Social Entrepreneurship Success: MedPLUS

A NON-PROFIT developed by three graduating seniors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s College of Arts and Sciences is filling a critical missing link to connect hospitals in Ghana with surplus U.S. medical supplies

The nonprofit, MedPLUS, grew from the students’ participation in UNC’s Carolina Challenge entrepreneurial business-plan competition.

Team members Lauren Slive, a public policy major, Emma Lawrence, a public policy and psychology major, and Emily Nix, a mathematics and economics major, developed their idea for MedPLUS after a trip they took to Ghana located in West Africa.

The three entered the challenge to learn how to turn their idea into a viable nonprofit organization that could connect surplus, recycled medical supplies and equipment from the United States with health care centers in developing countries.

The MedPLUS team took only an honorable mention in the 2008 Challenge, but walked away with keen insights into how to improve their plan. They returned in 2009 and won the $15,000 first-place prize in the social track of the challenge.

Following graduation in May 2009, the three traveled to Ghana to unveil a new website for partners to order medical supplies and recruit new partner hospitals to join their network.

“We are very passionate about making this happen and hope eventually to be able to help any hospital in a developing country with a significant budget,” say Slive.