In 2011, OpenIDEO launched a social business challenge focused on improving the lives of people living in places like Caldas, Colombia, where one in four people live in extreme poverty. During the challenge, The Grameen Creative Lab provided local insights by interviewing the community on the ground, and the global OpenIDEO community shared innovative lessons and examples from the health sector.
The winning ideas were taken up by a local doctor and entrepreneur named Jorge García. Jorge formed a business plan based on them and received funding to found a social business in Caldas called Bive. He has been prototyping ideas from the challenge starting with one called ‘Madre Cuidadora.’ This concept creates a network of community ‘mothers’ who are trained in basic health promotion and prevention. Using these skills they resell basic health products, provide trusted advice, and offer health checks biannually.
Bive has seen impressive growth. They already have 700 users in two cities and aim for 6000 this year. Jorge and his team’s ambitions don’t stop there. Their plan is to develop another idea from the challenge and create an SMS health advice service.
Congratulations to everyone who took part in the collaborative effort of this OpenIDEO challenge, and especially to all the winning concept authors who helped to inform Bive’s social business that is having a vital impact on the underserved population of Caldas and nearby communities.
How might you create positive impact today?
(Posted also on my LinkedIn Thought Leader blog)
