Public Health is Good for Business

The CUNY Public Health Innovation Accelerator is an initiative of Firefly Innovations at the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. 

The Accelerator is designed to help entrepreneurs access the tools and resources necessary to create and implement robust, scalable, and equitable public health solutions.

Ventures are immersed in a unique community of peers, mentors and industry experts through weekly workshops, presentations, consultations, one-on-one support, and a showcase event.

Accelerator Benefits

  • Inclusive & Accessible

    We accelerate the growth of ventures in all sectors with an online program, open to the public, helping entrepreneurs use their products or services to solve public health challenges.

  • Tremendous Value

    Ventures in the Accelerator receive an estimated $25,000 in consulting and mentoring services and other benefits.

    All at no cost to the venture.

  • Accelerated Growth

    We provide access to resources, expertise, networks and markets for entrepreneurs to solve public health challenges.

  • Incredible Success Stories

    With our support and ongoing engagement after completing the Accelerator, many of our ventures secure new contracts, funding, pilot projects and partnerships.

  • Scaling for Impact

    This is the 5th annual CUNY Public Health Innovation Accelerator focused on health equity and helping participating entrepreneurs scale their ventures for public health impact.

  • University Partnership

    The Accelerator is an initiative of Firefly Innovations at the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. CUNY is the largest urban public university in the U.S. and it’s dedicated to advancing health and social justice.

Accelerator Overview

  • Ventures are immersed in a community of peers, mentors and industry experts through weekly workshops, presentations, consultations and a showcase event with monetary awards. 

  • The Accelerator brings together a diverse community of partners from all sectors that have a shared passion for solving public health challenges throughout the world.

Venture Guidelines

  • Ventures with diverse expertise and experience from any sector interested in using their product or service to help solve public health challenges.

  • Ventures with a prototype or operating service.

  • Ventures are eligible to apply for the Accelerator if they operate an existing venture, which has a nonprofit, for-profit or hybrid corporate structure.

Making Waves

What are people saying?

“The accelerator’s managing director Michael encouraged me to apply and it was clear right from the start that I made the right decision.”

Emi Mahmoud | Senior Growth Manager, Speetar

“Honored to be an alumni of the Firefly Innovations CUNY Public Health Innovation Accelerator lead by the great Terry Huang!”

Jie Feng, PhD | Co-Founder & CEO, KELLS

“I feel like this program was designed for me.”

Lauren Elliot, Candlelit Therapy

“The mentorship and knowledge our team received participating in this accelerator has been indispensable for our business.”

Demi Fortson, Mendü

“This is what public health innovation looks like.”

Sumana Chandra, MPH | Director, Communications and College Relations, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health

“In an era of renewed global inequality, this accelerator is truly a safe space, as I am connected to community that truly understands and delivers on my needs.”

Austin Serio | ShockTalk

2023 Changemakers

Accelerator Participants

Click on a participant to learn more.

2023 Ventures

Accelerator Participants

Click on a venture to learn more.

2023 Workshop Leaders

Click on a workshop leader to learn more.

Entrepreneurship in Health Equity

Paul Amajor
Director of Health Equity & Strategic Initiatives
Healthfirst

Presenting & Storytelling

Jacqueline Baker
Founder and Principal Consultant
Scarlet

Social Impact Storytelling

Dr. Tariana V. Little
CEO, Co-Founder
EmVision Productions

Financials & Market Research

Lucea Egea
Orchestrator and Professor
Headspring

Impact Measurement

Concepción "Conchita" Galdon
Lead of Sustainable Impact Teaching and Research
IE University

Research Studies & Partnerships

Sara Chokshi
Independent Consultant
Digital Health Research, Innovation & Strategy

G2M & Digital Positioning

Laura Schulte
Founder
Project Renaissance Innovation Advisory

Strategy & Scaling

W. Michael Short Managing Director of Firefly Innovations. Senior Director at the Center for Systems & Community Design. City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health

2023 Mentors

Accelerator mentors are vital to the success of the participating startups. Mentors are individuals with industry experience and expertise who have the wisdom, lived experience, and background to provide guidance to startup founders.

Click on a mentor to learn more.

 
 

2023 Program

The 2023 CUNY Public Health Innovation Accelerator is operated with support from coLab.

Click on a tab to learn more.

  • Sessions:

    Entrepreneurship in Health Equity - Where Mission meets Margin

    Introduction to the CUNY Public Health Innovation Accelerator

  • Sessions:

    Social Impact Storytelling

    Harvest Activity

    Mentor Session 1

  • Sessions:

    Research Studies and Healthcare Partnerships

    Harvest Activity

    Mentor Session 2

  • Sessions:

    G2M and Digital Positioning

    Harvest Activity

    Mentor Session 3

  • Sessions:

    Showcase Presenting and Leadership

    Harvest Activity

    Mentor Session 4

  • Sessions:

    Impact Measurement

    Harvest Activity

    Mentor Session 5

  • Sessions:

    Financials and Market Research

    Harvest Activity

    Mentor Session 6

  • Sessions:

    Showcase Preparation

    Showcase

Accelerator FAQ

We appreciate your interest and look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Click on a tab to learn more.

  • The accelerator begins on June 1st and ends on July 20th. There will be weekly scheduled workshops and mentor sessions. Each workshop will last up to 3 hours each Wednesday 10am-1pm. Mentoring sessions will last up to 1 hour with a team of mentors and will take place each Thursday at either 10am or 11am.

  • All applicants are reviewed by the organizers of this accelerator, which include internal and external partners. Applicants will be graded on a rubric that includes the following considerations, feasibility of the operational or technical solution, understanding of the problem and market, business model development, and expertise alignment of the team.

  • All of the participating ventures will virtually present their solutions on July 20th, 2023 to a public audience of entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and more in a 5-minute pitch with a 7-minute Q&A. Judges from across sectors rank the ventures and announce the top 3 for monetary awards. All ventures are for-profit and have backgrounds in public health, science and engineering, tech development, business, and more.

  • Public health covers a broad range of subject areas, from healthcare to food access, environment to education, or sanitation to water, because all of these issues ultimately impact public health.

    Even if you are not directly involved in the field of public health, you can generate a public health impact. Whether you are a scientist, a lawyer, or an artist, you can be a change agent.

    To learn more about public health goals, visit Healthy People 2030 to understand the vision of the public health field.

  • There is not a specific focus beyond an approach that addresses health equity. However, here are some examples of categories of companies that have applied to past accelerators. Data Capture, Sharing & Analytics, Telemedicine, Streamlined Virtual Care, Medical Transportation, Chronic Disease Management & Monitoring, Care Coordination & Collaboration, Decision Assist, Population Health Management, Digital Marketplace Enablement, and Health e-Learning / Education, and much more.

  • Participating ventures come from any sector and produce public health impact. Venture teams can be a nonprofit, for-profit or social ventures. Teams are made up of all backgrounds and disciplines. Ventures do not have to be in the health sector or be made up of health professionals to qualify. Whether participants are scientists, lawyers, marketers, engineers, artists, students or teachers, they all become public health entrepreneurs through this accelerator.

  • Even though this Solveathon will focus on specific global health challenges, we encourage people of all backgrounds to apply. We strive to have a diverse collection of participants from different sectors to work together. For example, we would like engineers, health practitioners, students, coders, artists, marketers, business specialists, and many more to apply.

  • No, the Accelerator does not have an equity requirement.

Community of Partners

We’re very thankful for our many supporters and partners past and present.