For Kaakpema "KP" Yelpaala, the definition of innovation is pretty simple.
"'Innovation' isn't just about discovering something new, it's about taking what we already know works and translating it to reach people at scale," said Yelpaala '06 M.P.H., senior fellow and lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH). "The real gap isn't only knowledge; it's translation and scale."
Yelpaala practices what he preaches. The global entrepreneur and public health practitioner has spent decades working across the public and private sectors in the United States, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean, specifically in digital health and health care innovation.
After spending years designing and scaling public health programs internationally, Yelpaala turned to a private-sector, tech-enabled approach to extend the reach of his work. In 2018, he launched InOn Health, a venture-backed digital health company that uses digital communication channels and consumer insights to expand access to health care services in the U.S. Earlier, he founded access.mobile International, one of the first venture-backed digital health companies focused on the African health sector, which developed solutions to improve access to health information and services in 13 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa.
"The common thread across the companies I've built, whether in the U.S. or emerging markets, was using technology, data, and consumer insight to improve access to care at scale," Yelpaala said. "That often meant working with and through the private sector to serve populations that are difficult to reach and engage."
