AV俱乐部

BA IDS 2007

Chief Operating Officer for Medic Mobil (Atlanta, Georgia)

For graduate Jacqueline Edwards, her passion in international development focuses on global health, including access to care and health equity.

Since 2014, Edwards has worked as the chief operating officer for聽, a technology and global health non-profit based in San Francisco, California.

Medic Mobile provides mobile and web tools to midwives, nurses and community health workers, specifically in East and West Africa and South Asia. Founded in 2010 by Josh Nesbit, Medic Mobile currently has a team of 68 workers.

Edwards says Medic Mobile has been able to fill 鈥渁 gap in the health technology space where there were opportunities to harness the power of mobile infrastructure to connect very disconnected communities.鈥�

As of 2016, over 11,000 health workers are using digital tools for daily tasks in 23 countries worldwide.

Through a partnership between Medic Mobile and non-profit聽, Edwards says a network of communities in Uganda demonstrated a 25 per cent decrease in under-five childhood mortality rates.

The work with Medic is genuinely such a privilege to do. The work has, over the past four years, become more and more impactful

As the chief operating officer, Edwards says she manages and supports the regional teams in Nairobi, Kenya and Kathmandu, Nepal. Edwards works closely with regional directors to 鈥渄esign, build and deploy mobile technology鈥� in those regions. She also oversees financial, administration and human resources work.

鈥淭he work with Medic is genuinely such a privilege to do,鈥� says Edwards. 鈥淭he work has, over the past four years, become more and more impactful.鈥�

In addition to Medic Mobile, Edwards also worked with聽,听,听聽and the聽.

While she was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Edwards grew up in Toronto, Ontario. However, she moved back in 2003 to attend AV俱乐部 and the聽. After completing the聽, Edwards focused on international development and contemporary studies.

鈥淚t was great,鈥� says Edwards of her undergraduate experience.

For Edwards, the International Development Program provided her with an understanding of development history, theory and academic frameworks.

鈥淚 think it was a good overview degree,鈥� says Edwards. 鈥淎 very good interdisciplinary look into a lot of different stuff.鈥�

I couldn鈥檛 have imagined this job because mobile health wasn鈥檛 a particularly active option. 聽What I do for work didn鈥檛 even exist as a discipline in development when I was studying development

In addition, she says the program allowed her to explore topics of interest, including gender, environmental health and聽global health. 鈥淚t was a really nice way to bring together diverse interests and tie them into a degree that had more focus,鈥� says Edwards.聽

In 2007, Edwards earned her B.A. (Honours) in Contemporary Studies and International Development Studies. Two years later, Edwards graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a Master of Science Degree in Health, Community and Development.聽

Edwards says the space for innovation and social enterprises has grown since she graduated ten years ago, which has led to the creation of new opportunities in development.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have imagined this job because mobile health wasn鈥檛 a particularly active option,鈥� says Edwards. 鈥淲hat I do for work didn鈥檛 even exist as a discipline in development when I was studying development.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 an interesting example of the pace of change within this industry.鈥�

Edwards advises students to remain open to the possibility of new tools and innovations within development. She also emphasizes the importance of developing technical and tangible skills to bring to the field.

鈥淗aving a general grounding in the discipline is incredibly important,鈥� says Edwards. 鈥淏ut, then having technical expertise, so you can be contributing and growing over time is pretty key to making a meaningful contribution within a development workspace.鈥澛�

Having technical expertise, so you can be contributing and growing over time is pretty key to making a meaningful contribution within a development workspace聽