Amy Fan
MBA/MPH 19
Co-founder, President & Chief Product Officer
Twentyeight Health
I intended to use my MBA studies to move from the beauty industry to health and wellness. I quickly realized the need to fully understand the intricacies of the US healthcare system before I could create accessible consumer services. Fortunately, the MBA/MPH dual degree program satisfied both objectives.
Being able to do two internships is one of the many benefits of the 18-month MBA/MPH program. I experienced two different trend-setting aspects of health care: digital health and biotech.
Professor Kim MacPherson, the MBA/MPH program director, connected me with alumni in healthcare VC and entrepreneurship as I was co-founding Twentyeight Health. Their input was valuable to building a path toward our growth as a venture-backed business.
Cross-disciplinary, hands-on approach brings learning to life
Being an entrepreneur means being comfortable navigating ambiguity, and the cross-disciplinary courses have helped me prepare for many situations that I never expected!
I am passionate about building a diverse team, and Interpersonal Leadership & Development helped me deepen my empathy to better communicate and collaborate with people from various backgrounds.
Additionally, Professor Cameron Anderson helped me apply learnings from Power and Politics to understand how certain actions and behaviors can impact perception – which is particularly useful as a minority female entrepreneur fundraising in the male-dominated VC world.
Pursuing a startup
Women face many barriers to access sexual and reproductive health. Twentyeight Health wants to increase access so all women can get the healthcare services they need and feel empowered about their sexual and reproductive wellbeing.
I was able to tailor my experience at Haas, including extracurriculars as a Haas Venture Fellow and InSITE fellow, to pursue entrepreneurship and to develop Twentyeight Heath.
The support from the Haas community has been a source of strength and motivation. I’m inspired by the other entrepreneurs in my class. We created a network to support each other through the highs and lows and to remind each other to celebrate the wins!
INTERNSHIP
Genentech
JOB PRIOR TO HAAS
General Manager
Onomie Beauty
PREVIOUS DEGREE
BCom, Business
Queen's University
Canada