2018: A year of empowering women at WE Health

Enhancing the participation of women in health innovation and entrepreneurship activities

This has been a year full of new ideas, supporters and participants.

The partners of IESE Business School in Barcelona, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, the Technical University Munich and Imperial College London, set out to further enhance the participation of women in health innovation and entrepreneurship activities.

In February, an ideation event held in Barcelona helped us dig deeper into the challenges and needs of women who are innovating in the healthcare industry – be it as an entrepreneur, scientist or manager. Three different Capacity Building Modules including training, networking and mentoring addressed the needs of different target groups.

Participants were able to select the module that best met their needs. The modules were all packed with practical skill training and real-life experience sharing.

In mid-April, women striving to unlock their innovative potential got together at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm to explore their entrepreneurial ambitions. This first module in 2018 guided the participants through the “Business Model You” – Canvas and helped them in taking their first steps towards leadership and entrepreneurship in health innovation.

At the beginning of June, the focus shifted to all the current and soon-to-be founders of healthcare startups. Under the topic of “Starting your Entrepreneurship Journey” female founders came together at the Technical University in Munich to address the entrepreneurial challenges when striving to found their own healthcare venture.

Lastly, the third module at IESE Business School in Barcelona completed the Capacity Building Programme with a module on “Empowering Women Leadership in Health Innovation” designed for female executives and innovators. By building on active learning methodologies, the participants engaged in intense debates on the key issues affecting leadership in healthcare.

Aside from the three offered modules, WE Health also spread its network and got involved in several events like the Hacking Health Hackathon in Berlin in November, supporting teams to innovate in the field of female health and a workshop for female scientists in Stockholm that was held by Anna from the WE Health team.

For 2019 we will continue our work with renewed enthusiasm thanks to the incorporation of many new partners such as Grenoble Ecole of Management, University of Barcelona, Medical University of Lodz, Fundación La Caixa as well as the industry partner GLINTT.

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