Working in and with the Harlem community, Greg Ho (’74 TC) promotes new ventures to create local jobs in life sciences and ed-tech

Greg spent 16 years as a top manager at McKinsey & Company and is co-founder of Spring Mountain Capital in New York City, a private investment firm that invests in tech and healthcare companies.

Now he has channeled his energy into West Harlem Innovation Network, an initiative to “build companies that bring revolutionary technologies to the Harlem community and, in turn, create hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs for Harlemites.”

In this ’74 lunchtime talk, Greg explains how this effort to give back to the community came about, and how it incorporates different strands of his business and life experience.

Recorded March 8, 2022. Hosted by Alec Haverstick. Runtime 46 minutes. See chapter breaks below.

Chapter breaks in this video:
0:00 Greg’s opening remarks
16:50 – Q&A – Can you replicate this elsewhere?
22:55 – What’s the status of the Harlem companies?
27:50 – How will you measure success?
32:19 – How can we help?
36:27 – Establishing trust in the community
43:41 – Parting thoughts

Mark Cramolini (’74 DC), a critical care specialist, volunteered to fight the first wave of COVID-19 at a Bronx hospital.

Mark’s home base is East TN Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, TN. But in April 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 struck New York City, he volunteered his skills in critical care medicine at the overwhelmed Jack D. Weiler Hospital in the Bronx.

As a warm-up to this ’74 lunchtime talk, Mark encourages you to watch the short video Life and Death in the ‘Hot Zone’ from the New York Times, which captures the chaotic scene at the hospital. (In the video, an emergency room doctor says “Get them upstairs!” — referring to the makeshift Intensive Care Unit where Mark worked for 10 days.)

Recorded on Zoom February 8, 2022. Hosted by Alec Haverstick. Runtime: 60 minutes. Chapter breaks appear below.

Chapter breaks in this video:

0:00 – Introduction
12:05 – Into the COVID zone
23:47– Plight of the patients
43:40 – My medical teammates
51:45 – My take-aways