UIC Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies Head Helps Tackle Disaster Relief
Nancy Harvey, executive director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at UIC Liautaud, has been working alongside Janet Lin, an associate professor of emergency medicine, to devise a business plan for community-based training in disaster preparedness. The hope is to expand disaster risk reduction training in Haiti, a nation constantly bludgeoned by natural disasters.
Lin initially worked in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, taking a disaster response team with her, but wanted to leave something that could provide long-term disaster risk reduction for the communities there.
According to UIC News, Lin and Harvey were initially connected by UIC College of Business Administration Dean Michael Mikhail, whom Lin met at a dinner.
“We’re a university community that has diverse colleges with impassioned experts,” Harvey told UIC News. “Janet is an impassioned physician. I love the spirit of building business. Here at UIC, you can combine these together in really interesting ways that have value for our students and for the communities we serve.”
Since linking up, Lin and Harvey have worked together both in Haiti and Chicago on scaling up Lin’s disaster training into a sustainable program. Their project received a UIC Center for Global Health Seed Grant in 2015.
Their work has undoubtedly come in handy this past week. According to government officials, cholera has spread in the devastated southwest part of Haiti following Hurricane Matthew. The death toll from the storm has risen to more than 1,000 people.
According to Lin, the training aims to empower community members to reduce disaster risks and improve the delivery of healthcare.
“We want to try to truly create a sustainable program—one that will function regardless of donor funding,” said Lin. “We want a program that is of value to all people—not just community members but also to the government—and one that is economically viable.”
She added: “We are tapping into business principles to really align the public health, emergency medicine and business realms and trying to determine how we grow this and scale it up without losing the richness of this program.”
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Max Pulcini
Max Pulcini is a Philadelphia-based writer and reporter. He has an affinity for Philly sports teams, Super Smash Bros. and cured meats and cheeses. Max has written for Philadelphia-based publications such as Spirit News, Philadelphia City Paper, and Billy Penn, as well as national news outlets like The Daily Beast.
