ABOUT DAVID D’APPOLONIA
Dave D’Appolonia brought his intense passion to every endeavor. With his brilliant creativity, he was able to see challenges in new ways and craft innovative solutions. His careers spanned– MIT professor, engineer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and angel investor. He supported numerous early-stage companies in our region and he was a social entrepreneur who sought to improve the world. His support of others went well beyond investing. He took a personal interest in the lives and dreams of the people with whom he interacted. He encouraged them to succeed and gave generously of his time to help them.
Dave was particularly interested in social ventures. He orchestrated the investment activities at the Pittsburgh Social Ventures Partners working intently with non-profits to improve the lives of children and their families. As a board member of Propel Schools, he helped to improve public education in Southwestern Pennsylvania; working with Blue Tree Allied Angels, he evaluated investment opportunities in regional early-stage companies; involved with the Working Boys Center in Ecuador, he helped poor families improve their economic condition. Dave was always on the move, always challenging himself and others, always entrepreneurial in his endeavors, with passion and compassion. In his family and friends, his spirit and legacy lives on.
“There is no single right way to live. To figure out what way is best for you – what values work best for you – you need to test these different ways in the laboratory of living. While eventually you need to be judgmental in choosing what works for you, you should start with openness to all points of view. If you do this, you will probably decide that the best way to live is to aspire to virtues such as honesty, caring for others, fairness and good citizenship. And hopefully you will also aspire to pursue the highest standard of excellence in whatever practices you engage in. You will have arrived when you prefer to find the truth rather than win the argument. And you will love wisdom - not power or fame or possessions.”
-David D’Appolonia
PROGRAM DETAILS
INTRODUCTION TO POSITIVE DEVIANCE
Positive deviance (PD) is a development approach that is based on the premise that solutions to community problems already exist within the community. The positive deviance approach thus differs from traditional "needs based" or problem-solving approaches in that it does not focus primarily on identification of needs and the external inputs necessary to meet those needs or solve problems. Instead it seeks to identify and optimize existing resources and solutions within the community to solve community problems.
To read about Positive Deviance projects around the globe visit
Positive Deviance Initiative: http://www.positivedeviance.org/projects/
Harvard Business Review article: Download PDF
Fast-Company article: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/41/sternin.html
SPEAKERS
JERRY STERNIN
Jerry Sternin, the Founder and Co-Director of the Positive Deviance Initiative at Tufts University, has extensive experience working with PD around the world. Among his other accomplishments, he has been the country director for Save the Children (US) in Bangladesh, Philippines, Vietnam, Egypt and most recently, Burma. He has been a Peace Corps Volunteer and Country Director in Rwanda, Mauritania, Nepal and the Philippines, as well as Assistant Dean and Student Advisor at the Harvard Business School.
MONIQUE STERNIN
Monique Sternin the Founder and Co-Director of the Positive Deviance initiative at Tufts University. Her experience has been in the experimental use of the PD approach in such areas as advocacy against FGM in Egypt, condom usage for commercial sex workers in Myanmar and maternal & newborn care in Pakistan. Her passion for the PD approach stems from its successful impact in improving lives of thousands of men, women and children throughout the world.
JON C. LLOYD, M.D., FACS,
Dr Lloyd received his Medical Degree from the University of Utah School Of Medicine in 1968. From 1968 to 1976, he completed his training in general, thoracic and vascular surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Lloyd served as Chairman, Department of Surgery, Shadyside Hospital from 1978-1988.
In 1997, Dr. Lloyd participated in the founding of the Pittsburgh Regional Healthcare Initiative (PRHI) with former Alcoa C.E.O. and United States Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill. He practiced fulltime at UPMC-Shadyside Hospital until 2002, when he became Medical Advisor to PRHI.
In July 2004, he became Pittsburgh Project Coordinator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) to work on a community-wide effort to eliminate endemic Methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)and system wide prevention of healthcare acquired MRSA infections at VAPHS.
Dr. Lloyd has recently accepted a position with the Plexus Institute as Senior Clinical Advisor for MRSA Prevention to amplify the MRSA prevention work done in Pittsburgh, the RWJ beta sites and Maryland in healthcare facilities nationally.
http://www.positivedeviance.org/projects/pittmrsa/VAPHS_Singhal_Greiner.pdf
AWARDS
Social Venture Award
This award is granted to the member of Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners who epitomizes the heart, the commitment, and the energy that Dave brought to PSVP and our Investees. The award winner will receive a $500 donation to the charity of their choice.
Entrepreneurial Award
The MIT Enterprise Forum of Pittsburgh, together with the D’Appolonia Family and The BlueTree Capital Group are proud to honor the legacy of a uniquely-accomplished entrepreneur, David D’Appolonia. Dave’s legacy will be honored each year, by recognizing individual accomplishments in the advancement of entrepreneuring. Nominations for the 2008 Award are currently being sought. Consideration for nomination is intentionally broad, from CEO’s, to angel investors to legislators to industry leaders to academics, in recognition of the broad reach and impact of entrepreneurship in our region. We are seeking your nomination of individuals who exhibit entrepreneuring excellence and have contributed time and intellect to its pursuit.
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