Neilesh Patel

Neilesh Patel
Born
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materJohns Hopkins University University of California Los Angeles
Occupation(s)American humanitarian and social entrepreneur

Neilesh Patel is a social entrepreneur and American humanitarian[1] who serves as Founder and CEO of HealthCare Volunteer, an online global health non-profit organization, and Healthsouk, a dental insurance alternative with no monthly fee. Patel won the 2013 Jefferson Awards for Public Service for Greatest Public Service by an Individual Under Age 35 in June 2013 for his service in facilitating healthcare to over 1 million people worldwide.[2] The Jefferson Award's previous winners include Steve Jobs, Bobby Jindal, Peyton Manning and Lance Armstrong.[3][4] He is also credited with starting Healthsouk, America's first free dental plan and is credited with being the inventor of real-time pricing for health services. He launched it in 2011 in response to the lack to dental coverage provided in the Affordable Care Act.[5][6] Other companies were forced to follow suit on creating a free dental plan after HealthSouk started to disrupt the dental discount plan subscription model.[7][8][9]

Early life

He graduated with a degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, and a Doctorate in Dental Surgery from UCLA School of Dentistry. Neilesh spent two summers working at Netscape, focusing on Y2K date change development. For his hard work and determination, he was bestowed with a Netscape jacket.[10]

Work

Before working on HealthCare Volunteer, Patel worked on other social enterprises such as StudentsHelp.org Consulting starting at age 17.[11] Patel was awarded the 2013 National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service by a Citizen Under Age 35 [12] Patel was awarded the UCLA CEY Humanitarian Award in 2008 and an honorary certificate in Global Health from UCLA School of Public Health for his work in global health volunteering.[13] Patel was also awarded as a 2007 International Youth Foundation Global Laureate YouthActionNet Fellow and a semi-finalist in the Echoing Green Competition.[14][15]

Politics

Neilesh Patel holds multiple government appointments an including a previous stint as the Public Services Representative on the Children's Policy Council for the State of Texas, Public health consultant for the FDA Dental Devices Panel and Dental Consultant for the Tulare County Office of Education Early Childhood Program.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Nominations for JHU Alumni Association Awards". jhu.edu. 2013-09-10. Retrieved 2013-09-10.
  2. ^ "Neilesh Patel Wins National Jefferson Award for Public Service". indiawest.com. 2013-07-04. Archived from the original on 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  3. ^ "National Winners | public service awards". Jefferson Awards.org. Archived from the original on 2010-11-24. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  4. ^ "Neilesh Patel Wins National Jefferson Award for Public Service". recorderonline.com. 2013-06-29. Archived from the original on 2013-09-30. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  5. ^ David Niles (2011-08-25). "Worcester Telegram & Gazette". Mediawebsite.net. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  6. ^ "Backed By Twilio, SV Angel & 500 Startups, HealthSouk Brings Affordable Dental Care To California". TechCrunch. 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  7. ^ "Brighter Launches A New, Free Version Of Its Dental Service To Bring Affordable Care To The Uninsured". TechCrunch. 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  8. ^ "HealthSouk Startup Launches Affordable Dental Care "Marketplace" For Californians". Rightstartups.com. 2013-04-14. Archived from the original on 2013-10-02. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  9. ^ "CDA 2012: Audio with HealthSouk - SoundCloud". Dental Products Report. 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  10. ^ Kivowitz, Elizabeth (2008-04-28). "3 students to receive UCLA humanitarian award for community service / UCLA Newsroom". Newsroom.ucla.edu. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  11. ^ "Welcome to". Studentshelp.org. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  12. ^ Published: June 19, 2013 1:18 PM. "Jefferson Awards Announces Strategic Alliance with the NFL Player Engagement, Charles Fazzino and IvyConnect, While Celebrating 41 Years of Honoring Service to Others". Newsday.com. Retrieved 2013-06-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Here-and-now heroes: Humanitarian Award winners / UCLA Spotlight". Spotlight.ucla.edu. 2008-04-28. Archived from the original on 2010-07-06. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  14. ^ "Young Leader in United States Chosen to Receive Global Award". ft.com. 2007-04-15. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  15. ^ "20 Leaders Chosen as YouthActionNet Fellows". nokia.com. 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  16. ^ "HealthCare Volunteer Founder, Neilesh Patel, named National Jefferson Award winner in Washington DC". DentistryIQ. Retrieved 2013-06-20.