Building Resilient Healthcare Systems: Lessons from My MBA Journey, the Value Chain Academy, and Network Catalyzation

Photo by Eben Kassaye on Unsplash

Access to quality healthcare remains one of the defining challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). From inconsistent supply chains to medicine quality concerns, the hurdles to reliable healthcare are both systemic and persistent. For the past three years, I’ve had the privilege of leading the Value Chain Academy (VCA), a pioneering initiative that strengthens healthcare systems in resource-limited settings by weaving together education, partnerships, and systems thinking.

During my MBA journey, I deepened this work by analyzing VCA as a case study in my dissertation, with a focus on Botswana. This research revealed strategies not only for scaling the program but also for embedding it into broader systems transformation that is essential for sustainable change. It underscored a core message from the Reimagined Value Collective: we’re not just training staff, we’re shaping how ecosystems of professionals, organizations, and stakeholders co-evolve to build resilience.

The Systemic Challenge

Healthcare systems in LMICs face continuous weaknesses. In some regions, only 55–65% of medicines from verified supplies actually reach patients. In Botswana, 31% of medicines tested did not meet quality standards, a sobering indicator of broader vulnerabilities that include workforce shortages, inadequate technology, and fragile verification systems.

It is in this context that the Value Chain Academy was established by Novartis Global Health in 2018. Through digital-first learning, modular content tailored to local contexts, and multi-sector collaboration, VCA has unlocked new approaches to strengthening healthcare capacity. More than a training program, it aligns with Reimagined Value’s concept of societal learning, embedding reflection, shared meaning, and adaptive action into the systems on which health resilience depends.

Photo by Jeff Trierweiler on Unsplash

Systems in Action: The Value Chain Academy

As a leader and researcher, I’ve seen how targeted education can catalyze systemic change when designed for local realities. VCA follows a five-step deployment model: Discover, Design, Implement, Monitor and Review, anchored by modules that build concrete capabilities in supply chain management and quality assurance.

Highlights from the Botswana rollout include:

• 59% participant completion rate, illustrating engagement and the value of flexible, interactive design.

• A Social Impact Value equivalent of USD 15,670, signaling measurable contributions to human capital and economic well-being.

• Recognition in the Access to Medicine Index (ATMI) for building resilience and strengthening medicine access pathways.

These achievements have paved the way for global expansion, with the Philippines becoming the first implementation outside Africa. The emphasis on continuous monitoring and sensemaking ensures that VCA delivers not just knowledge, but adaptive capacity, a direct enabler of long-term systemic resilience.

Scaling Through Networks and Systems Awareness

One of the most critical lessons from Botswana is clear: genuine transformation cannot be delivered top-down. It requires adaptation to local contexts while staying connected to global frameworks such as the SDGs. VCA achieves this by offering mobile-accessible content, aligning with professional accreditation bodies, and rooting programs in cultural and institutional realities.

The approach is something that I am working on bringing to additional health systems strengthening projects such Sustainable Health & Wellbeing which aims to identify and meaningfully connect existing efforts across sectors, stakeholders and geographic levels, to build generative collective intelligence. 

This is not simply about capacity building; it is about systems co-evolution. By connecting diverse actors, health workers, policymakers, communities, and private sector partners, we are fostering trust, shared learning, and a forward-looking map of opportunities. This helps position the Academy not just as a training platform, but as a strategic accelerator for resilience, contributing to ESG outcomes, de-risking investment in fragile systems, and elevating long-term value for both communities and stakeholders.

Photo by Chidy Young on Unsplash

A Personal Reflection

This work has been deeply inspiring. Beyond programmatic milestones and metrics lies a bigger impact: creating resilience where it matters most in systems that directly shape people’s access to health and well-being. My MBA journey reinforced the lesson that education, collaboration, and networks are not peripheral to transformation; they are transformation.

The journey is far from over. The Value Chain Academy experience has helped me shape Reimagined Value’s network catalysation and advisory services. It has strengthened my belief in the power of small, consistent efforts to drive enduring change. Whether you are a healthcare professional, policymaker, or an engaged citizen, each of us has a role in ensuring that accessible, quality healthcare can become a reality for all.

It’s important to recognize that systemic healthcare challenges are not limited to sub-Saharan Africa or LMICs; they affect even the most advanced OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. The ongoing polycrisis spanning pandemics, climate change, and geopolitical instability has exposed vulnerabilities worldwide. Building resilience requires that education, collaboration, and networks evolve beyond individual skills to enable system-wide adaptability and transformation in every context, local and global alike.

So, let’s keep the conversation alive: how can education, collaboration, and networks expand from shaping individual skills to reshaping entire systems for resilience?

Photo by Dominik Berger on Unsplash