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Syria Mapping Project at the Carter Center
Oct. 28, 2016
On Friday we will be very fortunate to hear from Christopher McNaboe of the Carter Center about the Syria Mapping Project. The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. It seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the Atlanta-based Carter Center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 80 countries. Since 2012, the Syria Conflict Mapping Project has worked to analyze open source information related to the Syrian conflict in as much detail as possible, with the goal of assisting mediators and humanitarian responders. Using these publicly available resources, as well as regular consultations with stakeholders in the country, the Center has documented and mapped over 70,000 conflict events in Syria (including clashes, aerial bombardments, artillery shelling, etc.), the changing relations between thousands of armed groups, movements of internally displaced people, and humanitarian conditions. Analyzed together, this information allows The Carter Center to provide mediators and humanitarian responders with up-to-date, detailed analysis on developments throughout Syria. Additionally, the Center maintains a near real-time, auto-updating map of areas of control throughout Syria. All of this information is analyzed and is shared directly with mediators and humanitarian organizations through a software tool. Chris joined The Carter Center in 2012 as an intern and then graduate assistant in the Conflict Resolution Program. During that time, he developed what is now the Syria Conflict Mapping project, and he joined the program to formalize and expand the project in December 2012. He primarily works on Syria-related initiatives, but occasionally assists with other peace program activities. Chris is a dual U.S.-U.K. citizen but has spent the majority of his life abroad, growing up in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Kuwait before coming to the United States at the outset of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Since that time, McNaboe has lived in several countries while pursuing his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Prior to coming to the Center, he worked as a mediator and interpreter in the Superior Court of California and with community-building projects with Palestinian and Lebanese youth in Lebanon. Chris holds two bachelor's degrees in politics and language studies (linguistics and Spanish), as well as a master's degree in international policy studies with a concentration in conflict resolution from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He speaks English, Spanish, and Arabic. |
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Improv in Business
Nov. 04, 2016
On Friday we will be regaled by Jacqueline Kabat a Comedian/Humorist/Comedy Performer/ Writer/Producer/Director, and Comedy Improv teacher. She has been involved in all aspects of stand-up comedy, comedy improvisation, and sketch writing since 1997. She has studied, written for and performed with Second City's Ann Bowen and studied with Saturday Night Live's Amy Poehler while with the Upright Citizens Brigades. She worked with Sex in the City's Mario Cantone while warming up studio audiences at ABC Studios. Jacqueline has MC'd and done stand-up comedy at popular New York clubs like Gotham Comedy Club and Caroline's on Broadway. She teaches comedy improv at Fortune 500 corporations, medical centers, human potential centers, and high-end destinations spas around the country and Mexico. She works with children at schools, camps, and other youth programs and teaches them comedy improv as a healing tool to combat the bullying epidemic. She also does one on one sessions to show people how to use comedy improv tools to get them back into the authentic flow of their lives. Jacqueline has a degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia which included a semester abroad in Florence studying Art History. She recently moved to a 3 acre ranch in Aromas on the stunning Central Coast after 17 years in New York City and Brooklyn. Currently she is offering comedy improv workshops at her ranch and sharing this little piece of heaven with other artists, teachers, and corporations who want to offer workshops and have a place to collaborate with the philosophers, the visionaries, the artists, and anyone who wants to improve the human condition. Jacqueline's passion is building and being part of creative, compassionate, and conscious communities. Her philosophy is: Creativity + Nature + A Supportive Authentic Community = Magic. |
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Nov. 05, 2016 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
We are going to have a pretty hike along beaches and bluffs between Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and Pillar Point Harbor.
It's Low Tide Hike in Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. We did a coastal hike a few months ago and the attendees really enjoyed it. Unlike the last hike, this trail is pretty flat. So join us and enjoy the coastal hike. Since it's a distance we'll meet at the Safeway parking lot in Sharon Heights in Menlo Park for carpool at 8:30 am.
When: 8:30 am at the Safeway parking for carpool; or 9:15 am if you want to drive there by yourself
Where: 200 Nevada Avenue, Moss Beach, CA 94038 Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently. It's a 5-mile hike. Directions: From CA-92 West, turn right onto Main Street and drive for 0.3 miles. Turn right onto CA-1 (Cabrillo Hwy) and drive for 5.9 miles. Turn left onto Vermont Ave and drive for 0.2 miles. Vermont Ave turns slightly right and becomes Lake Street. In 0.2 miles, there is a parking lot for Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. Lunch fellowship will follow the hike. |
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Nov. 10, 2016 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Web access: https://zoom.us/j/582651401 |
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Virtual Human Interaction Lab
Nov. 11, 2016
Worn out by your current reality? Do we have a program for you on Friday! Virtual Reality has begun to permeate our everyday lives, and will continue to do so as the consumer VR industry grows. But what are the implications of engaging in virtual reality media and how do they compare to our traditional media experiences? Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab has striven to answer these questions and more for the past 13 years. At VHIL, they study the ways in which VR changes how we think and behave and how VR experiences are different from other types of media like television, film, video games, etc. Most of their research focuses on encouraging prosocial behavior, empathy, environmental behavior, and, in general, things that produce a positive impact on individuals or the world at large. Shawnee Baughman will give a brief synopsis of what VR is and how the technology has evolved; then she will delve into some of VHIL's specific research regarding empathy and environmentalism before introducing one of VHIL's researchers, Fernanda Herrera, who will speak about an opportunity for audience members to sign up to participate in one of their studies. After the meeting is adjourned, Shawnee and Fernanda will have some VR demos setup nearby for anyone to try. |
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Nov. 12, 2016 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
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New Member Talks
Nov. 18, 2016
Join us on Friday to learn more about two of our newest members. This time around we will hear from members Vijay Subramaniam and Lily Chiu. Vijay has been a Rotarian before as a member of the Rotary Club of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada in District 7080. He has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Madras. He ran a family business and was chief in-charge there for 10 years. He is now the cofounder and executive director of Kumaran Systems of Redwood City, an international software integration system company in partnerships with the likes of Oracle. Lily was born and grew up in Beijing, capital of mainland China. She got her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Finance at Wuhan University. She worked as an investment consultant in Hong Kong, and account manager in a subsidiary of TD Ameritrade. She and her hardware chip designer husband moved to Palo Alto in 2008 and have two children. She is currently a full time mom and a community volunteer.
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Genomics and Personalized Medicine
Dec. 02, 2016
Join us on Friday to hear Michael Snyder discuss genomics and personalized medicine. Michael is the Stanford Ascherman Professor and Chair of Genetics and the Director of the Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine. He is a leader in the field of functional genomics and proteomics, and one of the major participants of the ENCODE project, the follow up to the Human Genome Project which aims to identify all functional elements in the human genome. His laboratory study was the first to perform a large-scale functional genomics project in any organism, and has developed many technologies in genomics and proteomics. These technologies have been used for characterizing genomes, proteomes and regulatory networks. Seminal findings from the Snyder laboratory include the discovery that much more of the human genome is transcribed and contains regulatory information than was previously appreciated. He has also combined different state-of–the-art “omics” technologies to perform the first longitudinal detailed integrative personal omics profile (iPOP) of person and used this to assess disease risk and monitor disease states for personalized medicine. He is a cofounder of several biotechnology companies, including Protometrix (now part of Life Technologies), Affomix (now part of Illumina), Excelix, and Personalis, and he presently serves on the board of a number of companies. |
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Dec. 03, 2016 8:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
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Dec. 07, 2016 4:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
4:30pm-5pm volunteers arrive to set up craft table 7pm-9pm open to all patients (Palo Alto & Menlo Park campuses, and Outpatient Veterans) |
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Dec. 08, 2016 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
In person Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati 650 Page Mill Road Palo Alto, CA 94301
Via Web Video Conference: Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/107705744 |
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Centro Community Partners
Dec. 09, 2016
Join us on Friday to welcome Arturo Noriega, the Founder and Executive Director of Centro Community Partners in Oakland. CPC fosters socioeconomic change by providing business advisory services and leadership programs to rising, yet underserved, entrepreneurs who want to launch or grow their businesses and create jobs in their communities. Over 80% of Centro’s entrepreneurs are women and low-income individuals CPC works primarily with women and minorities who are gifted with an entrepreneurial mind and have skills or experience in a trade, craft, manufacturing or professional service, or simply have a unique idea for a small business. They also strive to work with ever more social entrepreneurs. Despite their talent and genius, more often than not, their entrepreneurs lack access to the proper business training and commercial credit, and face enormous social challenges in the labor market. Their goal is to provide them with the resources to understand how a successful business works, help them build their credit and access to capital so that as small business owners, they are empowered to join other leaders bringing equity and social justice to their communities. CPC has a multi-faceted approach. Their Basic Entrepreneurship Program was designed for individuals primarily on the idea stage of their business and who have not been exposed yet to any business education. Their Advanced Entrepreneurship Program was purposefully created for those who have completed a basic entrepreneurship program or similar training, have a portfolio of products or services, and want help developing a business model they can act upon. They also train graduate business students to become business advisors and professional coaches. In 2014 they launched in English the first mobile app that writes a basic business plan for you. Today, their app also helps entrepreneurs assess their creditworthiness and determine which micro lenders best suit their needs. It has also been translated to Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. Further, CPC provides customized consulting services to other organizations working in the micro-finance and entrepreneurship development space. They work with these organizations to come up with solutions to systemic challenges. Arturo has more than 20 years of work experience as a management consultant, specializing in economic development, strategy, governance, risk management, finance, and organizational change management. He also had a stint as a winemaker at White Rock Vineyards, Ridge Vineyards, Franciscan Vineyards, and Matanzas Creek Winery. He has earned an MBA in Strategic Management and Leadership from Peter F. Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and a BA in Economics as well as a concentration in Finance from Haas School of Business of U.C Berkeley.
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Dec. 10, 2016 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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Dec. 16, 2016
This week’s meeting will reprise last year’s successful holiday gift exchange program. Once again it will allow us the perfect opportunity for the practical application of our beloved 4-Way-Test. It is essential for this to work that each of us brings a wrapped gift to the meeting. It can be something new that costs under $10, or something gently used (commonly known as a white elephant) that you may already have at home. Rules of the game will be explained at the meeting with all the brevity that MC Rob Jack can muster, but everyone who arrives with a wrapped gift will leave with an unwrapped new treasure. Come join the festivities certain to be filled with fun and fellowship. |
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Jan. 06, 2017
We may not be your father's rotary club, but we still adhere to some, although not many, of the organizational institutions of a rotary club. That's just good governance! This Friday is the semiannual Club Assembly! For new members, just think "fun times." As a preliminary matter, we will vote for the president-elect-nominee (i.e., the selfless talent that is at the helm of the club for the 2018-2019 Rotary year). This will be your opportunity to show support for the super talented Uwe Bergmann. The rest of the meeting we cover club business. The main focus of this year's Club Assembly will be to discuss the annual gala and auction format and changes. As most of you know, the annual gala and auction is our only fundraiser of the year and the money we raise will fund the avenues of service during Mike Teutschel's year - and we all want Mike to have a successful year. We will also have a pitch from the Community Service and Youth Service committees. If you're not on a committee yet, we hope to inspire you to join one of these worthy committees. The hallmark of Rotary is the opportunity to provide service to the community (both locally and internationally). Great service opportunities gives you the opportunity to get to know your fellow Rotarians better ... and is good for your health.
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Jan. 07, 2017 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
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Jan. 12, 2017 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
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The Cold War Museum
Jan. 20, 2017
NOTE: We will be at the Westin, next door to our usual meeting spot, for this meeting Join us on Friday for what should be a fascinating talk from Francis Gary Powers Jr. Gary is the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of The Cold War Museum, located at Vint Hill, Virginia, 45 minutes west of Washington, D.C. He will highlight the Cold War, his father Gary Powers, and the U-2 Incident. He founded the museum in 1996 to honor Cold War veterans, preserve Cold War history, and educate future generations about this time period. As Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee for the Cold War Theme Study, he works with the National Park Service and leading Cold War experts to identify historic Cold War sites for commemorating, interpreting, and preservation. Because of his efforts to establish The Cold War Museum, the Junior Chamber of Commerce selected him as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Americans” for 2002. Gary lectures internationally and appears regularly on the History, Discovery, and A&E Channels. Gary was born June 5, 1965, in Burbank, California, the son of Francis Gary and Claudia “Sue” Powers. Gary holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Master Degree in Public Administration/Certification in Non-profit Management from George Mason University (GMU), Fairfax, Virginia. Recently, he consulted for a Steven Spielberg Cold War thriller, Bridge of Spies, about James Donovan who brokered the 1962 spy exchange between Rudolph Abel and U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, Sr. Gary is a member of the James River Rotary Club, is married, and has one son. |
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Jan. 21, 2017 4:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
Join us at the Movies! Popcorn and snacks provided by PAUR. Just show-up and buy your ticket (maybe bring tissues). About LION: Based on the incredible true story of a young Indian boy who gets separated from his mother and ends up adopted and raised by an Australian couple. As an adult, Saroo (played by Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire) goes in search of his mother. |
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Palo Alto University
Jan. 27, 2017
Join us on Friday as we welcome Dr. Maureen O’Connor as our guest speaker. Maureen is the President of our local hidden gem, Palo Alto University. Palo Alto University (PAU) is a private, nonprofit educational institution, founded in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology (PGSP). PGSP re-incorporated as Palo Alto University in August 2009. PAU is dedicated to education with an emphasis in the behavioral and social sciences; to promoting future innovators and leaders for the benefit of society; to generating knowledge through research and scholarship of the highest level; and to providing services to the community informed by science and scholarship. PAU also maintains several international collaborations, supporting local, clinical practicum training in China and Latin America for students who participate in PAU's online M.A. in Counseling program. The University is also in collaborative partnerships with many community organizations, including Stanford School of Medicine, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Palo Alto Medical Center, and other mental health care organizations. The Gronowski Center, a University affiliated organization, delivers low-cost mental health services while also providing valuable, supervised training to PAU graduate students. In addition, PAU sponsors several academic centers devoted to child mental health, evidence-based care for LGBTQ clients, excellence in diversity and community care, and internet-based global healthcare. Looking to the future, PAU is developing programs to assist genocide survivors in Rwanda. Prior to becoming President at PAU in August, 2016, Maureen served at the City University of New York in New York City for 18 years. She was the 2014 recipient of the New York State Psychological Association's Margaret Floy Washburn Mentoring award. At her nomination Maureen commented “I am honored and excited to have been selected as the next President of Palo Alto University. Its commitment to diversity and its strategic focus on education anchored in psychology puts it in a unique and excellent position to make a difference in our students’ lives, in Silicon Valley, and beyond.” Maureen completed a dual degree program in Psychology, Law, and Policy at the University of Arizona, earning both her Ph.D. and J.D. She is a member of the bar in Arizona and Washington, D.C., and clerked for the Honorable Patricia Wald, then Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. She has held numerous governance positions in the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, including as President. She served as Chair of the Psychology Department at John Jay College from 2002 – 2008, during which time she hired close to 30 faculty and built a leading program in law and psychology. Since 2008 she has directed the Doctoral Program in Psychology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center. Through intensive strategic planning, she has supported the development of exciting programs in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Critical Psychology, and Health Psychology and Clinical Science, among others, and has overseen the accreditation processes for three clinical training programs. Her research and teaching interests are in the intersection of psychology, gender, and law, and, in the use of scientific information and expert testimony in the legal system, particularly focused on gendered components of that process. |
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Rotary Scholars Past and Present
Feb. 03, 2017
This week we will be lucky enough to hear from two Rotary Global Scholars, our current inbound scholar Fabio Campos and an update from Megumi Yoshinaga who we had the pleasure of hearing from as last year’s scholar. Since the funding overhaul at the Rotary Foundation around how they bestow scholarships, what we used to call Ambassadorial Scholars are now funded through Global Grants. Fabio has dedicated more than half of his life to Education. At age 18, Fabio cofounded Curso Invest, a community prep-course for underprivileged students in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For 19 years, Fabio managed and taught Literature as a volunteer at Invest. The initiative won the "Makes a Difference" national award granted by O Globo newspaper in 2012. Following more than a decade in marketing communications departments in major international companies, Fabio took on the challenge of cofounding and directing Ensina!, Brazil’s branch of Teach for All. At Rio’s municipal government, Fabio directed the Schools of Tomorrow, a program for over 100.000 students and 155 schools spread throughout Rio’s most violent favelas. Finally, Fabio was the Education Director at Oi Futuro, Oi Telecom’s social responsibility institute, where he managed public-private educational programs that mixed creativity, arts and technology. Fabio holds an MBA from Coppead, a bachelors degree in Social Communication from Rio de Janeiro’s Federal University (UFRJ), and a GCL specialization from Georgetown University. He is interested in Literature classics, comic books, videogames, open source interactive objects, video making, photography, anthropology and backpacking. Megumi has finished her year as a graduate student in East Asian Studies at Stanford. During her time she was able to translate Chiang Kia-Shek’s 1927 handwritten diary in the Hoover Institution Archives. She was also an academic tutor in philosophy. In the summer she was a business intern at Google and since August has been an associate intern at GGV Capital. She wants to call her return talk “Fake it till I make it”. As we learned last year, she was honored as the University Student of the Year in Japan for producing the first-ever Muslim fashion show to raise awareness and help refugees in Syria. Megumi was also the youngest Youth Leader of Japan in the APEC CEO Summit in 2013 and G20 Summit in 2012. She has a love of language speaking her native Japanese along with varying degrees of French, Arabic, Latin, Chinese, English, and sign language. She likes traveling, playing golf and enjoys a well done Japanese tea ceremony. |
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Feb. 04, 2017 9:00 a.m. - 12:01 p.m.
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Feb. 12, 2017 10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Requires sign-up in advance. Optional lunch to follow. Private tour of the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the recently transformed and expanded SFMOMA. The Fishers, founders of Gap, Inc., started collecting in the mid-1970’s. What first started out as prints for the office soon grew into a love of art and the desire to share it with others. Over the years, their collection expanded to include paintings, sculpture, and drawings with works by Alexander Calder, Ellsworth Kelly, William Kentridge, Anselm Kiefer, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, Gerhard Richter, Richard Serra, and Andy Warhol, among others. This first installation spans more than three floors of the museum and has a strong focus on American abstraction; American Pop, Figurative, and Minimal art after 1960; and German art after 1960. https://www.sfmoma.org/artists-artworks/fisher-collection/ |
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Feb. 16, 2017 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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President's Day Holiday
Feb. 17, 2017
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Feb. 21, 2017 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
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An Update
Feb. 24, 2017
Last year we had a wonderful presentation from the Stanford gymnastics teams. It was a great deal of information packed into our sometimes limiting 30 minutes. This week our very own Volker Kuebler will again be bringing us some special speakers. We are happy to welcome back members of the Stanford men’s collegiate gymnastics team and their coaches. We should be treated to two coaches and several athletes from the team. Among Volker’s many activities he includes being a volunteer coach to the teams based on his past affiliation as a member of the German National Gymnastics Team. The coaches and athletes will give an update of their programs at Stanford and also speak to their past and latest success stories that go far beyond the PAC-12. At least two Olympians will be attending. It should be a very energetic meeting.
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Feb. 25, 2017 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
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Mar. 04, 2017 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
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Mar. 04, 2017 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
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New Member Talks
Mar. 10, 2017
Join us on Friday for one of our favorite programs, New Member Talks. This time around we will hear from Quynh Tran & Debby Seaman, two amazing new additions. Quynh is a partner at Bay Wealth Legal Group, LLP. She counsels executives, professionals, business owners, families and individuals on all aspects of sophisticated estate and wealth transfer planning. She has a B.A. Human Biology and a M.A. Anthropology from Stanford and a J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles – School of Law. With her leisure time she enjoys photography, traveling, and tide-pooling with her kids.
Debby is a Rotary transplant having spent 20 years in the Emerald City Rotary of Seattle where she was very involved (Past President, Membership Chair, Vocational Service Chair, Auction co-Chair for 5 years, and Chair of the Board for Rotary First Harvest, voted one of Rotary International’s 100 best projects in 100 years. She has a Master of Public Health Degree, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Cal, as well as Community College and K-8 Teaching Credentials. Debby has over 20 years of experience in organization and management development, specializing in organizational change, Total Quality Management, and strategic planning within higher education and health care settings. She also relaxes by walking, playing piano, and reading, spending time with family and friends.
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International Update (PAUR in El Salvador)
Mar. 17, 2017
This week we will be honoring the Emerald Isle’s Saint Patrick by hearing from our own red headed leprechaun, International Service Chair Patrick O’Regan. Patrick will be providing an update on the International Committee’s trip to El Salvador. In January, William Grindley, Cecily O’Regan, (only related by marriage), and Patrick travelled to the Rotary Uniendo America Project Fair in El Salvador. In addition to having a booth at the project fair, they made a trip to our projects in Caluco. They were there for the dedication of the just opened maternal health clinic, Las Trincheras; they visited with the students; and they met with the water committee on the well project. The following day they went to La Mora for a PAUR sponsored health clinic. Patrick will elaborate on these and our plans for the future. PAUR has a community based International program. Unlike other Rotary clubs, PAUR's program focuses on improving a single community at a time by getting to know the people in the community, developing a working relationship with the elected officials, and funding stakeholder driven projects related to healthcare, education and economic development. The community PAUR serves has had measurable results in the improvement of the in-country poverty level. Patrick has been a Rotarian for over 25 years. He is a past club president (Falmouth (MA) Rotary) and has held leadership positions within Rotary at the Club and District level. Patrick practiced law on Cape Cod for many years but became a recovering lawyer after telling his then new bride, a native Californian, that Cape Cod was "below the snow line" - only to have 100 inches of snow fall on the cape the next winter. [Four way test fail?] Patrick now teaches a slate of classes on entrepreneurship at the undergraduate and graduate school level: entrepreneurial management, entrepreneurial finance, and entrepreneurial leadership. He also coaches business plan competitions participants and the venture capital investment competition for USF. Patrick also has a start-up in the clean tech space which is focused on water re-use.
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Mar. 19, 2017 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
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Farming Hope
Mar. 24, 2017
This week we will hear from Jamie Stark, co-founder and garden lead of Farming Hope. His enterprise is the soup kitchen turned on its head – they hire the people who usually stand in line, to produce food and feed others. They create jobs for homeless people in gardening and use that food in cooking workshops and meals. Growing and serving food lets their folks feel valued and empowered to share their gifts. They currently partner with churches and homeless service providers in Palo Alto, San Jose and Saratoga as they grow to plant more gardens, meals and opportunity around the San Francisco Bay Area. Their work is inspired by Farming Hope programs in El Salvador, Wisconsin, Chicago and now the sunny Bay Area. Farming Hope believes in empowering individuals out of homelessness, creating dignified work & safe spaces, growing and sharing food, and serving one another. The Problem: Unhoused and marginally housed individuals lack sustainable self-development opportunities in the Bay Area. Immediate resources are available, but a sense of community and opportunities for long-term growth are lacking. The Current Situation: Cafeterias and shelters only provide tangible, short-term resources (food, clothing, temporary housing). Available resources provide limited benefits. For example, soup kitchen food is often processed or unhealthy due to low cost. Homeless folks are often segregated for services, and not empowered with a sense of contributing to community. Farming Hope Fills the Gap: They foster community, service, and opportunity for everyone through urban farming and cooking. They hire homeless and low-income individuals and recruit non-homeless volunteers. They partner with other businesses and organizations to plant urban gardens, educate our community about how to use that produce, and host community meals to gather neighborhoods and fund Farming Hope. Jamie earned his B.A. in journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has lived and freelanced for the past two years in El Salvador, where he helped co-found the sustainable agriculture project that became Farming Hope. Jamie has reported across Latin America to cover stories like child migration in Guatemala, news-gathering drones in El Salvador and Internet access in Cuba. He is pursuing a career covering social enterprise and international development, with an interest in highlighting solutions to societal problems. Jamie earned his M.A. in Data & Entrepreneurial Journalism, Social Enterprise from Stanford last year. |
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Mar. 29, 2017 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
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Mar. 30, 2017 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
We'll get together to put the book plates into the 230 books PAUR purchased for at need students in East Palo Alto as part of the District Governor's READ ME A PICTURE project. The delivery of books will be scheduled separately. Since this service event is for the benefit of the District Governor's project and will be performed with another Rotary Club (EPA Bayshore) , it qualifies as a district event. |
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Making Cents of Healthcare II
Mar. 31, 2017
This week we will hear from our very own healthcare expert, Ken Graham, on a topic as charged as his talk’s title “Making Cents of Healthcare II”. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) was enacted to provide health insurance coverage to effectively and affordably reduce the number of uninsured in America. Five years ago we asked Ken to discuss the ACA on the very eve of this law being ruled constitutional by the US Supreme Court. Yet, even with 5 years of development, the ACA remains hotly contested, and fiercely politicized. Last Friday we all experienced the utter collapse of the Republican legislative effort to repeal and replace the ACA. This Friday we again have asked Ken to review some facts about surrounding healthcare costs and explore some of the impact of the ACA. Join us as we discuss "Making Cents of Healthcare II"
Ken Graham is a Charter member of the PAUR. He has served a 46 year career in Hospital Administration. He holds Professional certifications in Hospital Administration and Medical Records. He joined his first Rotary Club 43 years ago, and has served in five different clubs on the West Coast. Ken is a volunteer board member for RotaCare Free Clinics (26 years) - a not for profit organization operated in association with Rotary club members. RotaCare now operates 18 free clinics in 4 states. From 2006 to 2011 Ken served as CEO of El Camino Hospital and most recently served as Health System Integration Advisor to The Queen's Health Systems, the largest healthcare provider in Hawaii. Ken earned a BS, and Masters in Public Health, from UCLA.
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Healthcare in El Salvador
Apr. 07, 2017
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Apr. 08, 2017 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Due to the amazing wild flowers we will hike on Saturday, April 8 along the coast on the Cowell-Purisima trail.
We will meet at 8:15 am at the Sharon Height Safeway parking lot for carpooling. Those who want to come directly please join the following directions:
From the intersection of Highway 1 and Route 92 in Half Moon Bay, go south on Highway 1 for a little bit more than 3 miles and there is a parking lot at the south end of the trail right next to Highway 1.
(Note that there is also the Cowell Ranch Beach parking lot at the north end of the trail, but this is NOT where we will meet.) If you are not sure whether you are at the right one, please call Uwe at 650 387 4135.
We plan to start the hike at 9 am.
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Apr. 09, 2017 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
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Apr. 13, 2017 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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Apr. 15, 2017 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Join us at the Palo Alto Children's Theatre for a SPECIAL call for volunteers! Get a sneak-peak behind the scenes and learn more about their programs - which provide access to theatre to both Palo Alto and East Palo Alto children. The experience with theatre will have a tremendous impact on these children for years to come. Volunteers will assembly the CANDY props (no calories involved) which will be used for the upcoming production of WILLY WONKA! [Spoiler alert ... one of Jake's daughters has been cast in the show!] You can RSVP directly at info@fopact.org or sign-up via this email. The information will also be on the CLUB calendar on the paloaltouniversityrotary.org website. What a FUN way to provide Service Above Self and end tax season! |
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Energy Efficiency
Apr. 21, 2017
This week we will hear from Jennifer Tsau. Jennifer is co-founder and CEO of Keewi, a company that reduces building energy consumption by monitoring and controlling wall outlet devices. Keewi is an energy management system targeted towards energy users seeking control over their electricity bills. It will reduce overall electricity consumption by eliminating wasteful standby power. Keewi will also be integral in adapting consumer behavior to a cleaner energy grid and improving the efficiency of the grid overall. In 2017 Keewi began a partnership with Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. Keewi's software will help the stadium's management team more closely monitor the plug-load data of hundreds of devices in use at the facility, thus helping maintain their status as a net-zero sports arena. Jennifer began her career at Northrop Grumman, where she worked as a subcontract manager on multimillion dollar spacecraft programs. She had a life pivot when she returned to school to pursue her 2nd B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. This led her to discover her life's calling to help bring back "blue skies and starry nights" to polluted air through enabling technology to achieve large scale sustainable impact in the world. She's a recent transplant to the bay area from southern CA, and was drawn to Stanford University's leadership in energy research and entrepreneurship and holds an M.S. in Civil/Environmental Engineering. She is originally from a tiny town of 10,000 people in New Mexico, has an adorable border collie terrier dog named Whiskey, and enjoys training and trying new sport events every year (2 mile ocean swims, triathlons, Spartan races, etc.). |
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Apr. 22, 2017 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
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Apr. 26, 2017 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
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Apr. 27, 2017 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
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Center for the Advancement of Women's Leadership
Apr. 28, 2017
This week it will be very fortunate to hear from Mari Baker, the co-founder of the Center for the Advancement of Women's Leadership, which is part of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford. Combining academic insight with real-world strategies, the Center researches how organizations can create a more level playing field, where diverse talent can innovate and excel. They explore and promote this by having a have a blueprint for change that consists of four areas of focus: 1. Conduct research to diagnose the ways gender bias is embedded in the culture of companies, including their people processes and everyday interactions. 2. Design and evaluate the effectiveness of solutions to block the effects of bias on the outcomes of women and men in organizations. 3. Pilot interventions in partnership with committed companies to test new ideas for producing cultural change. 4. Develop tools to drive broad, sustainable social change. Combining this cutting-edge academic research and everyday practice, the Center creates innovative programming and research-based strategies to increase the number of women leaders in education, industry and government. Mari grew up in Oregon, and attended Stanford receiving a double major in Economics and Sociology. Before she came to Stanford she had never touched a computer. When she did, her life changed. She brings a deep background in consumer technology, small and large company management, and executive leadership roles. She is currently Director at John Wiley and Sons, a $1.7 billion global publisher of education and professional development content, and was recently COO and Director at Velti, Inc., a global provider of mobile marketing solutions. She has also been CEO of venture-backed start-ups PlayFirst, Inc., a leading games publisher, and Navigenics, Inc., a pioneering personalized healthcare company, and led the growth of BabyCenter, Inc. from 1999 to 2006, including the sale to Johnson and Johnson where she served as a company president. Mari was also a key player in the growth of Intuit, Inc. from under $10 million in sales in 1989 to over $800 million in 1999, and held a number of executive positions including general manager and senior vice president. She is an officer in the Golden Gate Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization, served on the Board of Trustees of Stanford from 1996-2003, and has been on the Advisory Council of the Clayman Institute since 2011. |