024.

The program offers each graduate or professional student $10,000 each over the course of 10 weeks to explore social enterprise models with the potential to support innovations developed by UW researchers. The four fellows will be selected from across a variety of disciplines and investigate a range of projects. The projects are focused on finding innovative ways to maintain the balance between financial sustainability and social impact in addition to generating revenue.

The four projects for summer 2024 are:

  • pHastCam – Neonatal Birth Asphxias, a portable, affordable device for blood pH measurement and screening in low income countries.
  • Washington Passive Samplers – Air Pollution Detectors, a low-cost passive method for monitoring long-term average levels of light-absorbing carbon air pollution in polluted indoor environments.
  • Juno – Empowering Mothers, an app to empower new mothers with pain management and knowledge about recovery stages, backed by evidence-based medical guidance and interactive, user-friendly support, including breastfeeding advice.
  • Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Community Mental Health Intervention Integration into Neighborhood House, whose goal is to improve access to low barrier, culturally relevant mental health care and address upstream social drivers of mental health by integrating mental health care into community-based social service organizations.

While each fellow has a primary responsibility for one project, the cohort will work together and contribute their disciplinary expertise to all projects. Fellows will be guided through a structured workplan by program faculty and staff, and will also have access to mentors and subject matter experts to enhance their expertise and contributions to their projects.

Eligible graduate and professional students from all UW schools or colleges are encouraged to apply by the March 29, 2024 deadline. Visit the program webpage for more information.