insight impactful Q&A with Elder Robert C. and Dr. Lynette N. Gay

The Center for Business, Health and Prosperity focuses on integrating innovation and entrepreneurship with health-enabling practices in pursuit of economic, social, and political well-being. We caught up with Center founders Elder Robert C. and Dr. Lynette N. Gay to talk about the relationship between innovation and social good, and why students are best positioned to lead the way.

Why is it important to you to support impact-oriented student experiences through the Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity?

Lynette: We have a personal and vested interest in the Center and we have seen the impact that these students have first-hand. We have seen how they’ve been able to be involved with the communities in West Africa, have that cultural experience, and then come back to their home and bring that impact with them.

Bob: Nobody has a monopoly on social impact, and inspiration can happen anywhere. If you can get students involved in the trenches, you get a much richer variety of ideas and inspiration than can happen just in a classroom setting. I think it’s the wave of the future.

What unique experiences does the partnership between Ensign Global College and the Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity provide for students to make an impact?

Lynette: It is a very personalized experience they are going to have through the Center. They will be able to work with people in the villages and local communities on a project they choose. They will have experiences in leadership, and experiences being with people from other countries and communities and cultures.

Bob: On the flip-side, the University of Utah is a world-class institution and this partnership exposes people who grew up in rural villages in West Africa to things they never would have dreamt of. Everything we are doing here is about lighting a fire of hope and possibilities in young people that are trying to go out and make a difference in the world.

Why is it important for students to build confidence in their ability to make an impact?

Bob: We want to build confidence so they can overcome all the things people tell them they are not good enough to do. If you are operating out of fear instead of confidence, you’ll never reach the potential you have.

Lynette: So many young people are so much more capable than they believe they are. As they come to the Center, it puts them in a new environment and gets them out of their comfort zone. They discover new attributes and strengths and interests they didn’t have before. Life

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Outside of your involvement with the U, what are other ways you try to make an impact?

We have seven children, 22 grandchildren, and a lot of extended family so we think of family a lot when we think about where we want to have an impact. How can we inspire them and try to lift

Lynette: Mother Teresa said you can be one tiny pebble, but when you are thrown into a pond the ripple effect goes on forever. We want to support our family and dear friends and the associates that support us, and support all the good things we have an opportunity to. ■