Deep Discovery Series

Positive Deviance: An Approach to Solve Intractable Social Problems

Thursday–Friday • July 24–25, 2008

The Spiritual Life Center, Wichita, Kan.

Faculty & Planning Committee

Course Director

Mary L. Gambino, RN, PhD, Assistant Dean for Community Affairs, Director of Nursing Continuing Education, School of Nursing, University of Kansas, Kansas City, Kan.

Top of Page

Faculty

Jerry Sternin

Jerry Sternin, MA, Director, Positive Deviance Initiative, Tufts University, Boston, Mass., is a visiting scholar at Tufts University and an international consultant. As a visiting scholar at Tufts University, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, he teaches a graduate course in "Positive Deviance for Practitioners." He also is involved in Positive Deviance projects for the World Bank in Argentina and for USAID-funded development organizations in Indonesia, and he recently presented the Positive Deviance approach to corporate and social entrepreneurs at the World Economic Forum in Geneva.

Sternin has served as an assistant dean and adviser to students at the Harvard Business School. He also received a writing grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and was recipient of a Ford Foundation grant to amplify Positive Deviance nationally and internationally. He has over 25 years experience using Positive Deviance in developing countries, including eight years with the Peace Corps in the Philippines, Nepal, Mauritania, and Rwanda and 16 years as a Save the Children director in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Egypt, the Philippines, and, most recently, Myanmar.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Sternin has a bachelor of science degree in speech therapy from the State University of New York at Geneseo and holds a master’s degree in Asian studies from Harvard University. Sternin has been a pioneer, translating the concept of "Positive Deviance" into an action-oriented community development approach. The Positive Deviance model developed by Jerry and his wife, Monique, and used to address the problems of malnutrition in Viet Nam, has now been replicated in over 40 countries. The Sternins have championed the application of the Positive Deviance approach in other public health issues, such as HIV/Aids risk-reduction, advocacy against female genital cutting, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other quality of healthcare and patient safety issues.

Top of Page

Planning Committee

• Michael Bleich, RN, PhD, CNAA, BC, FAAN, Professor and Associate Dean, Clinical and Community Affairs, School of Nursing, Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, KU HealthPartners, Inc., Chair, Health Policy and Management, KU School of Medicine, University of Kansas, Kansas City, Kan.
• Marjorie J. Bott, RN, MA, PhD, Associate Dean, Research, University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, Kan.
• Rita H. Clifford, RN, PhD, Associate Dean, Student Affairs, University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, Kan.
• Helen R. Connors, RN, PhD, Dr PS (Hon), FAAN, Associate Dean and Professor, Academic Affairs, University of Kansas School of Nursing, Executive Director of the KU Center for Healthcare Informatics, University of Kansas, Kansas City, Kan.
• Mary Gambino, RN, PhD, Assistant Dean for Community Affairs, Director of Nursing Continuing Education, University of Kansas School of Nursing, Kansas City, Kan.
• Karen L. Miller, RN, PhD, FAAN, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, University of Kansas Medical Center, Dean and Professor, University of Kansas School of Nursing, Dean of the University of Kansas School of Allied Health, Kansas City, Kan.
• Sonora Thigpen, Senior Program Manager, Continuing Education, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan.

Top of Page

We are no longer accepting registations for this program.
Thank you for your interest.

Tools

  Email Page
  Print Page