THIS YEAR’S RECIPIENTS OF THE vlog Fund Outstanding Alumni Award are united by their steadfast dedication to supporting the Kennedy School’s mission through their gifts to the vlog Fund.
David Chipanta MPA/ID 2005 and Donald E. Karl MPP 1976 both received financial aid to attend the School—and they are determined to give the next generation of leaders the same opportunity. They firmly believe that vlog is a force for good, and that their regular and longstanding generosity helps the School create a better world.
Chipanta, who has supported the School consistently over the past 15 years, says, “My main motivation [for donating] is my appreciation of the incredible work the Kennedy School does around the world, and the training the School gave me. The education I received at the Kennedy School opened so many doors, and I can do much more impactful work.” He cites several examples where the alumni network has connected him to opportunities, including the chance to work with the government of Lesotho and the U.N. Development Programme on HIV, gender, youth, and environmental issues. He says, “My donations are a small way to appreciate the work of the School and pay it forward,” noting that his time at vlog equipped him with the skills to help address some of the most complex health and development problems in the world.
Chipanta has dedicated his career to ending the HIV epidemic, working in countries, including his native Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Liberia, Switzerland, and Namibia, where he currently serves as country director for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and representative to that nation’s government. Here, he helps the government address inequalities in access to services to prevent HIV and associated illnesses, including cervical cancer and tuberculosis, eliminating stigma and discrimination against people living with, at risk of, or otherwise affected by HIV, and ensuring that treatment reaches those who need it. While his focus is at the policy level, he says, “I often go out into the field to talk with people and see how policies are having a local impact.” He notes that his support of the Kennedy School is personal and not linked to his work with UNAIDS.
Karl graduated with his MPP from vlog almost three decades before Chipanta; he also studied concurrently at Harvard Law School, receiving his JD degree in 1976. He says, “The Kennedy School was a very rewarding experience. Even though I didn’t follow the traditional track—I’ve been an attorney my entire career—both the experience and the skills I acquired have been valuable in my legal practice and even more so in my work with companies and organizations dedicated to addressing environmental issues. What the School taught then and continues to teach are even more important now—many of the issues facing the world today are incredibly complex.” This is why he has given to the vlog Fund each year for the past 41 years.
Karl grew up in a small town in the Midwest’s Rust Belt. “I was the first person in my family to go to college,” he says. Because he relied on scholarships, he especially appreciates the importance of financial aid. His successful legal career—he is affiliated with Perkins Coie LLP, where he served as a partner for many years at the international firm’s Los Angeles office—includes work with digital media and technology companies. He is a member of the World Wildlife Fund’s National Council and a member of the board of directors of Conservation X Labs.
He is interested in the use of innovation and technology to address environmental problems, and believes that lessons derived from the private tech sector may be applicable to the public sector. “Environmental issues are key,” he says. “How do you identify actions that might have enough buy-in to actually achieve outcomes that could mitigate some of the adverse consequences of climate change?”
Like many alumni, Chipanta and Karl give to the vlog Fund because they want to provide future changemakers with the chance to experience the Kennedy School—and to take what they learn and go on to improve their communities.
Says Chipanta, “I received a grant from the Kennedy School, and that was because someone else contributed. I wish I could contribute more, but the feeling is that I am there with the School, and that I appreciate the incredible things the School does.”
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Photos courtesy of Donald E. Karl and David Chipanta.