The York Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is
pleased to announce that David Kennedy will be the Grand Marshal of the 35th Annual
York Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, to be held on Saturday, March 17, 2018, along
Market Street in downtown York.
David is a Co-Founder and
Managing Director of Aspire Ventures, LLC, a technology-focused venture capital
firm. The company was founded in 2013 by a group of successful
entrepreneurs, operators, investors and philanthropists to create a new kind of
business enterprise, combining the key elements of a dedicated tech company
with those of an early stage venture capital firm. The company has acquired and
invested in three principal technologies: mobile, machine learning, and cloud
computing. Its business model is to
create companies, rather than products, and to invest technology, funding and a
variety of other resources in order to accomplish transformative change and a
positive societal impact, with a primary focus in the healthcare space. Most recently, David was CEO of appMobi,
Inc., whose development tools and cloud services platform enabled any web
developer to create and deploy customized applications for smartphones,
tablets, and other mobile devices. David
had been an active “angel” investor in appMobi since 2007, and in February of
2013, the company sold its developer tools division to Intel Corp., and
established a strategic partnership through which Intel offers appMobi’s entire
complement of engagement and monetization cloud services to all Intel tool
developers.
Prior to his work with
appMobi, he was CEO/Vice Chairman of Interep National Radio Sales in New York,
and also served as CEO of Susquehanna Media Co., one of the largest and most
well respected major market radio, cable and internet companies in the U.S., with
whom he held positions for 33 years. During the 1970s, David held various
on-air and management positions at the company’s radio stations until being
promoted in 1983 to Vice President Planning and Research for Susquehanna Radio
Corp. In August of 1989, he was named Senior Vice President and assumed direct
responsibility for several midwest stations while managing group planning and
research operations for all Susquehanna stations. David has chaired, actively
participated in, and received numerous accolades from the boards of directors
of the National Association of Broadcasters, Radio Advertising Bureau,
Broadcasters Foundation of America, and the Library of American Broadcasting
Foundation among many others.
David is a graduate of the
University of Toledo (OH) and he holds master’s and doctoral degrees from
Bowling Green State University (OH). He
and his wife, Beverly, have three children and nine grandchildren.
Community Activities
York
County Community Foundation, Inc.
Former chairman, Board of Directors; chair, Management
Assistance Committee
American
Red Cross
Former
chairman: Board of Directors and Executive Committee of American Red Cross,
York County (PA) Chapter. Past member: Resolutions Committee, American Red
Cross National Organization
United
Way of York County
Former
chairman, Board of Directors; Strategic Planning Committee
Cultural
Alliance of York Country
Immediate
Past Chairman, Board of Directors
Leadership
York
Former
member, Board of Directors; Former Mentor, Mentorship York program
WITF
Enterprises (Public Broadcasting, Harrisburg, PA)
Member,
Board of Directors
David Kennedy shares background
on Irish Heritage
Ireland
is a part of me through my father's side of the family. Both of his
parents were born and raised in Ireland, his father from Pettigo in County
Donegal and his mother from Enniskillen in County Fermanagh. My
grandfather came to the US in May of 1921 aboard the SS Aquitania when he was
23, and my grandmother joined him in October of 1925, having traveled on the SS
Caledonia. They set up house in Plainfield, NJ, just outside NYC, where
my father was born. Within a few years, they left the New York area and
moved to Toledo, OH to follow my grandfather's work.
My
grandfather was one of 6 children, and my grandmother one of 11. None of
my grandfather's siblings joined him in the US, but 3 of my grandmother's
sisters settled in Toronto, Ontario, so they became a part of our lives, as
well. I still have relatives in both Ireland (with whom I've never
spoken, unfortunately), and Toronto (with whom I do speak).
Neither
of my grandparents ever had the opportunity to return to Ireland. Perhaps
for that reason, all things Ireland were omnipresent in their home in Toledo,
where I was born, and the customs, hospitality and humor of the homeland became
a part of my education from my earliest days, and represent some of my fondest
memories as a child.
Cultural Alliance of York County President Mary Anne
Winkelman, who is also a parade committee member, said, “I cannot think of a better choice for Grand Marshal
for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Dave has given so much to this
community in so many ways and is a fitting representative of his Irish
heritage.”
