Private Sector Approaches to Tackling Global Health Challenges | June 24, 2021

About the event

Bay Area Global Health Alliance and our members Medicines360, Population Services International (PSI) and Resonance had a fireside chat about private sector approaches that can help us take on today’s global health challenges. This event was moderated by Ben Plumley of A Shot in the Arm Podcast.

Approaches that have worked in the private sector can help to tackle challenges in global health. In this fireside chat, Bay Area Global Health Alliance members shared how they have borrowed ideas and models from the private sector to develop, distribute, and market products to further global health.

WATCH THE RECORDING:

ORGANIZATIONS:

Medicines360 is a nonprofit organization that operates as a pharmaceutical company, which is an exciting innovation for addressing gaps in public health and also poses some challenges and has limitations.

Population Services International (PSI) has used marketing and communications techniques to promote better health for decades; a model that has been successfully scaled and replicated and also faces barriers when applied to public health.

Resonance is a global consulting firm that delivers market-based solutions to address the world’s toughest challenges and is the creator of the Inclusive Innovation Exchange, focused on the innovation process for those designing with emerging markets in mind.

Medicines360 and PSI led with how these private sector approaches pair in their partnership to introduce a new contraceptive method in Madagascar, and then we had a broader discussion with Resonance on the common challenges in bringing in approaches and models from the private sector, similar solutions, and ideas for how to further apply private sector approaches like product development and consumer insights to support social and behavior change.

SPEAKERS:

Andrée Sosler, Senior Director, Impact and Global Access, Medicines360

Andrée Sosler is Senior Director, Impact and Global Access Medicines360. She oversees Medicines360’s work introducing its hormonal IUD in low- and middle-income countries as well as the organization’s impact measurement program. Andrée has more than fifteen years of experience leading social enterprise and women’s empowerment programs in more than a dozen countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Prior to joining Medicines360 in 2014, Andrée was the Executive Director of Potential Energy, a social enterprise that distributes clean energy technologies in the developing world.  Andrée has also worked in strategy consulting and microfinance. Andrée earned an MBA from The Wharton School, and an AB in Development Studies from Brown University.

Margot Fahnestock, Vice President, Strategic Development, Medicines360

Margot Fahnestock is a philanthropy and policy expert in family planning and reproductive health. In her new role as Vice President, Strategic Development for nonprofit pharmaceutical organization Medicines360, Margot is helping align the organization though a strategy process integrating program development, impact measurement, and resource mobilization. Margot formerly served as a Program Officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, responsible for making grants to reduce unintended pregnancies and improve reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa. She was a founding member and catalyst for the Ouagadougou Partnership, which has mobilized more than $400 million in additional funding for family planning in Francophone West Africa. Prior to Hewlett Margot was a policy analyst at Futures Group, providing technical and managerial oversight for family planning, HIV/AIDS, and malaria policy programs. Margot served two years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer teaching English at a secondary school in Mali, West Africa. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Los Angeles and master’s in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Brandon Soloski, Senior Manager, Strategic Partnership, PSI

Brandon Soloski is a Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships at PSI where we works to create collaborative partnerships that bring the public, private, and social sectors together to solve critical health challenges. Brandon has worked with more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies to design and implement corporate social responsibility initiatives with an emphasis on health and technology for good across more than 30 countries. He has lived and worked extensively across China, Southeast Asia, and sub-Sarah Africa. Brandon holds Master degrees in Public Policy and Chinese Studies from the University of Michigan, and he speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Marissa Gilman, Global Health Practice Lead, Resonance

Marissa leads the global health practice at Resonance, a consulting firm that specializes in harnessing the power of collaboration and cross-sector approaches to solve complex global challenges. Marissa brings twelve years of experience working across the public and private sectors as a management consultant, with clients ranging from USAID to Google. She co-founded and co-leads Resonance’s Inclusive Innovation Exchange, a platform that brings together cross-sectoral leaders, spanning local and global organizations, to facilitate important conversations around global health innovation. Marissa holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Grinnell College.