...empowering local communities to develop & operate health-improving businesses...
About Enterprising Health
Enterprising Health is a partnership between the community of Flint, MI and Ascension Health, the nation's largest non-profit healthcare provider.
Enterprising Health seeks to innovate and develop new grassroots enterprises focused on improving the health of communities in Flint and Genesee County, with a particular focus on those most in need and those who have been bypassed by traditional systems and businesses. By working collaboratively with community resources, local partners, and poor and vulnerable families and individuals, this multi-year project will follow a participatory business innovation process to co-create and implement sustainable, community entrepreneur-led businesses.
Where has the BoP Protocol been implemented?
The American multinational companies SC Johnson & Sons and Dupont have been leading BoP Protocol implementations since 2005 in Kenya and India, respectively, while a third implementation has recently begun in Mexico. The Flint-based implementation of the BoP Protocol is therefore the fourth initiative globally, however it is both the first implementation in the U.S. and the first focused specifically on health.
What does ‘Base of the Pyramid’ mean?
In 1932, future U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt gave a radio address discussing the challenges of the Great Depression:
“These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten, the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic power...that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.”
What process is Enterprising Health using?
Enterprising Health is following the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) Protocol, which is an enterprise creation process that guides businesses in forming grassroots partnerships with people in low-income communities, at the base of the world's income pyramid.
What really is your commitment to be here?
John, Shara, Marcy, and Erica are all living in Flint, and we have setup an office in the old Carriage Factory on Water St. near downtown. Ascension Health hopes that Enterprising Health will succeed and last for many years.
What does Ascension Health do?
Ascension Health is the largest Catholic and largest nonprofit healthcare provider in the United States. They operate more than 65 hospitals and clinics nationwide, including the Genesys Health System here in Flint.
What else has been done in the US for this process?
This is the first time this process is being used in the U.S. However, the process was developed here in the U.S. by a wide group of partners, including Cornell University, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, SC Johnson, DuPont, and others. The process has been used to create new businesses with community members in Kenya, India, and Mexico.
What if I have no way of getting to the meeting, or need childcare while I’m away, or have some other obstacle that would keep me from attending?
Come talk to us, we will try to figure something out.
Do I get paid to coming to these meetings?
No, but during the meetings you will learn and develop the necessary skills which will enable us to create a business together.
