In Chapter 8 of 16, social entrepreneur and technology consultant Michael Olsen starts a non-profit with a focus on measurable and scalable positive outcomes. Olsen finds initial computer lab financing efforts difficult to map to outcomes (e.g. national testing, job placement) and looks to alternative project ideas. He finds intestinal parasites a huge challenge across schoolchildren and focuses project financing on high-impact, low-cost deworming medication solutions that connect 30,000 medicated students to an added 6,000 years of community schooling as a result of fewer sick days and drop outs.
Michael Olsen is the co-founder and executive of the non-profit organization Kilifi Kids (www.kilifikids.org) and is based in Atanta, Georgia. Michael is currently pursuing a joint masters degree in business administration (MBA) and public health (MPH) at Emory University in Atlanta. Olsen graduated from Stanford University, where he studied symbolic systems and the synthesis of computers, psychology, and philosophy. After graduating Stanford, Olsen started web and SaaS applications consultancy Redwood Strategies.