Executive Director Honored at Global Good Fund Gala

Last week I attended the Global Good Fund (GGF) Summit and Gala to recognize the other nine fellows and me for our work as social entrepreneurs. I don’t always feel comfortable being the focus of attention, but, honestly, it felt great to be honored and for the work of Health Access Connect to be seen side-by-side with other world-changing companies. Here are my four major takeaways from the events:

Connection & Community. I was surrounded by social entrepreneurs running multi-million dollar companies. HAC is a small non-profit, and leading up to the event, I wondered, “What do we even have in common?!” Answer: Everything. My cohort and the fellows from previous years are all trying to develop their companies to impact and improve the world, and we all deal with the same challenges: “How do we structure our companies?”, “How should we allocate our limited time and resources?”, and “How do we find donors and investors who see our vision?” I felt like I was among my tribe.

Awe & Elevation. The other fellows are doing amazing work. The GGF staff made a point to highlight our work and help us fulfill our mission and potential. So I was simultaneously in awe of the people in the room and on a pedestal for others to engage with and help.

Access & Credibility. Part of running a (non-profit) company is failure and difficulty of getting my foot in the door. The GGF award has already opened some doors for HAC, and we are getting to a point in our work (30+ villages, 1,200+ patients per month) in which donors and specialists are interested in what we do.

Vision & Teamwork. We met the CEOs of a few big companies, and one of my favorite ideas came from Michael O’Neil of the GetWellNetwork. Their company has six commitments that they have etched in wood in their offices. Each one starts with the target of the commitment: “To our patients, we commit to…”, “To our staff, we commit to…”, etc. I want to explore what HAC’s commitments should be so that we keep our eyes on the big picture as we keep pushing our impact.

We’ll try to use what we have learned through this experience to continue to serve Ugandans living in remote areas. Thank you, GGF!