Emily Sylvester, CEO and Founder of Mother of Fact in Langdon, NH, is a different kind of leader today than six months ago. After participating in the LIFT: Accelerating Equitable Health Innovation 2024 program, she is more confident and prepared to scale her early-stage startup’s digital health platform, expanding access to lifesaving nutrition and healthcare services for underserved families.
Emily is one of many entrepreneurs developing innovative, non-medical solutions to address the urgent health equity gap in the US, where income-related health disparities rank among the worst globally. After witnessing first hand a widening health equity gap in services as a clinician, she explored technology-based maternal and infant health solutions to reach more underserved families faster. Such solutions are effective because health disparities stem from inequitable access to social determinants of health (SDOH) – food, housing, transportation, education, and social connection – all of which are vital for individuals to reach their full health potential.
Through LIFT, ten entrepreneurs tackling upstream social determinants of health gained essential tools, resources, and networks to secure funding and scale their impact. Alongside Emily, other innovative founders like Gordon Taylor, CEO and Founder of Houston-based Nia, and Sunny Williams, CEO and Founder of Chicago-based Tiny Docs, experienced transformational growth through the program. At LIFT’s conclusion, Emily, Gordon, Sunny, and their peers attributed their progress to three key factors: partnership, perspective, and planning.