When it comes to imagining, building and scaling health solutions for communities most in need, taking a critical look at who and what is invested in is paramount. When we do look, it is not hard to see the unfortunate truth that entrepreneurs who look like and who are proximate to the communities we serve have not had the same access to networks, capital and support. This failure limits the potential for the kinds of innovations that are desperately needed to achieve health equity.
Despite these challenges, I remain an optimist that every day, amazing community leaders, entrepreneurs, technologists, health advocates, systems builders and innovators are building a future where we are challenging ourselves to solve the hardest societal challenges—and that the best solutions will emerge from a gender, racially and geographically diverse community.
Here are three examples of how we are actively working towards a more equitable future at Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures (JJIV), an impact investment fund within the Johnson & Johnson Foundation:
- A laser focus on healthcare issues that are of the highest need, but with significant market underinvestment—for example, making culturally competent care for communities of color in the U.S. a priority investment area.
- Actively engage with health ecosystem and field builders to not only grow health impact investing from its current market share (7% of the $715 billion global impact investing market)—but to shape its composition through greater support for entrepreneurs from communities of color and low-and middle-income countries.
- Advocate for impact entrepreneurs themselves, given that, according to a recent study, a staggering 72% of entrepreneurs reported mental health concerns. Anecdotally, this stress and burnout can be even more acute in women and diverse entrepreneurs.
We seek to nurture entrepreneurship in cultural competency through accelerators and fellowships. We’re working with Echoing Green, for example, to bring more leaders with social enterprise and health experience into its fellowship program and to offer resources that support the fellows’ mental health and well-being.
We’re also piloting a performance and resiliency collaboration that is tailored for social impact entrepreneurs through Johnson & Johnson's Human Performance Institute. By the end of this year, we hope to have offered a program on energy management that can be scaled globally to our impact leaders.
As JJIV continues on its journey, we are committed to sharing our learnings and reflections. We encourage industry leaders and investors to bring attention to historic and current oversights and reduce the systemic barriers that have influenced who and what receives investment. Together, we can make sure that worthy entrepreneurs and worthy innovations are valued as such—and that they’re holistically supported on their paths to bringing good health to everyone, everywhere.
Best,
Alice Lin Fabiano, Global Director
Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures
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