High-Impact Growth

Co-hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro are joined by MHP Salud’s CEO, Dr. Maggie Dante and Data and Evaluation Analyst, Rachel Udow. MHP Salud is championing Community Health Workers across the US both within their organization and through training and consulting on how to best integrate CHW programs. Over the last decade, MHP Salud has been on a digital transformation journey - leveraging technology to improve service delivery. The conversation unpacks many of the best practices the organization has developed to leverage digital to deliver impact at scale.

Topics discussed:
How MHP Salud has used one technology platform to deepen and improve impact over time
MHP Salud’s digitization journey, including expanding use cases of CommCare across programs
How the organization has developed the human capacity and processes to support a long term Impact Delivery approach
The role of user-centered design and training in successful technology implementation.
The significance of buy-in from CHWs and creating a culture of validation
The integration of technology, including CommCare and Tableau, to improve efficiency and save costs
Insights on strategic thinking, recruitment challenges, and long-term sustainability in community health programsRelated

Resources:

Dr. Dixon Chibanda started Friendship Bench after losing a patient to suicide who could not afford to travel to the hospital in Zimbabwe where he worked. There had to be a way to make mental health care more accessible. Today, Friendship Bench has a team of grandmothers across Zimbabwe who are trained to deliver evidence-based high-impact therapy on park benches, making mental health support readily available. In this episode, Jonathan Jackson learns about the incredible journey of  the Friendship Bench intervention in conversation with its Founder and CEO, Dr. Dixon Chibanda. Get a behind the scenes look at how this incredible program and intervention has achieved resonance and scale by offering community-based psychological interventions to people in need. You’ll learn how Friendship Bench has trained grandmothers to deliver high-impact therapy, discover the tremendous healing power of storytelling and vulnerability, explore the role CommCare plays in enabling digital data collection and analysis, and dig into the three-part formula for creating a scaled intervention that applies beyond mental health. This episode is a great listen for anyone wanting to learn about the foundational role of digitization in enabling programs to scale and inform data-driven decision-making. 

Topics include: 

How the Friendship Bench intervention started 

Leading randomized controlled trials (RCT) to provide evidence for the effectiveness of the Friendship Bench intervention

Scaling up the Friendship Bench to reach 100,000 people last year

Engaging government stakeholders and building referral pathways for long-term sustainability

Focusing on improving overall health outcomes, not just mental health

The power of effective storytelling and vulnerability

The role digitization plays in scaling and sustaining the program

Partnering with Dimagi and using CommCare to become fully digital

The importance of addressing mental health at the community level

Related Resources:

Discover the key ingredients to Ethiopia's incredible progress in digital health as Ali Flaming and Amie Vaccaro speak with Dr. Girma Tadesse, electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS)  Project Manager with JSI. Stemming from a clear vision for improving health outcomes and data use, the Ethiopian government has been on a digital health transformation journey starting in 1991. As Project Manager for this effort, Dr. Girma shares Ethiopia’s journey moving towards a fully paperless system. You’ll hear how with government ownership and strategic resource allocation, they're establishing a strong foundation for long-term success, while also investing in the people and skills needed to create meaningful change. This is a must-listen for anyone working in and with governments and Ministries of Health wanting to learn how to leverage technology to support higher quality services. Ethiopia has been leading the charge of enabling healthcare workers by building scalable platforms and ecosystems for sustained impact and this conversation provides an inside look at how. 

Topics include: 

The impact of a clear government vision focused on improving health outcomes and service delivery 

Exploring a data-driven approach to inform improvements and achieve universal health coverage

The importance of government ownership and buy-in 

The need for clear communication of goals and resource allocation

Investment in talent and expertise through university programs

Moving beyond digitizing paper processes to creating real impact in healthcare delivery

Utilizing digital platforms for multiple use cases and digitizing various health services

Building scalable platforms and ecosystems for sustained impact

Embracing an iterative approach to digital health transformation

Related Resources: 

Testing out a new format for this podcast - short form responses to questions from you, our audience. Plus video!

In this Your Questions Answered episode, we break down a recent learning that Jonathan Jackson shared on LinkedIn regarding working with governments on digital health programs:

“I used to think the goal with digital health programs as a technology partner was to get too big to fail.  I’ve learned a lot however in the last 20 years. Now I know: the only path to success is to be too valuable to fail.”

We discuss taking an Impact Delivery approach for digital, and answer the following audience questions: 

Can you kindly provide specific instances where you have consistently provided benefits to your users, clients, and communities? Understanding how you have avoided becoming stagnant and maintained the growth of your program would be highly beneficial.

How do you suggest measuring and assessing the value-added for users, clients, and communities?

Related Resources 

Depression alone is projected to be the third leading cause of disease burden in lower and middle income countries by 2030, where 75% of people don't receive any treatment.

In this episode we delve into the escalating global issue of mental health care. Jonathan Jackson speaks with three of Dimagi’s experts: senior health strategy specialist Lauren Magoun, senior project analyst Anaba Sunday Atua, and senior mental health strategy consultant Christie Civetta. Gain insights from the team’s diverse experience and learnings in project analysis and the implementation of mental health initiatives, as well as approaches to combating the barriers to mental health care delivery and the grave lack of funding. You’ll walk away from this episode with a clear understanding of the role of Frontline Workers in providing intervention, the need for human connection in digital solutions, and the positive impact of integrating mental health care into broader health strategies. This episode challenges funders, implementers, and technologists working in the mental health space to consider the intersection between mental and physical health in developing solutions that create lasting impact and achieve holistic health outcomes.

Topics include: 

• The opportunities and future possibilities for mental health care innovation

• The potential of digital solutions to break down barriers and deliver impactful, scalable and cost-effective programs

• The realities of mental health stigma and care in low-and middle-income countries 

• The advantages of community-based interventions and the role of trusted members in addressing stigma

• The importance of human connection in mental health care delivery 

• The intersection of physical and mental health with a focus on anxiety and depression

Related Resources:

In this episode, we discuss technology's impactful role in making services accessible, specifically in the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB). Listen as Chris Buri, a TB survivor and patient advocate, shares his experience with TB treatment and the importance of patient support and advocacy in TB care. You’ll also hear about his personal journey  of resilience and advocacy, the challenges and opportunities presented by TB treatment, and the potential of technology such as VDOT (Video Directly Observed Therapy) to improve patient outcomes. This is a great listen for those wanting to learn more about the impact of TB on patients and their families, the need for person-centered care, and the important call to action for more research and funding in TB treatment and advocacy.

Topics discussed: 

An introduction to Chris Buri, a TB survivor and patient advocate

Chris's experience with TB treatment, including challenges with medication side effects and treatment adherence

The importance of patient support and advocacy in TB treatment

The role of support groups in providing emotional and practical support to TB patients

The impact of TB on patients and their families, including social stigma and financial burden

The need for patient-centered care in TB treatment, with a focus on patient empowerment and engagement

The potential of technology to improve TB treatment adherence and patient outcomes

The challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in TB treatment

The need for more research and funding in TB treatment and advocacy

Chris's call to action for healthcare providers, policymakers, and the public to prioritize TB treatment and support

Related Resources

In this episode we chat to renowned epidemiologist, healthcare innovator, and educator Dr. Richard Garfein and social entrepreneur and infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Kelly Collins, as they share their journey of turning an idea from research in academia into a successful commercial enterprise. They discuss their experiences in starting SureAdhere, licensing the software from UCSD, and signing up health departments to use the technology. You’ll also hear about their work in using Video Directly Observed therapy (VDOT) to transform tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and how they expanded their company's reach to cover diseases from hepatitis C to opioid use disorder. The episode highlights the importance of following evidence-based decision-making and empowering patients and healthcare workers alike by leveraging technology, innovation, and passion.

Topics include:

• The development of Video Directly Observed Therapy (VDOT) technology
• The role of DOT and VDOT in healthcare interventions
• Telemedicine during COVID-19 and beyond
• Digital technology to support medication assisted treatment and opioid use disorder-The importance of evidence-based decision-making in developing and testing technology
• The decision to start a company to scale VDOT technology and make it more widely available
• The challenges of licensing the software from UCSD and signing up health departments to use the technology
• The impact of VDOT on improving patient experiences and healthcare provider efficiency.
• Lessons learned from the experience of starting and growing SureAdhere
• The decision to join forces with Dimagi
  

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“There is no health without mental health.” - Dr. Vikram Patel

Dr. Vikram Patel is a psychiatrist, professor, renowned researcher, co-founder of Sangath, in India, and the incoming chair of Harvard Medical School Department of Global Health and Social Medicine where he takes over for the late Dr. Paul Farmer. Through decades of field-defining research, Dr Patel has shown how community-based resources can meet a growing burden of mental illness globally. In this episode, we explore Dr. Patel’s journey from training as a psychiatrist in London to working in Zimbabwe and co-founding Sangath - an award-winning Indian NGO, committed to improving mental health care across the globe. This episode is a must-listen for those wanting to learn about strategies for scaling mental health care that extend beyond the traditional healthcare system and understanding how technology can help to improve the quality of psychological and social interventions.

Topics include: 

• The importance of supporting Community Health Workers and Frontline Workers to treat mental illness and address the crisis of human resources in healthcare and mental health
• The integral difference between mental health and mental illness 
• The critical need for integration of mental health support into universal health coverage
• The connection and influence of mental health on other chronic diseases 
• The role of the ‘accompaniment model’ in mental health care
• Understanding how non-specialist providers can deliver the ‘active ingredient’ in mental health intervention for two thirds of mental illness
• The failings, future and possible fixes for the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM) in psychiatry  
• Introducing a stepped care approach in addressing individual’s mental health needs 
• The importance of human connection in mental health treatment
• The need to shift from a diagnostic model to a person-centered approach 
• Exploring measurement based peer supervision in mental health treatment programs 
• The top 3 ways to leverage digital to augment humans in mental health care, not replace them

Related resources:

Dimagi’s CommCare platform has been shaped by its users since its inception. Today, we revisit some of the first Community Health Workers who helped design and test CommCare back in 2008 in Tanzania. Co-host Amie Vaccaro speaks with two people who led that early research –  Gayo Mhila, who has recently interviewed 5 of the earliest users, and Dr. Brian DeRenzi, Dimagi's Global Director of Research. Through the conversation you’ll learn how technology can enable CHW’s to provide vital support to their communities, and how CHW input helped shape essential functionality of CommCare marking the genesis of Dimagi’s Design Under the Mango Tree approach. 

Topics include: 

• Insights from 5 of the earliest users of CommCare - how they got into community health work and their experience with CommCare

• How CHW feedback led to the creation of logins, referrals, supervisor applications, case management and more foundational functionality in CommCare

• How switching from paper to digital helped tackle stigma, earn trust and improve efficiency for CHWs 

• How technology can support and bolster relationships (not replace them)

• The journey to creating value for users at different levels of a health system with digital

• How digitizing community health work can support expanded digital literacy for women and why it matters

• Training techniques for technology adoption

• The importance of user-driven design or as Dimagi’s calls it “Design Under the Mango Tree” 

Related Resources:

In this episode  we explore the journey of Margaret Odera, a Community Health Worker and mentor mother in Kenya. Following her HIV diagnosis, Margaret received life-changing support from a mentor mother, which inspired her to dedicate her life to helping other HIV-positive mothers and their newborns. As the founder of the Community Health Workers Champions Network (CHWCN), Margaret is also leading the charge to professionalize and amplify the voices of these unsung heroes in the health sector. We discuss the role of Community Health Workers in disease prevention and health promotion; the need for better tools, technology, and training, and the steps Margaret is taking toward professionalizing Community Health Worker roles to ensure fair compensation,  improved working conditions, and preparedness for future pandemics.

Topics discussed: 

• What a typical week looks like for Margaret

• The realities of community health workers - their working conditions and the lack of compensation 

• The unfortunate status of payment for Community Health Workers in Kenya 

• How lack of payment for Community Health Workers reflects a gender issue

• How Margaret came to found the Community Health Workers Champions Network (CHWCN) and early wins

• Challenges faced in professionalizing Community Health Workers

• The role of technology in professionalizing community health workers

• The need for better Community Health Worker representation and visibility at various levels of health governance

• The role of Community Health Workers in preventing future pandemics

• The support needed from health systems at large to train, support, and equip Community Health Workers
  

Related Resources:

In a world where stress is inevitable, burnout is rife, and the global mental health burden is growing, it's crucial to develop the skill of resilience to recover, adapt, and grow from stress. This episode highlights how building resilience can guard against burnout, a workplace phenomenon that affects many Frontline Workers, resulting in feelings of fatigue, detachment, and a reduction in professional efficacy. Jonathan Jackson sits down with Lilianna Bagnoli to dig into Dimagi’s work on resilience-building through the launch of the WellMe application - a user-friendly tool focussed on equipping Frontline Workers with resilience-building behaviors, that can be used across geographies, languages, and Frontline Worker cadres. You’ll also hear about the ways in which we can scale access to mental health support for individuals and Frontline Workers, how technology can support this, and what this means for technologists, implementers, and funders working in global health.

Other topics discussed: 

• Why resilience-building is important amongst Frontline Workers 

• The growing mental health crisis & four interventions that can help deliver mental health support at scale 

• Leaning into collaborative approaches to deal with stress on all levels amongst essential and non-essential staff 

• An introduction to Dimagi’s WellMe application & the feedback received from the user testing phase

• The importance of adapting messages and language from user testing to appeal to specific contexts and demographics 

• The need for organizations to incorporate resilience-building into professional development efforts 

• The effects of bolstering mental health on the results of treatments for other health issues
  

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Jonathan Jackson sits down with Brian DeRenzi, Dimagi’s Research and Data team lead, to discuss Dimagi’s work exploring large language models to create chatbots for global health and development use cases. They discuss how we might leverage AI to advance equity despite the reality that it can also decrease equity,  while recognizing the irreplaceable value of human-to-human connection in healthcare. We also discuss the potential of ChatGPT to support more accessible SMS workflows, how voice to text can support non-literate populations, and how to embrace the discomfort of this moment in a way that propels us towards creating positive impact.

Topics include:

Global development is evolving quickly in the face of social, economic, and political changes. Jonathan Jackson sits down with Raj Kumar, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Devex, a leading independent online news platform for development professionals, to discuss how 2023 marks the start of a new, more challenging development era. With growing competition between China and Russia and the West, a new set of economic circumstances, and overwhelming humanitarian needs, development professionals need to get more value for money. And this requires a change in mindset and how things are done - shifting from a project-based mindset to a collaborative, results-driven investment mindset. 

Topics discussed: 

Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro sit down with three Community Health Workers, supported by the Lwala Community Alliance, as they share first-hand their journey into community health, their day-to-day, the impact of digital tools on their work, and the importance of salaried Community Health Workers in creating greater access to critical health services worldwide. This is part 2 in a two-part series on the important work Lwala Community Alliance is doing in transforming the community health landscape in Kenya. A must-listen for anyone interested in understanding the important work of Community Health Workers.

Some topics covered in this conversation include: 

• The critical role of technology in supporting essential service delivery 

• A day in the life of 3 Community Health Workers in their communities

• Top challenges faced by CHWs -  from difficult clients to weather conditions

• The importance of paying, training, supervising and supporting CHWs

• Policies for a safer and more conducive working environment for CHWs
  

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Jonathan Jackson sits down with Julius Mbeya, Co-CEO of the Lwala Community Alliance, to discuss their approach to addressing health challenges in Kenya. By using a community-led health model, they are able to provide quality, affordable healthcare to underprivileged communities, and reduce maternal and under-five deaths. This is part one in a two-part series on the important work Lwala Community Alliance is doing in transforming the community health landscape in Kenya. A must-listen for anyone interested in innovative digital approaches to healthcare to effect lasting impact. 

Some topics covered in this conversation include: 

• A breakdown of Lwala’s community-led health model 
• The path to providing affordable healthcare to communities in informal settlements
• How and why Lwala is digitizing its Community Health Workers
• Reducing maternal and under-five deaths 
• The importance of data collection and longitudinal tracking  understand impact over time an to create an evidence base
• Working with the government to bring interventions to scale

Related Resources:

Jonathan Jackson sits down with Olukunle Akinwusi, Technical Officer for Digital Access at FIND & Erica Troncosco, Technical Advisor and Portfolio Lead for Frontier Technology Solutions at Jhpeigo, at the Global Digital Health Forum, to discuss the value of innovation in improving health equity through thoughtful diagnostics, involving the user in the design process, investing in the digital literacy of the Frontline Worker, and engaging country stakeholders to ensure buy-in.

Some topics covered in this conversation include: 

• The importance of diagnostics in improving access to care and curbing disease prevalence

• Addressing the biggest diagnostic gaps at various levels of care 

• The experiences and lessons learned from working on digital health projects

• Balancing the use of technology with ensuring that those new technologies are actually helping Frontline Workers provide better care

• The value of innovation and involving the user in the design process 

• The need for investment in health worker digital literacy and the accessibility of infrastructure in more remote settings for digital health interventions 

• The importance of engaging the countries or stakeholders in which the solution or innovation will be designed, understanding the context of use, and getting user buy-in 

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In today’s episode we flip the script and Jonathan Jackson interviews Amie Vaccaro to discuss her career journey, her experiences, and the lessons learned so far in growing the marketing team at Dimagi.  The potential of digital to support iNGOs and governments can only be really unlocked when it becomes a foundational layer that supports all aspects of the organization’s work horizontally. We often see digital projects failing when they are focused on one specific vertical or silo and not able to add value across an organization. Amie has been on a parallel journey building marketing as a horizontal and foundational team at Dimagi and together Jonathan and Amie unpack some of the lessons Amie has learned that are applicable to anyone leading a digital shared service within an organization.

Some topics covered in this conversation include: 

• The challenges of standing up a new horizontal shared service in an organization

• How to sequence value creation to build trust and autonomy over time

• Partnering with leadership to understand and guide strategic direction

• Balancing execution work with high-level strategic work

• Empowering a team to say no and prioritize tasks

  
  

Related resources: 

High-Impact Growth podcast co-hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro reflect on 9 months of podcasting, from finding their voice, to key insights, tools, and insider tips for those considering starting a podcast. Some topics covered in this conversation include: 

• What it means to share non-obvious perspectives - why they matter and the tradeoffs

• How to think about planning for your podcast - from choosing a co-host to creating the space for your podcast to evolve

• Key podcasting tools to consider when starting out (including Descript, Riverside and Anchor.fm which is now Spotify for Podcasters)

• Building out a podcasting team - roles to consider

• Balancing the drive for perfection against getting your story and perspectives out

Related resources: 

Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro sit down with Liz Wiseman, researcher, executive advisor, and author of New York Times bestseller Multipliers and three other books to learn about multiplier leadership. In this candid conversation, Liz discusses the research behind Multipliers and how to apply it within global health and development to ensure you are fully realizing your team’s potential.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:

• A breakdown of the Multipliers leadership style and how to utilize it within any team environment to create 2x the impact
• Multipliers vs Diminishers vs Accidental Diminishers- where does your leadership style fall?
• Decoupling intent from outcome when it comes to management
• Creating a culture of empowerment where multiplier managers thrive
• How power dynamics and organizational culture feed into diminishing tendencies
• Finding the time to have a multiplier approach especially in a high-pressured environment
• Striking the balance between empowering and micro-managing

Jonathan Jackson unpacks the session he led at the Global Digital Health Forum called “Is the Digital Health Community Creating Better Jobs for Users?” In it, he discusses the idea of introducing a 10th Principle for Digital Development  'Make the users’ job better.' Creating better jobs for better outcomes is at the heart of Dimagi’s work and 5 year strategy.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:

• Why supporting and elevating the Frontline Worker is critical to the future of the digital health community (and Dimagi’s 5 year strategy)
• What would adding a 10th Principle for Digital Development look like?
• How prioritizing  the end user influences the quality of the work they’re doing
• The tradeoffs and nuances inherent in prioritizing the Frontline Worker when digitizing a health program

Related resources:

Jonathan Jackson sits down with Lauren Magoun, Dimagi’s Senior Health Strategy Specialist, at the Global Digital Health Forum to discuss the realities of the global mental health crisis, the lack of access to mental health care, and the innovative work Dimagi is driving to develop digital solutions that enable frontline providers  to address the gap in mental health care.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:

• Enabling non-specialist frontline providers to provide mental health care
• The power in taking a protocolized approach to mental health treatment
• An exploration of the ways that we can leverage digital innovation to scale mental health care programs
• The impact of an integrated treatment program - incorporating mental health treatment into treatment programs for other illnesses for example
• How digital can augment vs replace humans in mental health care
• How the global health and development community is thinking about mental health

Related resources:

Jonathan Jackson sits down with Clayton Sims, Dimagi’s Chief Technology Officer, at the Global Digital Health Forum, to discuss the opportunities, realities & future of artificial intelligence in the global health and development space.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:

• Exploring the highest impact use cases of AI for global health and development including language models, image processing, biometrics,  diagnostics, chatbots, and threat detection.
• How AI tools can create more autonomy and expand the skillsets of an individual
• Looking at ChatGPT training data and structures, and the impact of minimal global vetting on the global development space
• The ethics around AI - and the impact it may have on data sharing
• Exploring the future of AI from an infrastructure standpoint

Related resources:

Jonathan Jackson sits down with Jacaranda Health’s co-executive directors Nick Pearson & Sathy Rajasekharan at the Global Digital Health Forum, to discuss challenges and learnings along their journey to impact in maternal and child health in Kenya.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:

• Navigating a major pivot as a digital health organization from running private health centers to partnering with governments to support gaps in maternal and newborn care
• Maximizing impact by improving communication with moms through a digital platform called Prompts
• Scaling capacity & exploring peer learning through a mentorship program for healthcare providers
• Amplifying the voices of Moms in the health system and closing service delivery gaps through feedback loops
• Implementing machine learning - the benefits and challenges

Jacaranda Health partners with governments to deploy affordable and scalable solutions through government hospitals, where the majority of underserved mothers and babies receive care. In Kenya, they work with the National Ministry of Health and with 20 Kenyan County Governments, with solutions deployed across 1,100+ hospitals and health centers.

Related resources:

Jonathan Jackson sits down with Mercy Corps’ Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team – Meri Ghorkhmazyan, Senior Director MEL, Alex Tran, Senior MEL Advisor and Hanna Camp, Senior Advisor, Technology for MEL. They discuss how MEL is the next generation of M&E and how it has fuelled program adaptation and higher level learning to improve frontline impact at Mercy Corps.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:

• The difference between M&E and MEL
• The value of a MEL policy and the challenges of disorganized MEL technology
• How standardizing on technology for MEL allows teams to maximize comprehensiveness of data as well as timely action
• The ins and outs of creating enterprise technology agreements and the cost savings made possible
• Implementing a MEL technology training program with support from the Cisco Foundation
• Creating continuous buy in along the journey of change management
• How streamlining technologies can boost professional development opportunities for MEL technology practitioners.
• Empowering data practitioners to be able to make better decisions around program performance.
• The challenge of finding and retaining technically skilled staff

Related Resources:

Jonathan Jackson shares his candid reflections and takeaways from his time at the recent World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, as well as his stance on some of the biggest problems we are facing and the biggest bets we need to make to create a better world.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:

• The background of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and its role at Davos 
• The reality of the state of ‘poly crisis’ - multiple complex crises that a lot of organizations are facing currently
• The increasing scope of social entrepreneurship and social innovation on the global stage
• Shedding light on some of the main stage topics at Davos such as the Global Debt Crisis
• Advocating for Better Jobs for Frontline Workers and why this is important
• Leveraging technology to scale a more responsive & adaptive workforce
• The potential around AI & ChatGPT to amplify frontline impact
• Some of the most compelling ideas shared from social entrepreneurs at Davos
  

“I think the work that we're doing is inherently really complex. A lot of our partners are doing complex work and they're working in really complex environments. This a very necessary value because without this, we wouldn't actually be on that road to greater impact. “ - Avni Singhal

“We intentionally run towards taking on the highest impact projects. Knowing that of our portfolio of national scale programs, there’s a high likelihood half of them are canceled or put on pause or, or are never picked up again for reasons completely outside of our control. But the next time it comes up, like we run just as fast to that because we are running not to embrace complexity for complexity's sake, but complexity for the greatest impact.” - Gillian Javetski

Co-hosts, Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro sit down with four Dimagi team members - Lucina Tse, Chief Operating Officer; Gillian Javetski, Chief of Staff; Avni Singhal, Senior Customer Success Manager; and Simon Kelly, Director of Server Engineering - to discuss the fourth and final in Dimagi’s newly articulated values: Embrace complexity for impact. At Dimagi, we care deeply not only about what we do and the impact we have, but also about HOW we do it. Articulating our values has become incredibly important as we continue growing. Listen to this episode to hear candid reflections on what it looks like to embrace complexity for impact and why this is so important for achieving high-impact growth.

Full description of the newly articulated value:

“I think the out-collaborate piece really stands out for me on this value. And a lot of our partners come to my mind. Dimagi’s had a lot of experience working across healthcare, across agriculture, across education. Yet we always approach a new partner as a unique new project that we're starting from scratch.We have a strong product, we have a strong method, but we're always looking to learn through our partners.” - Avni Singhal

“Another thing that it brings to mind is learning from our failures. And I think that's another thing that can be quite uncomfortable. But, in the interest of open learning it's so critical that we look at our failures, and try and figure out what went wrong and how we can do better next time…this is something that we do quite well on our teams.” - Simon Kelly

Co-hosts, Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro chat to four team members at Dimagi - Lucina Tse, Chief Operating Officer; Gillian Javetski, Chief of Staff; Avni Singhal, Senior Customer Success Manager; and Simon Kelly, Director of Server Engineering - to discuss the third in Dimagi’s newly articulated values: Evolve by learning and sharing openly. At Dimagi, we care deeply not only about what we do and the impact we have, but also about HOW we do it. Articulating our values has become incredibly important as we continue growing. Listen to this episode to hear candid reflections on what it looks like to evolve by learning and sharing openly and why this is so important to supporting our high-impact growth.

Full description of the newly articulated value:

Evolve by learning and sharing openly

No single person or organization can achieve our vision alone. We must work as partners (not vendors) to proactively understand our respective challenges, the impact we want to make, and to collaboratively chart the best way forward. We learn from what we’re doing and are unafraid in sharing those lessons, even when we wish the results were different.

• We start with “why?” The answers to the challenges we are working on may not exist, and we won’t get where we are going by applying existing thinking. We’re eager to explore new approaches, always starting by defining what we want to learn - which can sometimes be the hardest part.
• We out-collaborate rather than outcompete. While we’re proud of our individual contributions, we are most proud of the collective achievements that our team and our partners are able to realize.
• We use data to drive decisions. We can't learn or improve from what we can't measure. We know that feedback loops are  integral to our continual improvement.
• We speak up. We ask questions to unpack assumptions. We share feedback directly and with kindness, out of a sincere desire to help each other understand and improve. We receive feedback with humility and gratitude.

Jonathan Jackson talks to Nick Martin, CEO of TechChange at the Global Digital Health Forum to discuss the evolution and maturation of the digital health industry over the last 10 years, including the role of training, great content, project sustainability and shared buy-in in creating the outcomes we all know are possible.

Some topics covered in this conversation include:

• How digital health has matured from conversations about “How do we successfully deploy a digital health pilot” to “how do we support digital health” which has now become a given.
• Connecting the dots for digital health - how do ministries of health take potentially fragmented digital systems and create better health outcomes with them
• The role of training - overcoming resistance, making technical topics interesting and engaging, and making the case to create top quality content
• Approaches to training including cohort-based social learning and emphasizing relationships alongside skills building
• The challenge of creating high quality community health worker training
• Telemedicine - managing tradeoffs between cost and impact over the long term
• Defining day 2000 success metrics on day 1 of a project and the importance of long term planning
• How the pandemic has forced ministries of health to get better at planning

Related resources:

“We went from no solution to a fully deployed at scale solution in less than six weeks. And all of that is really a testament to the power of a technology platform.” Sarah Sagan, Senior Director of Delivery

“I felt really patriotic. I felt really proud of my government. I felt really lucky to have the curtain lifted on my healthcare system and the way that state and local government contribute to healthcare in the United States…we had a front row seat to what was a really devastating and also a really important moment in US history and that was inspirational and will remain something that I'm proud of for the rest of my life.” - Lily Olson, Senior Director of Partnerships

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dimagi decided to support pandemic response efforts by building and releasing a free global COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing solution. We had been working for nearly two decades focused on Low and Middle Income Countries, but when the CDC approached us to support US public health response to COVID 19, we rose to the occasion. This episode tells the story of our entry to the US market and how we leveraged learnings from our global health experience to meet the needs in the US.  Hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro are joined by Carter Powers, Managing Director of Dimagi’s US Health division, Sarah Sagan, Dimagi’s Senior Director of Delivery, and Lily Olson Dimagi’s Director of Partnerships to share the full story of an intense period of hard work, growth, and learnings. We reflect on the work we have done on the CommCare platform that allowed us to respond to an urgent need incredibly fast, how we approached entering the US market so that we could continue our global work, and the passion and courage of our team stepping up to support the critical work of US public health departments. We also share how this work led to the creation of Dimagi’s US Health division and where we’re headed.

This is part 5 of our 5 part series highlighting pivotal moments in Dimagi's history in honor of Dimagi's 20th anniversary.

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“It's not just getting started or getting to scale it's…how are you going to keep improving at scale?” - Jonathan Jackson, CEO and Co-Founder, Dimagi

Today we tell the story of the largest digital health project Dimagi has ever worked on supporting the Government of India’s Integrated Child Development Services, which is the largest public health and nutrition program in the world. Launched in 2018, the Common Application Software (ICDS CAS) helped tackle malnutrition by digitally equipping Frontline Workers with a mobile solution to strengthen service delivery and enable effective monitoring, timely interventions, and enhanced decision support.

Hosted by Jonathan Jackson in conversation with  Kriti Mehrotra, Dimagi’s Impact Advisor, Shayoni Mazumdar, Dimagi’s Director of Strategy and Operations, and former Dimagi VP of Global Services, Stella Luk, you’ll hear unique perspectives and learnings from the scale-up of the project, including navigating procurement for physical materials, scaling teams and processes, practicing user-centered design, and how Dimagi grew and evolved to meet this challenge. This is part 4 in a 5 part series highlighting pivotal moments in Dimagi's history in honor of our 20th anniversary.

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What is the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and why does it matter? Jonathan Jackson and Dr. Kelly Collins attended the 77th UN General Assembly and join the podcast to share their key takeaways from the week, including the Global Fund’s 7th Replenishment. You’ll also hear reflections on the talent gap in global health and development.

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Tim Wood has been at the forefront of building and investing in technology to improve health outcomes in low-and-middle-income countries over the last 3 decades - including work at the Grameen Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) where he served as a Senior Program Officer. During his time at BMGF he led a transformative, platform-level investment in Dimagi and its technology that breaks the mold of the industry’s tendency to invest in projects rather than core technology. In this episode, Jonathan Jackson and Tim Wood tell the story of how that investment happened, why it was so important, and their reflections on the challenges and opportunities in global health and development today. In the course of the conversation, you’ll also hear advice for getting funding from a funder like BMGF. This is part 2 in a 5 part series highlighting pivotal moments in Dimagi's history in honor of Dimagi's 20th anniversary.

Related Resources:

Digital Square - https://digitalsquare.org/

Grameen Foundation - https://grameenfoundation.org/

Jonathan Jackson and Gillian Javetski, Dimagi’s Chief of Staff, discuss why it’s imperative in international development and global health to collaborate vs compete. We unpack fundamental lessons about collaboration gleaned over the last few decades at Dimagi. You’ll learn: What distinguishes good collaboration from bad collaboration? What makes an exceptional collaborator? How has Dimagi developed a collaborative culture? And despite that, why have people called Dimagi uncollaborative? Why is it so important to be selfish when it comes to collaboration on shared impact? When should you re-evaluate a collaboration? And, when should you decline a meeting?

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Dimagi has put a stake in the ground that to improve health and development outcomes and reach universal health coverage, we NEED to improve Frontline Worker jobs. Frontline Workers such as Community Health Workers are a critical part of health service delivery and many studies have proven just how impactful they are. We are facing a massive healthcare provider shortage globally which will likely be filled by Community Health Workers and non-specialized providers in a lot of contexts. But, they are underpaid, under-supported, and under-recognized. 70% of Frontline Workers are women, 86% are not fully salaried, and they deal with massive burnout. To improve outcomes, we need to improve the jobs of the people who create those outcomes. Jonathan Jackson and Dr. Neal Lesh share how this strategy came to be, why it's become so important, and how we are working to reach it.

This is the final in our series exploring Dimagi’s 5 Year Strategies, focusing on Strategic Priority 1: Improve Jobs to Improve Outcomes.

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What does it mean that Dimagi is aiming to "Exceed Market Expectations" over the next 5 years? Dimagi has set out to creatively over-deliver on value today while shaping market alignment and raising expectations for tomorrow. In today's episode, we sit down with Ismaïla Diene, Managing Director for Dimagi's Solutions Division, and Fatou Sow, a Project Manager on our Solutions Division team, to dig in on a key consideration of this strategy: deepening our partnerships to drive national scale. Find out why achieving national scale for digital solutions like CommCare is so important to long-term impact, what makes it so challenging to achieve, lessons we've learned over two decades, and how we are approaching national scale partnerships going forward. You'll also hear about national scale projects in Burkina Faso and Madagascar. 

Related Resources:

Dimagi’s 5 year strategy: https://www.dimagi.com/blog/dimagis-5-year-strategy/

CommCare in Madagascar: Improving Health Outcomes in Remote and Low Connectivity Settings: https://dimagi.com/case-studies/access-madagascar/