It takes many hands to make a grassroots project such as Safe Haven work. In addition to the hundreds of volunteers, Safe Haven's core administrators oversee the underpinnings of each facet of the Safe Haven Project Inc. with the help of our Board of Directors.
Program Administration
Photo by Tony Lombardi
David Butler Founder, CEO.
Dave Butler is the visionary force behind the Safe Haven Project.
Since founding the organization in 1993, Dave has conceived of,
created and carried out every Safe Haven program, inspiring others
to join him in his mission along the way.
Dave has dedicated his life to service and education. His first
job was serving the United States as a firefighter and EMT in the
Air Force. After his honorable discharge, he worked his way through
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and served as a volunteer
firefighter and EMT. After earning his degree in Health and Physical
Education, he taught middle and high school students. An energetic
faculty member, Dave frequently volunteered to help mentor students
involved in extra-curricular activities and coached several sports
teams. In 1999, Dave joined the Boston Chapter of the National Youth
Leadership Forum on Medicine as Program Director. During his tenure,
he provided guidance and support to young people who are interested
in nursing and medical professions, and developed annual educational
events for high school students. He resigned in 2005 to dedicate
himself to Safe Haven full-time.
Dave's work in public health education has earned the respect
of community leaders and the support of the academic community.
In December of 2004, the citizens of Village-Humjibre, Ghana West
Africa, honored Dave with a ceremony recognizing his efforts to
educate and advocate on behalf of Humjibre youth. In 2005, Boston
University School of Public Health awarded him a "Community
Scholar" Scholarship, enabling him to pursue his M.P.H. in
Fall 2006.
photo by Ralph Stewart
Tony
Lombardi, Director of Programming.
Tony Lombardi is an educator and community activist
based on Martha's Vineyard. A long-time supporter of AIDS
education, he worked to create one of the first high school HIV/AIDS
education programs in the US in 1988. He is an active advocate of abstinence,
condom availability with education, and has also worked on initiatives
to provide free and anonymous testing in his community. Before he
joined Save Haven, Tony founded a performing arts center on the
Vineyard named The Wintertide Coffeehouse, and ran it for nearly ten years. In addition, he is currently one of the Supervisors of the YMCA of Martha's Vineyard Teen Center, opened in 2005.
In 1995, Tony received the "Humanitarian of the Year" award from the MV Rotary Club for his work with young people.
Tony became involved in the Safe Haven Project in 1994 when Dave started
to investigate hosting the first Safe Haven Camp on Martha’s
Vineyard. As the community liaison to the camp, Tony witnessed the
camp's impact on the youngsters who attended and decided to
partner with Dave to grow the camp program into what has become the multi-faceted Safe Haven Project. Today, Tony directs
both the April and August camps and oversees all of the programming. It is Tony's belief that the power of the individual to create change in the world is unparalled and strives to live up to this truth on a daily basis.
Tony frequently
addresses audiences about Safe Haven's mission through the
SpeakOut program, and has traveled to Ghana, West Africa as part
of Safe Haven's Education and Outreach Initiative in that
country.
