Product/Service Development

In 2018, the Medical Research Council of the UK and Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) first collaborated with Partners in Health Canada (PIH) to bundle and scale-up their respective innovations: PIH’s pediatric developmental clinic (PDC) and MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit’s ABAaNA Early Intervention Program (EIP).PDCs expand clinic-based care with home visits and parent support groups that promote stimulating, responsive follow-up care for high-risk infants after discharge from hospitals and health centers.

ECD is universally recommended in 2030 SDGs. In India, Anganwadi centers are responsible for providing ECD care with supplementary nutrition, preschool education, health education, and referral services.

We are based in Skidegate, a remote community of 1,000 Haida citizens. Our community hosts many inspiring projects related to Haida language, food security, and climate justice. Though we are engaged in rich cultural revitalization, our community narrative is largely controlled by outsiders. People who are not aware of Haida protocol may misrepresent or appropriate something in their film, and many of our local stories are left unshared.

The Yukon soaps company has a vision to grow and create greater impact in the community of Mayo. There is a lack of physical space for people to grow their own ideas for plant and natural product development. Women in the community need safe spaces to be creative, develop skills and build their micro business ideas. Few opportunities exist for makers and creators to share and learn knowledge related to plants, harvesting and healing the spirit in a regenerative way.

Indigenous mothers experience many barriers to care in the Canadian medical system, which includes the exclusion of Elders, the removal of care from the community, the erasure or dismissal of traditional teachings and celebrations, systemic racism which creates a lack of cultural safety for Indigenous women and families, and the decentralization of spirituality. Indigenous birth outcomes are significantly worse than those of the majority non-Indigenous population in Canada, across every major birth outcome.

The problems the Sage Initiative is solving for are: the lack of access to capital by Indigenous-owned enterprises and the lack of impact investing literacy / opportunities for Indigenous womxn. Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada consistently report that their #1 barrier to growth is a lack of access to capital (CCAB 2016). Our vision is to make capital available to Indigenous social enterprises with the capital coming from Indigenous women investors.

Across Canada, Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by sexual exploitation of women and children. This project aims to reach at risk indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTTQQIA+ people who are experiencing such challenges. Substantive research and evidence on the history of sexual violence, exploitation and sex trafficking of Indigenous women/girls supports the need for this work and its importance for our community. Further, economic investments for Indigenous women are needed now more than ever due to the uncertainty created by COVID-19 global pandemic.

Our innovation ColdHubs addresses the problem of food spoilage due to a lack of reliable cold storage at key points within the food supply chain. Food spoilage is caused by ambient temperature and relative humidity which facilitates fungal and bacteria decay. The problem is exacerbated by the absence of suitable on-farm and in-market cold storage facilities and unreliable electricity supply. Spoilage reduces the availability of safe, nutritious, and healthy food available for human consumption.

In DRC there are 100+ armed groups, 5m IDPs and refugees, and an Ebola outbreak claiming 1600+ lives and 15,000 suspected cases of measles. Congo’s chronic lack of accessible, reliable and affordable electricity is a consequence and symptom of Congo's complex context of fragility and insecurity. The humanitarian ecosystem, households, and businesses in Congo are all affected by unmet, irregular, and insufficient energy supply and service.

More than $34.1 billion in annual vaccine distributions globally are wasted due to temperature fluctuations, and shipment and logistics issues, a gross underestimation if considering the costs of avoidable illness. Temperature monitoring of cold chain equipment and vaccine vial monitors (VVM) provide a basis to flag heat- and freeze-damaged vaccines. When used correctly, these solutions are poised to unlock high-confidence delivery of a billion additional vaccines over the decade.