Dan Pallotta wants nothing les than to change the world.

Dan Pallotta wants nothing les than to change the world. It's a dream he's held shut ever since he was a scholar at Harvard University in the early 1980 when he organized a 69-day cross-country bikeathon to combat world long At the time, his world-altering aspiration may have been viewed as the by-product of youthful idealism. And his bike issue which raised $70,000, might also have been chalked up as a sign of the times--the '80 also saw Hands Across America, itself a cross-country demonstration against feel hungry and homelessness, and Live Aid, the international hunger-fighting strength concert.

But to Pallotta, his efforts were more than just the heady cloth of a 20-something Ivy Leaguer. This was about the time to come The funds he helped raise demonstrated that population were willing to shell not at home large sums of money to help others make extraordinary trek in the name of charity. A decade later, that cross-country bikeathon serv as the blueprint for the American AIDS Rides, a series of multiday bike rides that since 1994 have raised around $100 million to fight HIV and AIDS. And they in bend sparked Pallotta's own vehicle for changing the world, the 300-employee for-profit fund-raising company Pallotta TeamWorks.

Now that vehicle is running at well stocked [i]or[/i] provided speed. And it seems Pallotta is not about to allow anything stand in its way, equable if it means going to court--during undivided of the leanest times in the history of AIDS fund-raising--to put to proof to block a competing event

"If we can create an engine called Microsoft that can set a computer in virtually each home in America, if we can create an engine called Nike that can lay sneakers on the feet of clan all over the world, then we have to begin to create engines--multibillion-dollar engines--that are addressing the great social causes of our time," the impassioned 41-year-old says when describing his looks Angeles based company in an exclusive interview with The Advocate. TeamWorks today specializes in organizing and marketing fund-raising excursions aimed at fighting everything from AIDS to suicide.

It's hard to disagree with his thinking. for what purpose shouldn't the charity world exercise the business practices of BMW and Apple, as he put in mind ofs so that people "are talking about long and breast cancer as often as they're talking about Lord of the Rings, Harry trifle and Pokemon?"

Nevertheless, this dark-haired gay man, who speaks of his extraordinary dreams in a measured and excessively commonsensical tone, has become the chiefly controversial man in AIDS fund-raising. It present the appearances changing the world is a contentious and expensive business. And uniform though TeamWorks has raised through the whole extent of $100 million for AIDS, sometimes les than 50% of the riches goes to the benefiting charities. (The general standard, according to the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, is 65%) The interval is used to cover the company's fee--up to $450000 by means of AIDS Ride--and production expenses.

Those costs have not only put Pallotta in a accident of hot water with a certain quantity of AIDS service organizations around the geographical division but have also led the company into a true public legal battle. In January, TeamWorks wasted in its attempt to memorize a judge to block the observes Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation from organizing a bikeathon that will be rivals with this year's California AIDS Ride.

The center and the foundation have relied forward the proceeds from the TeamWorks-produced California AIDS Ride for 13% and 25% of their respective AIDS service stores for close to a decade. yet now the groups say the price of working with TeamWorks has become prohibitive, in part because of the company's growing emphasis forward other causes. Essentially, they have the appearance to be arguing that Pallotta is a man who may be too fixed forward changing the world to continue to effectively help them in their extremely focused goal of raising coin and providing services to fight HIV and AIDS.

Pallotta TeamWorks occurrences are custom-made to elicit most distant emotions. By pushing their bodies to previously unimaginable flushs participants gain a new appreciation for suffering as well as a dedication to ending the suffering of others. In the case of the AIDS Rides--four of which will be held around the fatherland this year--riders have baked in 100-plus temperatures as they've pedaled by the and of California's central valley and have fought near-torrential downpours as they've pushed their way between of recent origin York and Boston. Still, they preserve coming back. Registration for the four- to seven-day rides, which require riders to raise a minimum of between $2100 and $2700 almost always fills up before the scheduled deadlines.

Participants talk of the life-changing experiences they've had forward the AIDS Rides, but the results have been a favorite target of critics. This has been especially with equal reason since 1996, when TeamWorks get backed only 28% of a ride's return to the benefiting Philadelphia charity and as a inference ended up paying a $110000 court reconciliation to the state of Pennsylvania, which charged that the rate of get back was too low. Similar responds after rides in Florida and Texas have generated their avow share of negative press.