ABOUT SOLUTIONS FOR SOCIETY
Solutions for Society is an annual event that aims to educate and inspire people about the power of individual innovation in creating social change. The event is a joint effort by the MIT Enterprise Forum Pittsburgh, the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship, Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners, Carnegie Mellon University and the D’Appolonia Family. Participants have the unique opportunity to learn from experts, network, explore new ideas, and consider career paths focused on social entrepreneurship. In previous years, Solutions for Society participants have included over 200 social entrepreneurs, thought leaders, corporate professionals, financiers, philanthropists and students.
The main event is an evening lecture and Q&A followed by a networking reception. Solutions for Society also hosts a small group workshop with leaders in the public, private and nonprofit sectors designed for problem solving and community building around social change. Past speakers have included celebrated author and social entrepreneur David Bornstein (2009), and founders of the Positive Deviance Initiative, Jerry and Monique Sternin (2008).
Two awards are presented to individuals in the Pittsburgh region who embody a commitment to business and philanthropy. The Entrepreneurial award is given to an individual who exhibits entrepreneurial leadership; the Social Venture Award is given to an individual who has demonstrates dedication to social change.
Solutions for Society was formed in 2007 to honor David D’Appolonia, business investor and social entrepreneur, who tragically passed away. The event keeps David’s interests alive in the community and provides a way to connect innovative, creative and dynamic people around social change. Solutions for Society challenges people to think outside the box, be inspired by the experiences of others, and discover innovative solutions.
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 Pittsburgh Social Ventures Partners, working intently with nonprofits 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, and through Solutions for Society, 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
AWARDS
Social Venture Award
2009 Awardee: Jeremy Resnick
Founder & Executive Director of Propel Schools
Jeremy Resnick serves as the Executive Director and is the founder of Propel Schools. With his leadership, Propel Schools has grown to be a regional force in efforts to reform Southwestern Pennsylvania public education, serving more than 1,500 students at five locations in Allegheny County. Propel Schools has become one of Pennsylvania's top performing charter school organizations with long waiting lists and with student achievement results better than any demographically comparable public school district. His work has been recognized with the Pittsburgh Business Times' 2007 Diamond Award and the Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners' 2009 Social Venture Award.
Prior to founding Propel, he was a founder and the Administrative/Educational Leader at Northside Urban Pathways Charter School, a founder and director of the Charter Schools Project at Duquesne University, founder and director of the Steel Center Technical Academy, and a teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Propel Schools: www.propelschools.org
2008 Awardee: Tom Canfield
Social Entrepreneur
Tom Canfield most recently was an investment banker, running Equity Catalysts LLC (EC), which he founded in 1999. EC matched local “angel” investors to start-up technology firms. Prior to that, he was president of The Enterprise Corporation of Pittsburgh. Enterprise was a non-profit firm founded in 1983 that was dedicated to building more successful entrepreneurial firms in southwestern Pennsylvania. He also founded the Western Pennsylvania Adventure Capital Fund and the Pittsburgh Seed Fund. He earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and a MBA from Harvard University.
Entrepreneurial Award
Pete DeComo currently serves as the Chairman and CEO of ALung Technologies, Chairman and Co-Founder of ThermalTherapeutic Solutions and Managing Director of Corridor Venture Partners. Prior, he was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Renal Solutions, Inc. and led the company through product development and into commercialization when it was acquired by Fresenius Medical Care.
He was previously the COO of HemoTherapies Inc. where he led the commercialization of the only FDA-cleared Liver Dialysis System. Mr. DeComo was Senior Vice President of the Specialty Pharmacy Division for Olsten Health Services, now Accredo, a $600 million specialty pharmacy provider. Prior to joining Olsten, Mr. DeComo held numerous senior level positions in the health care industry.
Renal Solutions: www.renalsolutionsinc.com
Alung:
www.alung.com
2008 Awardee: Gerald McGinnis
Chairman of the Board and Advanced Technology Officer, Respironics
Jerry McGinnis founded Respironics in 1976. He served as president and chief executive officer of the company for 18 years until elected to chairman in November 1994.
Prior to his involvement with Respironics, McGinnis worked at Westinghouse Electric Corporation for 11 years where he participated in a variety of health related projects. While serving as the manager of the Bioengineering Department, he also was involved in projects that included the artificial heart, heart-assist devices, and the sensing and monitoring equipment for the measurement of blood and respiratory gases.
Following his service at Westinghouse, McGinnis worked at Allegheny General Hospital (1969-1971) where he was head of the Surgical Research Department. In 1971, McGinnis founded his first company - Lanz Medical Products. Simultaneous to his work at Lanz, McGinnis served in the Critical Care Department at the Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh, where his work focused on methods of increasing applications of technology in critical care.
McGinnis has served on the board of Vascor, Inc., Pyramid Composites Manufacturing, and the Center for Young Musicians. McGinnis also has served as chairman at Point Park College, the Institute of Advanced Technology at Community College of Allegheny County, the Pittsburgh Technology Council, the Enterprise Council, the United Way of Westmoreland County, the Junior Achievement of Southwest Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh World Affairs Council and the Pittsburgh Symphony Association. Additionally, McGinnis is on the University of Pittsburgh’s Engineering Departments and the University of Illinois, Board of Visitors.
McGinnis also has completed internationally published writings. His work includes authoring and co-authoring a number of scientific papers, as well as authoring a chapter of a book on airway care. He holds more than 15 registered U.S. patents, and also has worked on the design and development of many Respironics' products.
McGinnis earned an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in the same discipline from the University of Pittsburgh.
Respironics: www.respironics.com
EVENT PARTNERS
About The MIT Enterprise Forum Pittsburgh
The MIT Enterprise Forum is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and strengthening the way new companies get their start, and to providing the information and understanding they need to grow and prosper. For over twenty years, the MIT Enterprise Forum has been helping entrepreneurs start and grow successful technology-based businesses. Twenty-four Forum Chapters around the world have implemented the presentation methodology pioneered at MIT to create opportunities for entrepreneurs to present new business concepts to industry experts, venture capitalists and technology leaders.
The sole purpose is to:
- Educate emerging and high-growth company entrepreneurs about issues important to their survival and success and,
- To create an atmosphere for networking, where the possibility of a new venture can become a reality.
About The Donald H. Jones Center For Entrepreneurship
The Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business delivers cutting-edge innovations to the global marketplace by bringing together students, faculty and practitioners with groundbreaking research from the university’s world-class schools and colleges.
The Center’s interdisciplinary/academic approach, coupled with experiential learning, is geared towards students leading innovation, change, and growth in start-ups, emerging companies, and mature organizations. Distinguished as one of the first business schools to offer formal entrepreneurship education, the Tepper School continues this legacy by advancing research that contributes academic programs related to innovation, entrepreneurial leadership, and team-based collaboration.
About Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners
PSVP has two linked missions which support our desire to improve the well-being of our community:
- Our External Mission: Preventing child neglect and abuse by catalyzing innovative nonprofits through the time, talent & money of next generation philanthropists.
- Our Internal Mission: Developing the next generation of philanthropists Partners learn about effective & strategic philanthropy through educational forums, volunteer engagements with our Investees, working groups, and social gatherings.
We match Partners’ skills, interests and time with specific program and infrastructure opportunities with our “Investees” (i.e. the nonprofits we support) and/or within PSVP.
PSVP Values
Hands-on involvement
Community leadership
Accountability
Innovation
Lifelong learning
Teamwork