CLASS OF 1984 | 2022 | SPRING ISSUE
Hello, Classmates!
Aaron Gershenberg has transitioned to Angel and Impact Investing, based in Park City, Utah, leaving Silicon Valley Bank (and SVB Capital) behind after 23 years. (He continues on as founding partner emeritus for SVB.) He is looking forward to spending more time in Africa and Israel, and to looking for sustainable economic development models.
Michael Llewyn had an exciting fall running for borough president of Manhattan on the Libertarian Party line (despite not being a registered Libertarian). He got 1.8% of the vote, focusing on “less zoning, more housing, lower rents.” You can find “Manhattan Borough President General Election Debate” on YouTube. In and around the campaign, Michael got married in 2019 and lives in midtown Manhattan; he teaches at Touro Law Center, and blogs about land use issues at planetizen.com and marketurbanism.com. You can find his law review articles at http://works.bepress.com/lewyn.
Shawn Dove, who felt (like so many of us) that 2021 was an “intermission,” is facing the third act of his life with our shared milestone birthday. His major takeaway from the pandemic is to “stop lamenting my irretrievable and start loving my future self.” “Sage”-ing instead of “age”-ing. He has sunsetted the not-for-profit Campaign for Black Male Achievement, and has launched the Corporation for Black Male Achievement—a publishing and consulting firm that curates “community building and leadership development engagements that elevate stories of loving, learning and leading Black men and boys.” His book, co-authored with Nick Chiles (a Yalie, but all is forgiven), I Too Am America: On Loving and Leading Black Men & Boys was published at the beginning of the year. And he has started as managing partner of venture philanthropy firm New Profit. The firm’s mission is “investing in breakthrough social entrepreneurs by employing the rigor of venture capital and the humanity of the nonprofit sector. Excited about the focus of supporting Black and Brown social entrepreneurs.”
Ophelia Papoulas threw herself a rockin’ in-person party for her milestone birthday (in the lull between delta and omicron), and she appreciates her excellent timing. She adores her career in molecular research, which has allowed her to see real people in the lab every day. We have mentioned Ophelia’s needlework-for-charity endeavor (dundysisters.com), which she runs with her sister Bettina; they have been donating proceeds of their work to mental health charities, as COVID has made needs in this arena skyrocket. On the home front, her son has turned 18, and after battling ADHD, OCD, and other mental demons, he has started at community college and is doing well. She continues to see her longtime boyfriend, local musician/bandleader and Samsung recruiter David Cornell Hurd. She continues to care for her aging mother-in-law, whose dementia has worsened. She will be found around and about Austin, Texas (aka Musk-ville or Texla).
Until next time.