David Green (social entrepreneur)

David Green is an American social entrepreneur renowned for his global efforts to make technology and health care services sustainable, affordable, and accessible to all, particularly to the poorer two thirds of humanity.

Career

Green founded and directed the establishment Aurolab in South India, a nonprofit manufacturer of low cost intraocular lenses for treating cataracts.^[1][2] He also developed suture and surgical blade manufacturing for Aurolab.^[3][4]

He is known for developing many eye care programs and for making them self-financing from user fees while serving the lower economic strata. These include: the Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India;^[5][6] the Lumbini Eye Care Project, Nepal;^[7] the Tilganga Eye Institute, Nepal;^[8] the Grameen Eye Hospitals, Bangladesh;^[9] the SadGuru Trust, Chitrakoot, India; the Al Noor Magrabi Eye Hospital, Egypt;^[10] and the Visualiza, Guatemala.^[11]

He co-founded Sound World Solution,^[12] a social enterprise to make affordable hearing devices with a novel fitting named LegWorks, which makes high quality prosthetic knees affordable.^[13] He also co-founded the Eye Fund, a $15M social investing fund in collaboration with Deutsche Bank, Ashoka and International Agency for Prevention of Blindness, that provides affordable loan financing for sustainable eye care programs.^[14][15]

His work has been profiled in Fortune Magazine,^[16] NPR,^[17][18] the Economist, Forbes,^[19] on CNN and in the PBS documentary series, "The New Heroes".^[20]

Life

Green is an Ypsilanti, Michigan native.^[21] He graduated from the University of Michigan with an MPH in 1982.

He serves as a Board Member for the Johns Hopkins Social Innovations Lab, the Stanford University Biomedical Fellowship for India, the University of Michigan Ross School of Business Social Investing Fund, and the Seva Advisory Board.^[22]

He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his wife, Tanya Shaffer, and their children, Daniel and Elon.^[23]

Awards

In 2002, Green was named an Ashoka Fellow^[24] and featured as a Leading Social Entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation.^[25]

In 2004, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship^[26] for his work as "a pioneer in the manufacture and distribution of advanced health care products for patients in the developing world who could not otherwise afford them."^[27]

In both 2004 and 2006, he was listed as one of the recipients of the Fast 50 Award by Fast Company Magazine.^[28]

In 2009, he received the Spirit of Helen Keller Award, given by Helen Keller International,^[29] and the University of Michigan Humanitarian Service Award.^[30] He was also voted as the leading social entrepreneur from the University of Michigan by the University of Michigan Engineering School.^[31]

In 2011, he received the Certificate of Honorary Award of Liaoning Province as a foreign expert who has made great contributions to the economic and social development of Liaoning Province.^[32]

References