Speakers

The Rotary Club of Grover Beach-Five Cities welcomes its own member Rotarian Steve Schumann and The Rotary Foundational (International) Paul Harris Fellow to present his Rotary Craft Talk. Craft Talks are dedicated to fostering deeper connections among club members by providing a platform for Rotarians to share their personal and professional stories. Craft Talks are an opportunity for members to introduce themselves, highlight their career journeys, personal passions, and community involvement, and strengthen the bonds of fellowship within the club. The club looks forward to learning more about Steve.

*Disclaimer: This is an informational educational presentation and does not constitute any perceived or real endorsement of any company or organization by this club.

The Rotary Club of Grover Beach-Five Cities welcomes its own member Rotarian Candace Brown to present her Rotary Craft Talk. Craft Talks are dedicated to fostering deeper connections among club members by providing a platform for Rotarians to share their personal and professional stories. Craft Talks are an opportunity for members to introduce themselves, highlight their career journeys, personal passions, and community involvement, and strengthen the bonds of fellowship within the club. The club looks forward to learning more about Candace.

Candace joined the Arroyo Grande Community Hospital Foundation (https://www.supportarroyogrande.org/) over 3 years ago as their Manager of Philanthropy with many duties such as fundraising for both Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and Mission Hope Cancer Center in Arroyo Grande, which is very special to her as a cancer survivor herself. Prior to the foundation she worked 11 years for Lucia Mar Unified School District (LMUSD). She's a proud graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo earning her Bachelor's of Science in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration. She's a graduate of the South County Chambers of Commerce's Leadership South County Class V. Her family is proud to have called South San Luis Obispo County their home for over 2 decades now.

*Disclaimer: This is an informational educational presentation and does not constitute any perceived or real endorsement of any company or organization by this club.

The Rotary Club of Grover Beach-Five Cities welcomes its Rotary District 5240 Past District Governor (PDG) Deepa Willingham who is PACE Universal's Founder/CEO. She is an active Rotarian and served as the District Governor in 2010- 2011. She is the Past President of the Rotary Club of Santa Ynez Valley, being named the Rotarian-of-the-Year during her year as President and has been the winner of many humanitarian awards including the winner of Santa Barbara’s ‘Gutsy Gals You Inspire Me Award’ in 2013; one of the “Women of Action” Honoree at the White House in 2014; Time Now – Global Amazing Indian awardee from the Times of India in 2015; one of three Inspiring Women of Action at World Bank’s celebration of International Women’s Day in Washington DC, 2016; and the recipient of the 2018 United Nations Association (UNA) Peace Prize.

Over the past twenty-three years, a great deal of Deepa’ s time and personal resources have been dedicated to the founding and developing of the PACE Learning Centre (PLC) outside of Kolkata, India to counter-act child trafficking, through education of the girl child and empowerment of women. Her dedicated work at PLC, which she developed through an US non-profit organization (PACE Universal – www.paceuniversal.org) she founded, is resulting in the creation of a sustainable village rehabilitation model supported by PACE and a $330,000 Health, Hunger and Humanity Grant from The Rotary Foundation. With this grant money and with the help of local Rotarians, who have become her partners, she is completely rehabilitating the village of Piyali Junction by bringing literacy (to children and adults), health and dental care, clean water, sanitation, vocational training, banking/micro- lending to help the change the face of trafficking and poverty in that corner of the world. PLC is now poised to serve a model for duplication. She will share more with our club about PACE Universal's work.

Learn more about PACE Universal here: https://www.paceuniversal.org/

*Disclaimer: This is an informational educational presentation and does not constitute any perceived or real endorsement of any company or organization by this club.

The Rotary Club of Grover Beach-Five Cities welcomes Cuesta College Superintendent/President Dr. Jill Stearns and also fellow Rotarian with the Rotary Club of San Luis Obispo. She will provide both a background and update on the plans for Cuesta College's new South County Campus located in Arroyo Grande bordering Grover Beach.

You can learn more about Cuesta College's courses, programs, and partnerships here: https://www.Cuesta.edu/

*Disclaimer: This is an informational educational presentation and does not constitute any perceived or real endorsement of any company or organization by this club.

The Rotary Club of Grover Beach-Five Cities welcomes AGE Africa and its Deputy Director of Partnership and Giving Cozy Fab to share their mission "To provide life-changing opportunities to young women in Malawi through targeted initiatives in education, mentoring, and leadership development." in Malawi through programs such as their Creating Healthy Approaches to Success (CHATS) after-school program aimed at helping scholars achieve academic success and gain life skills and also life-changing scholarship covering the full cost of education for girls attending government high schools. The club looks forward to learning more about their international work.

Learn more about AGE Africa here: https://www.AGEAfrica.org/

*Disclaimer: This is an informational educational presentation and does not constitute any perceived or real endorsement of any company or organization by this club.

The Rotary Club of Grover Beach-Five Cities welcomes Marty Imes who is a culture and leadership strategist, speaker, and coach. For over 15 years, he’s helped leaders build workplace cultures that elevate human potential and fuel sustainable performance. As Director of Vision & Culture at Advantage Answering+, he guided the company to consistently double revenue and earn a spot on FORTUNE’s Top 25 Best Small Companies to Work For. Today, as co-founder of CultureStoke, Marty partners with CEOs and teams to design purpose-driven cultures. Known for his warmth, clarity, and surf-inspired energy, his mission is simple: make work, less work and leadership more human. 

Learn more about CultureStoke here: https://www.CultureStoke.com/

*Disclaimer: This is an informational educational presentation and does not constitute any perceived or real endorsement of any company or organization by this club.

The Rotary Club of Grover Beach-Five Cities welcomes Francine Errico from our of Toastmasters International's local clubs to share more about Toastmasters, the benefits of membership, and opportunities for collaboration between our organizations. Toastmasters International and Rotary International formed a formal strategic alliance in 2019 focused on strengthening leadership, communication, and community impact. Rotary clubs already do incredible service work. Toastmasters can help Rotary members: Speak more confidently, deliver stronger presentations, lead meetings effectively, and share Rotary's mission and story.

Learn more about Toastmasters International and Rotary International's strategic alliance here: https://www.Toastmasters.org/Rotary

*Disclaimer: This is an informational educational presentation and does not constitute any perceived or real endorsement of any company or organization by this club.