Associação Saúde Criança: Trying to Break the Cycle of Poverty and Illness at Scale
Dr. Vera Cordeiro founded the NGO Associação Saúde Criança in 1991 to try to help poor families break the cycle of poverty and illness in Brazil. She and her team of employees and volunteers developed a holistic methodology to address the multidimensional sources of poverty based on the pillars of health, housing, citizenship, income, and education. After introducing the seeds of this approach, the case examines the evolution of the organization’s attempts to grow its social impact in Brazil and beyond—including a loose network of sister organizations, social franchising, licensing agreements, and government adoption.
Keywords: social innovation; NGO; scaling; Health; Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Non-Governmental Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Poverty; Health Industry; South America; Brazil;
Citation:
Battilana, Julie, Marissa Kimsey, Priscilla Zogbi, and Johanna Mair. "Associação Saúde Criança: Trying to Break the Cycle of Poverty and Illness at Scale." Harvard Business School Case 419-048, December 2018. (Revised February 2019.) View Details
