Dean Porfirio Goes Global

05 April 2013 | North America | Dr. Vincent Porfirio

April 5, 2013 

Dear Sage Community:

I submit this letter with a true mix of emotions: excitement as I look to the future and sadness as I prepare to leave Sage.

I am honored and humbled to announce that I have been selected for service with the United States Department of Defense. Having completed a rigorous application, selection, and clearance process—including being granted National Security Clearance—I am thrilled to begin work within the elite intelligence community as a United States Navy Intelligence Specialist.

The past seven years have been truly transformative. Sage has granted me a number of gifts that I will forever cherish: multiple graduate degrees, personal and professional mentors, numerous colleagues that have become like family, and the unforgettable experiences of working with students who, year after year, leave this place and go out and create positive change in the world.

I will leave Sage a better professional, a better service member, and a better person. I cannot thank you, my supervisors, colleagues, classmates, and students enough. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,

Dr. Vincent G. Porfirio, EdD, MBA

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29 March 2013 | Asia | Dr. Vincent Porfirio

China’s Sustainable Energy Sources & Practices Conclusion 

            Understanding that the People’s Republic of China has been working to decrease their dependency on coal, oil and other unsustainable sources of energy has been a goal that they have not only been achieving but ambitiously set a few years back—as early as the late 1990s. Being one of the world’s most dependent nations on both coal and oil leaves China vulnerable not only in terms of national security but also in terms of the environment and living conditions in the country. Clean air, water, and freedom from disease are essential to a nation becoming developed and China learned this earlier than most other countries that are also developing during the twenty-first century.

            Throwing off the shackles of energy dependency on limited and costly energy sources is crucial for any nation to move forward. The faster China can claim its independence the faster it will surely find true autonomy in successful development. Already heralded as one of the fastest developing countries in history, the People’s Republic needs to curtail much of its regulatory body to create a new means of safeguarding the environment in the country. With wide-sweeping legislation currently being drafted by the government it is only a matter of time before China reaches the lofty goals they have set for themselves. Successfully reaching these goals will ensure that the nation continues to develop and protect the fundamentally essential aspects of its statehood: protecting citizens, ensuring employment, stabilizing the environment, maintaining peace and civility domestically and internationally, fostering global partnerships. 

            In many ways China has become a hybrid; looking to developed nations for best practices and innovative technologies. Cities like that of Shanghai and Suzhou are constant reminders that the People’s Republic is not only able, but intentional, in creating urban centers that are energy efficient. Sustainable energy in China is contingent on three main goals that the government has recently embraced: climate change, job creation, financial independence. By recognizing that China is a key stakeholder in the global arena they are feeling international pressure to begin cleaning up what traditional industrialization practices have polluted. This wedded with domestic outcry for cleaner water, better air quality, and the need to combat disease has changed the focus of Chinese government from production at any cost necessary to responsible citizenry. Having an empowered workforce—one that literally “works” toward your countries goals—is essential to a new economy. Embracing “green” and “clean-tech” jobs earlier, rather than later, will benefit everyone in the end.

            Finally, creating a society that not only utilizes sustainable energy but can make money from it is an important aspect of moving forward with “green”-conscious practices. The Chinese are learning every day that new businesses, enterprises, and trade (that is to say; opportunity) are contingent on looking to the future and keeping objectives in line with sustainable practices. China has shown the world that it is capable of so much when it comes to finding dynamic ways to incorporate sustainable energy sources and practices to further its mission of becoming a world power and sharing the stage with nations that have taken much longer to develop and in many ways, are still developing in terms of “green” efforts.

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25 March 2013 | North America | Dr. Vincent Porfirio

Book Review: The Icarus Deception

I just finished reading Seth Godin’s “The Icarus Deception: How High Will You Fly?” and found the work to be a real treat and wanted to share with you some of my initial reflections, applications, and to encourage you to pick up the book and give it a read.

Godin forces us to face the uncomfortable reality that the world has completely changed due to the “new normal” of the post 2008 financial meltdown. What was once safe (going to an Ivy University, landing a job in a blue chip company in corporate America, purchasing a home in an elite gated community) is no longer a viable option. Godin argues that in order to survive in the twenty-first century you will have to go out and begin making your own “art” by being creative, thinking outside the proverbial box, and finding your passion and drive in the things that you love to do.

I thoroughly enjoyed “The Icarus Deception” for a number of reasons. Foremost, the book gives the reader the space to begin questioning what makes them happy and fulfilled. This is not an easy question to answer given all of the external pressures that we face in our day-to-day lives. Bills, taxes, gas prices, family obligations, etc. all seem to sway us from dreaming and dreaming big. This is where Godin gives the reader a “mirror” to begin critically looking at themselves and what it is that is driving them forward, and simultaneously holding them back.

Secondly, the author explains how important it is to identify your personal passions and dreams. Here we are given a “window” in which to look out into the world and take time to discover who it is that we eventually want to become and the opportunities and challenges that that are out in the world around us.

This “mirror – window” imagery is one way in which I took Godin’s words and applied them to my own life, dreams, and personal and professional aspirations. This is at the heart of what “The Icarus Deception” is looking to accomplish and I feel that Godin does a great job of making his case and stretching the reader to think in new and dynamic ways.

Overall, I would highly recommend this work. I felt that it was a fun read. Pick up a copy today!

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Have you read Seth Godin’s “The Icarus Deception”? If so, feel free to leave a comment below. Thanks.

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