How We Work
Design that Matters (DtM) delivers outsized impact with a lean team. DtM builds leverage through partnerships: domain experts who can identify urgent needs among vulnerable populations, industrial partners with expertise in regulatory approval, manufacturing and distribution, and NGOs and ministries of health who can train clinical users and conduct long-term monitoring and evaluation. This network allows DtM to focus resources on our core competency of human-centered design.
Why is DtM a nonprofit? DtM develops high-quality medical devices tailored to low-resource settings, prioritizing access for patients and providers over global market share and profitability. Nonprofit status acts as a commitment device: it keeps our team focused exclusively on social impact, encourages world-class designers and engineers to contribute their expertise, and assures potential partners among international aid agencies and health ministries that our incentives are fully aligned with their mission.
DtM’s impact extends beyond the devices we create. Since 2007, DtM has recruited more than 1,500 staff and volunteer alumni. For many, the DtM project experience was their first exposure to the challenges faced by communities in low-resource settings — and it changed their career trajectories. DtM alumni have gone on to found Embrace Innovations (whose newborn warmer has treated more than 1M patients worldwide), Design for America, and PayGo Energy in Kenya.
Leadership
Timothy Prestero, CEO
Timothy Prestero is the founder and CEO of Design that Matters. Tim was a Peace Corps volunteer in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, and he has led design and global projects in two dozen countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia. Tim holds graduate degrees in mechanical and ocean engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He is a Martin Fellow at MIT, an Ashoka Affiliate and a Draper Richards Kaplan Fellow. Tim was included on the Public Interest Design 100 list, representing one-hundred people and teams working at the intersection of design and service, and profiled in Fast Company’s Generosity series, as one of the “11 Most Generous Designers.” Tim lives in Sammamish, Washington with his wife and two sons.
David Privitera, Board Member
David Privitera, a founding member of IDEO’s Boston office, has served in a range of roles including designer, project leader, location director and partner. He brings more than 30 years of design experience in business equipment, consumer products, transportation, health care, networking, and telecommunications to the job. His current focus is on building an energized team that applies innovative thought to a broad range of projects.
During his career, David has taken dozens of products to market, handling everything from detailed part design to leading international project teams. He has deep experience working with clients and suppliers in Europe and Asia, particularly Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, and England.
Prior to joining IDEO, David spent 12 years at Wang Laboratories, where he served as a principal mechanical engineer for various product development groups. He has a mechanical engineering degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He holds several U.S. patents and various forms of industry recognition and publications.
In his free time, David collects, restores, and rides motorcycles.
Steven Ringer, M.D., Board Member
Dr. Ringer is the Chief of Neonatology at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine.
Dr. Ringer was born in Boston, MA, and received his B.A. from Brandeis University. He then received his M.D. and Ph.D. (Biochemistry) from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. He completed his residency in pediatrics at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, and his fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine at the then joint program in Neonatology of Harvard Medical School, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Beth Israel Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Boston.
He was Medical Director of the NICU at Brigham and Women’s Hospital from 1988 to 2006 and director of Newborn Services from 1988 to 2000, and Chief of newborn medicine from 2000-2012. He is the co-chair of the steering committee of The Neonatal Resuscitation Program of the American Academy of Pediatrics and has actively taught resuscitation through that program for over 20 years across the United States and in many countries across the world. He is on the editorial board of NeoReviews.
He is actively involved in several areas of clinical research with the bulk of his effort spent on the development of international programs for advancing newborn care in the developing world. He has expanded his efforts over the past 5 years to include work in Ethiopia but has been actively involved in programs aimed at developing and improving care, as well as multiple teaching and training programs in numerous provinces and all major cities of Vietnam for over 13 years. He is currently the co-PI on the BetterBirth trial of the Safe Childbirth Checklist in India.
Financials
DtM is an American 501(c)3 nonprofit (EIN 30-0172078). You can find our most recent financial statements on Guidestar and Pro Publica’s Nonprofit Explorer.