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Sailing lessons give disabled children and adults greater life skills
A freak accident at age 21 left Paul Callahan (MBA 1992) a quadriplegic. It was a moment that led him, ultimately, to cast off from a career in wealth management at Goldman Sachs to take the helm of Sail to Prevail, a nonprofit that helps people with physical and emotional challenges experience the wonder of the open seas.
“Ninety-one percent of the people who go through our program say they have an easier time conquering life’s other challenges,” he says.
A competitive sailor who raced in the Paralympic Games in Sydney in 2000 and in London in 2012, Callahan takes a measured approach as CEO of the Newport, Rhode Island–based organization. “It’s like living in two different worlds. I run a nonprofit, but I apply all for-profit principles to it. Consequently, we achieve great outcomes with very low cost, per participant,” he says.
The sailing organization, which is funded by corporations and foundations as well as individual donors, serves 1,000 people a year. “In life it’s hard to achieve a goal that’s so big, by yourself,” he says. “You bring people together with similar disabilities and they will figure out how to achieve goals together.”
(Published October 2014)
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