The HBS Summer Fellows Program enables students to apply their classroom training as they explore career opportunities in roles or regions where compensation is generally lower than the traditional MBA level. This summer, we are connecting with some of our 70 Social Enterprise Summer Fellows, who are working around the world to develop skills and knowledge while having significant responsibility and high impact.
What are you working on this summer?
As an intern at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), I am spending the summer working on Regional Malaria Strategy and Finance. While progress in malaria elimination1 is certainly something to celebrate, there is still a lot of work to do. Nearly every minute, a child under five years of age dies from malaria2. Many of these deaths are preventable, so it is imperative that existing solutions — from bed nets and insecticides to rapid tests and medications — can get to the people who need them. My projects at CHAI focus on helping governments in Central and West Africa with the finance work that enables this solution delivery. So far, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to support partners with:
Why did you choose this internship for the summer?
Prior to HBS, I spent four years working in Boston Consulting Group's healthcare and social impact practice areas. Along the way, I learned some important lessons: Progress is not always linear or transformational. Systems have been shaped by misaligned incentives. Solutions cannot benefit patients if political, economic, or cultural barriers to care persist. In reflecting on ways to maximize my impact in this complex space, I have strengthened my sense of purpose: to advance health equity. I want to create a world in which the most vulnerable moments of a person’s life are not intensified by issues with the accessibility, quality, and cost of healthcare. After learning about CHAI’s incredible work across 20+ programs in 35+ countries, I knew it would be the perfect place to deepen my knowledge of what health equity means in a global health context.
What are your goals for this summer?
My goals for the summer include helping CHAI accelerate progress toward malaria elimination and gaining a better understanding of what it takes to successfully deliver global health solutions. Although the population vulnerable to malaria has doubled since 2010, funding has plateaued over the same horizon3, placing greater pressure on securing and making the most of limited resources. I am eager to support government partners in navigating this complex landscape and expect I will learn a lot about policymaking, multinational cooperation, and financial management along the way. By comparing and contrasting countries’ approaches to malaria elimination, I will advance my perspectives on widely applicable best practices vs. country-specific endeavors. These insights promise to serve as a powerful starting point for my future global health and health equity projects.
How has your MBA skillset prepared you to be successful in this role?
Given my consulting background, I have spent a lot of time thinking about and developing strategies. My first semester at HBS taught me that while a strong strategy inspires and focuses energy, it is excellent leadership, finance, operations, and marketing that bring strategy to life. My second semester allowed me to appreciate that organizations’ choices across these business domains do not exist in a vacuum. Health facilities are shaped by the systems to which they belong. These systems, in turn, are regulated and funded by governments. And governments are influenced by the actions of the global community. These MBA learnings have framed the way I approach my work at CHAI. By investigating the various forces at play behind malaria prevalence and incidence, I am better able to help colleagues and partners develop nuanced, effective solutions.
How has the summer influenced your thinking on future involvement in social enterprise?
This summer has challenged me to reflect on my personal approach to prioritization, an exercise that promises to strengthen my ability to drive lasting change in resource-constrained settings. There is no shortage of urgent work in the global health space, and I have been tempted, on more than one occasion, to simply move from one pressing task to the next. Working on multiple, disparate CHAI projects in parallel has taught me to be intentional about advancing efforts that are important in the long term but not urgent in the short term. In the next few weeks, this lesson will manifest itself in the way I manage my calendar. In the future, it will shape the way I scope my team’s health equity work, allocate limited funding, and capacitate partner organizations. I’ve learned that meaningful social impact requires leaders who can meet the urgent demands of today and lay the foundation for work that will become urgent tomorrow. I am grateful to have the opportunity to practice being one of these leaders.
How can someone learn more about your organization?
You can learn more about CHAI and its fantastic work in the malaria space through the organization website and resource center.
[1] Over 40 countries have achieved malaria-free certification as of January 2024 (WHO)
[2] Children under five years of age constituted 76% of 608,000 deaths from malaria in 2022 (UNICEF)
[3] Closing the global malaria funding gap can help sustain the strong progress made over the past two decades (Malaria No More)
