TAMER FUND FOR SOCIAL VENTURES WEBINAR SERIES
Portfolio Showcase on Health
with Jason Kang ’16SEAS, co-founder and CEO of Kinnos, Usama Javed Mirza ’17TC, co-founder and CEO of Saving 9, Helena Plater-Zyberk ’06BUS, co-founder and CEO of Supportiv, Sylvana Sinha ’04LAW, founder and CEO of Praava Health, Caroline Weinberg ’12PH, founder and program director of Plan A Health
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
1–2 PM EDT
Webinar details included in RSVP confirmation email.
The Tamer Fund for Social Ventures has awarded grants to over 35 social ventures after completing ten cycles of funding across a variety of sectors. The portfolio showcase features these entrepreneurs by sector to highlight the impactful work they do and discuss the challenges and opportunities they have encountered along the way.
Speaker Bios:
Jason Kang ’16SEAS
Co-founder and CEO of Kinnos
Jason is the co-founder and CEO of Kinnos, which was founded to protect healthcare workers, patients, and friends and family from infections. Developed and first implemented during the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa, Highlight® was created to address the urgent need to improve disinfection for both epidemic response and daily prevention. The goal of Kinnos is to empower people to protect themselves and others, and to provide society with peace of mind through disinfection you can see. Kinnos received a grant from the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures in Fall 2016.
Jason received an BS in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Usama Javed Mirza ’17TC
Co-founder and CEO of Saving 9
Usama is the co-founder and CEO of Saving 9, which creates communities of care in Pakistan. The name comes from the idiom, “a stitch in time saves nine,” and embodies the organization’s core ideal. Saving 9 believes that by making citizens literate in life-saving skills and by mobilizing them, they can work together to tackle the emergencies in health and education that our country is undergoing. Saving 9 received a grant from the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures in Spring 2019.
Usama received a Master of Education from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College.
Helena Plater-Zyberk ’06BUS
Co-founder and CEO of Supportiv
Helena Plater-Zyberk is co-founder and CEO of Supportiv, which delivers instantaneous peer support as mass-market accessible mental health care for the 80% of adults with typical work stress, family pressures, sadness, anxiety or loneliness, who don’t want or need a therapist. Supportiv received a grant from the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures in Spring 2018.
Helena received an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Sylvana Sinha ’04LAW
Founder and CEO of Praava Health
Sylavana is the founder and CEO of Praava Health, which is raising the bar for healthcare in Bangladesh with international standard doctors, diagnostics, and technology. After a family health scare, Sylvana embarked on a year-long international and domestic listening tour to gain insights into the world’s leading health care models and hear stories from Bangladeshi health professionals and patients. These learnings were brought together into a single value-based design. Praava Health received a grant from the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures in Fall 2015.
Sylvana received a J.D. from Columbia Law School.
Caroline Weinberg ’12PH
Founder and Program Director of Plan A Health
Caroline is the founder and program director of Plan A Health, which uses mobile clinics to bring healthcare services directly to rural and underserved communities with an emphasis on improving sexual and reproductive health. Serving all people, regardless of insurance status, income, or location, the organization ensures access to affordable, quality, and compassionate care. The first clinic will serve the Mississippi Delta region. Plan A Health received a grant from the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures in Spring 2020.
Caroline received an MPH from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
Tamer Fund for Social Ventures Webinar Series
This discussion series aims to inform and enable social innovation for the entrepreneurial and social impact community across Columbia University by providing information about social entrepreneurship at large and about fund's portfolio ventures specifically. For our portfolio venture members, this series also aims to foster a collaborative community by providing portfolio networking events and access to the Social Venture Advisory Network, experts, and alumni offering relevant insights to early-stage social and environmental enterprises.