The Leaders Innovation Lab (LIL) was among the core programs launched at CITY this fall. The Lab united 13 student leaders from across Yale to explore and foster innovative leadership. Every Monday, for six weeks, the students met in CITY’s incubator for a two-hour case-based workshop led by myself and Haywood Perry III (M.Div. '19). Energized by a delicious New Haven meal and an ‘Innovation Station’ warm-up, they jumped into the session.

Nicole Gusman (MPH ’18) was working as a health educator for a nonprofit youth program in San Rafael, California, when she discovered a pervasive problem. Girls in need of emergency contraception services were often unable to access them in the necessary 72 hours after unprotected sex for a variety of reasons that included fear of asking and a lack of easily accessible information.

Wazhma Sadat (YC ’14, YLS ’19) was just four years old when the Taliban came to power in her native Afghanistan. Immediately, school was banned for all girls, and her young hope of joining her four older sisters and two brothers in starting school was dashed.

One challenge at YHack, the Yale University student-run hackathon held December 1-3, had a particularly timely theme. Find a way to combat fake news - stories from less-than-reputable sources that are easily shared via social media sites – and win a trip to Washington, DC to brief Congressional leaders on your findings.

One of Tsai CITY’s latest Mentors-in-Residence, Peter Boyd, has been a consistent welcoming presence in Yale’s social entrepreneurship circles.

Kate Harrison (MEM ’09) thought she was going into environmental law. Instead, her degree from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies led her to found her own marketing consulting business, Kate L. Harrison Consulting, by way of launching (and selling) a startup called Green Bride Guide, an online resource that connected couples and planners with eco-friendly wedding options, from dresses to favors.

A recent panel discussion held as part of the Yale Women Innovators Series featured five women from across the undergraduate and professional schools sharing their experiences in entrepreneurship—Nya Holder (YC ’17, MPH ’18), Dianna Liu (SOM ’18), Zoe Lloyd (SOM/FES '17), Alice Conant (MPH ‘18) and Arsema Thomas (MPH ’18).

Igor Lichtmann started his music career playing electric guitar in heavy metal bands in Germany. But his mother, a professional pianist, knew the value of top-notch teachers and when Lichtmann took an interest in classical guitar at age 17, she encouraged him to aim high.

Techstars Chief Operating Officer Jenny Lawton recently spoke at a Yale Women Innovators event where she discussed her career trajectory, emphasizing the importance of failure. She spoke, too, of the worldwide startup community Techstars which offers a variety of entrepreneurship initiatives, corporate collaborations and accelerator programs.