MISSION SPOTLIGHT
A Toolkit for Positive Impact
Nicole Anderson ’19 came to VSB with a passion for improving lives and left with much more. Before even arriving at Villanova, Nicole Anderson read Mountains Beyond Mountains about Partners in Health founder Dr. Paul Farmer. The story of one man’s mission to bring health care to the world’s poorest regions made Anderson think about how much health care depends on social and economic factors. Before long, she knew business would be her path to making a difference. Anderson chose VSB because it offered the ideal combination of business, social justice and global learning. As a double major in International Business and Management and a Global Leadership Fellow, she focused on world health issues. She spent the summer after her sophomore year in Madagascar visiting remote villages to evaluate community health programs. While poring over cardboard boxes of hospital records, she recognized how the absence of technology made these communities invisible to health policymakers. That inspired her to intern for a data science firm in Sydney, Australia the following year where she completed an international economics thesis on how companies can use big data for humanitarian purposes. This connection between business and social change was the premise of an Inspiring Minds podcast titled “Building Bridges Instead of Silos: How Governments, Businesses and Nonprofits Have Learned to Work Together” in which Anderson interviewed Dr. Jonathan Doh, co-faculty director of the Moran Center for Global Leadership, about the power of cross-sector partnerships. “It’s a good example of where I want to be one day,” Anderson shared. The epilogue to Anderson’s VSB story came just before graduation. Villanova’s Center for Peace and Justice Education selected her for the Justice in Business Award, which recognizes a graduating senior who advances the development of innovative business practices to further social equality in the world.
Carrying Tomorrow After fulfilling the requirements for her double major, Anderson spent part of her senior year participating in the Social Justice Documentary class, which traveled Ethiopia to film a documentary called “Carrying Tomorrow” about the risks for expectant mothers who lack access to safe surgical practices. Learn more at www.carryingtomorrow.com.
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Villanova Business Summer/Fall 2019