There’s no question that Harvard Business School (HBS) alumni are making their mark in the health care sector. The question is, what is the best way to tap into the insights of these 8,000+ alumni? How can we facilitate meaningful connections between alumni and students? And how can we use those connections to advance innovation in health care? As it turns out, gathering people around the dinner table is a great place to start. In cities across the globe, HBS alumni and students are periodically meeting for small-group dinners organized by the HBS Health Care Initiative (HCI) and HBS Healthcare Alumni Association (HBSHAA). [...]

Twelve HBS faculty toured hospitals and health care organizations around the Boston area as part of a day-long excursion. Dubbed “Health Care Delivery in Boston: Fostering Innovation in a Cost-Constrained Environment”, the excursion was sponsored by the Division of Research & Faculty Development (DRFD) and led by Health Care Initiative Faculty Chair Rob Huckman and Director Cara Sterling. “Given that we have so many industry leaders and innovators right here in Boston,” Huckman explained, “We wanted to connect some of them with our faculty, tour their operations, and spur insightful conversations.” [...]

This past summer, Founding Faculty Chair Vicki Sato, six Blavatnik Fellows and a few sous chefs (aka significant others) spent an evening at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts cooking up business ideas and perfecting their recipe for success. There are many parallels between cooking and creating businesses from scratch. Both encourage teams to work with a spirit of creative collaboration, set goals, delegate tasks, develop skills, meet timelines, and in the end enjoy the delicious rewards of a job well done. [...]