Social Intrapreneurship for Innovation in Health Course
This is a six-week online, facilitated, and interactive course, focused on changemaker talent development, skill-building, and real-life application. The training is free of charge, but requires a time commitment of two hours minimum per week.
Next course dates: April 13 to May 29, 2026
Applications are now closed. Selected participants will be contacted on April 9, 2026.
Course Description
In our rapidly changing world, employee skills—such as intrapreneurship, agility, teamwork, empathy and collaborative leadership— are fundamental to an institution’s ability to innovate and grow into the future. The pitfalls of ignoring these skills can lead to loss of opportunity and competitiveness, along with increased redundancy and inefficiency. Social intrapreneurship is a methodology for sparking, cultivating, advancing and scaling social innovation within institutions. It involves intrapreneurial employees capitalizing on trends such as technology advancement and globalization, and deploying agile, startup strategies.
Ashoka, one of the world’s largest networks of social entrepreneurs and Boehringer Ingelheim, a world-leading health company, have come together to create the six-week online course: Social Intrapreneurship for Innovation in Health. This course is part of the global “Making More Health” initiative to explore innovative pathways to improve access to healthcare for people, animals, and communities around the world. In this course, you will connect with a global community of health professionals from across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors and convene to learn intrapreneurial strategies for creating social and business impact in the health and wellness space.
In this course you will:
Prepare for a leading role in creating social and business impact within your institution
Gain skills and strategies to garner internal and external support for innovative projects
Learn how to collaborate and advance innovation in a bureaucratic setting
Develop intrapreneurial strategies for co-creation and prototyping
Connect with a network of intrapreneurs and innovators to share ideas and gain continuous support on your own innovation ideas
Engage with the global Ashoka network, including Ashoka Fellows, staff and other innovators
Recent examples of what participants have done as a result of this experience
"I just started a community-owned ambulance service business"
"I completed 200hr yoga teacher training along with 20hrs trauma-sensitive training, and have developed a teaching style that is inclusive. I have recently signed up to work with a nonprofit mental health support group in our community as well as with Healing Heroes, which teaches yoga and meditation to first responders and veterans"
"I have not started a new project, but rather used the learnings from the course to generate ideas for my ongoing work, both together with other people at Boehringer Ingelheim and on my own projects. I am much more aware of the impact and importance of social innovation. At the moment, I am particularly working on getting the patient more involved in drug development programmes"
"Two of my colleagues and I launched an initiative for treatment and prevention of foot diabetes wounds, driven by the suffering of the community around us and what we have learned from you. At the time I write this, I am going to a meeting to discuss clinical trials on patients"
Module 1: The Business Case for Social Intrapreneurship
Module 1 explores the concept and definition of social intrapreneurship and investigates the business case for fostering intrapreneurship within institutions. Participants are exposed to real world examples and applications to the health sector.
On Module 2, we look into the importance of defining and understanding the challenges surrounding social intrapreneurship through market research and patient needs. We review examples of these challenges, with attention paid to communicating and framing the problem in a way that is be compelling and understandable to your audience.
Module 3: Strategies for Advancing Social Innovation Within Your Institution
An innovative idea only is not enough to advance an initiative within your institution. Module 3 explores the practical strategies and steps that social intrapreneurs can take when navigating bureaucratic and institutional obstacles.
Module 4: Co-Creation Part I: Leveraging Shared Value
Co-Creation is an opportunity for businesses to spark the next generation of sustainable solutions through collaboration with the social sector. New business models and ideas can be inspired by working closely with non-traditional partners, beginning with social entrepreneurs. Module 4 unlocks the concept of co-creation through real world examples of products, services or business models built out of co-creation.
Module 5: Co-Creation Part II: Idea Development and Pitching
Idea development and pitches are two potent tools for social intrapreneurs at an early stage of their innovations. This module will review the fundamentals of both, offer best practices, and look at case studies.
Module 6: Final Review and Wrap-up
The final module of the course is an exercise in reflection for course participants and is an opportunity to review all the content covered to date. It also enables participants to crystallize their professional connections made as a result of this course and debate concepts explored throughout. Participants are also invited to join the Making More Health virtual conference, to expand their learnings and grow their networks.
My key insight from the course is that meaningful social impact can be achieved by initiating change within existing organizations. (…) This involves identifying unmet needs, building internal coalitions, and effectively presenting compelling business cases for health innovations.
M. B.
Boehringer Ingelheim, Egypt
I am proud to work for an organization that is forward thinking and looking for ways to Make More Health in our communities. This course helped me to understand the steps to getting something from an idea to becoming a fully supported project
D. M.
Boehringer Ingelheim, USA
The biggest take home was that I can be a social intrapreneur! The case studies and the speakers convinced me that it is possible for one person to make a positive difference to many. I am more aware of the hurdles that will need to be overcome, but also strategies for overcoming them.
C. Y.
Boehringer Ingelheim, New Zealand
I see the value in fostering distributed leadership and encouraging others to take initiative, especially in environments where innovation and adaptability are key. As I complete this course, I’m inspired to apply these principles in my professional life by promoting co-creation, supporting intrapreneurial thinking, and using inclusive...
M. L. D
Boehringer Ingelheim, Italy
From this course, I feel like I found ‘my people’. (…) This course helped me realize that there are so many people out there that feel a burning in their soul to do what they believe will make the world a better place.
A.S
Collaborative Center for Social Innovation, USA
One of my biggest takeaways is the power of co-creation and systems thinking in building truly sustainable and impactful social innovations. The frameworks around shared value, inclusive collaboration, prototyping and storytelling have given me new lenses to evaluate and amplify the work I already do (…)
Ashoka
Social Intrapreneurship for Innovation in Health Course
This is a six-week online, facilitated, and interactive course, focused on changemaker talent development, skill-building, and real-life application. The training is free of charge, but requires a time commitment of two hours minimum per week.
Next course dates: April 13 to May 29, 2026
Applications are now closed. Selected participants will be contacted on April 9, 2026.