He hires professionals to spray his yard
with repellent. Since deer ate their hostas
and knockout roses three years ago, Kevin
searched for deer-resistant plants and
planted the perennial cleome. “They can
be purple, pink or white, and flower for
an extended period over the summer and
into the fall, providing color to my yard,
and the deer won’t touch them,” he says.
A former partner at Goldman Sachs,
Kevin is an investor in, and advisor to,
early-stage companies and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. His
schedule is flexible, which gives him the
opportunity to work from four to eight
hours each week in his yard. That work
requires discipline, as Kevin notes that he
spends 60 percent of his time focused
on the 5 percent he perceives to be
wrong. “I’m always cycling through the
deficiencies, so I have to stop myself and
appreciate what I have created,” he says.
Kevin is also chairman of the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and in
the wake of the Orlando and Fort Myers
mass shootings this summer, has cut back
on his advisory and academic work to
work for Brady full-time. “I struggle with
the fact that our country makes it easier
to purchase a gun than to get a driver’s
license,” says Kevin. “While the Orlando
killer purchased his guns legally, we now
know that there were signs of terroristic
behavior, mental illness and domestic
abuse...all indicators that the killer should
not have been allowed to purchase a gun.
I have determined that my work at Brady
demands my full attention.”
Last year, Kevin presented President
Clinton with a leadership award on behalf
of the Brady Campaign, and was inspired
by Clinton’s acceptance speech. Clinton’s
advice was simple: “Never stop talking
to the other side; you will find some
common ground.”
Kevin can be reached at
[email protected]. ■
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