Entrepreneur Activist Inspires Students to Fill a Need

Courtesy of the Hawken Parents’ Association, Upper School students participated in an assembly featuring Zac Ponsky, described by Ed Dolinsky of Coldwell Banker Hunter Realty as “one of those rare individuals that knows how to give back to his community… and a hero to a great many people from Northeast Ohio who needed health care.”

Zac is an officer of AmTrust Bank and serves on the Board of Directors at Coldwell Banker Hunter Realty.  But it’s his passion for service that makes him a hero – a passion that was fueled to action by a simple idea shared by a Nevada cowboy: “You find a need, and you fill it.”  Zac saw a need for health care access, so he made it his business to find a way to fill that need by spearheading an organization called Medworks.

Though Zac doesn’t know much about medicine, he is not new to social activism.  Eighteen years ago, his brother was struck by the lack of medical supplies at the clinic he worked at in Nigeria – and realized that supplies being discarded in the U.S. could be put to great use abroad.  Thus began Medwish, an organization designed to fill that need.  Zac, then a high school student, was charged with collecting used medical supplies, storing them in their garage, and helping to ship them overseas. 

Medwish expanded over the years, sending doctors and nurses overseas to set up makeshift clinics in the mountains where medical care had been unavailable.  Zac’s entrepreneurial activism led him to consider how this concept could be applied to those without access to health care in his home city of Cleveland, where many people have no or limited access to health care. 

On July 25 and 26, Zac’s organization, Medworks, became a reality, providing free access to a wide range of physicians at the W.O. Walker Center in downtown Cleveland.  Over 1600 appointments were scheduled for about 900 patients; not only were some serious problems requiring immediate attention discovered in some patients, but follow-up care was advised and prepared for in other cases.  Surprisingly, not all the patients were from the inner city; many were employed and had college degrees but were either uninsured or underinsured.  Hundreds of volunteers, both medical personnel and others, helped make the event a success, and plans are already underway for additional MedWorks events, with the ultimate hope of providing quarterly mass clinics. 

Moving from the initial concept to the reality was not easy.  Zac spoke to the students about the numerous roadblocks and nay-sayers he encountered along the way, explaining how he used those initially discouraging experiences to learn and improve upon his model and plan.  “Take the negative criticisms and make those the opportunity,” he advised the students.

Zac also appealed to the students to become active leaders in social activism, citing the House System as a “cutting edge” vehicle for making a difference.   “You need to raise the bar,” he told them, going even so far as to offer his services to provide direction and resources to students. “You need to be social leaders, activists, and entrepreneurs.  “Find that passion, that need, and fill it.”