Speakers

Kelly Peterschmidt is the Founder and Executive Director of Porchlight Friends and the Director
of the PEARLS Program of Colorado, two organizations dedicated to helping older adults remain
healthy, connected, and independent throughout the Pikes Peak region.

Kelly has spent more than 17 years serving older adults in a variety of leadership roles. She and
her husband previously founded, operated, and successfully sold a medical home healthcare
agency, where she gained firsthand experience supporting older adults and their families. She
later worked in hospice care before joining Silver Key, where she developed and launched its
companionship program to address the growing challenges of loneliness and social isolation
among older adults.

Inspired by the increasing need for meaningful social connection, Kelly founded Porchlight
Friends in 2023, a nonprofit organization providing companionship, transportation, and
caregiver respite to older adults and their families across El Paso County.

Kelly also leads the PEARLS Program of Colorado, an evidence-based behavioral health program
developed by the University of Washington that helps older adults experiencing mild
depression, anxiety, loneliness.

Kelly is passionate about developing innovative, community-based solutions that promote
healthy aging, emotional wellness, and meaningful human connection.

District Governor 2026–2027 • Rotary District 5470

Some people build successful businesses. Others devote themselves to serving their
communities. A rare few dedicate their lives to doing both while inspiring others
along the way. Donna L. Hood is one of those people.

Raised with a strong work ethic and an unwavering belief that leadership is measured
by service, Donna began her professional journey in the sciences. After graduating
Cum Laude from Harcum College with an Associate Degree in Medical Technology,
she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Villanova University.

In 1982, Donna helped launch Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, Inc., helping
grow the company from five employees into an internationally respected
biotechnology leader while serving in positions ranging from laboratory technician to
Chief Financial Officer. Today, her husband Ralph continues to oversee the
laboratory's operations on the East Coast while Donna has devoted herself to new
chapters of leadership and service.

Following a visit to Colorado's Wet Mountain Valley, Donna and Ralph purchased
what became A Painted View Ranch. Since retiring in 2008, Donna has spent
twenty-two years building and managing the ranch into one of Colorado's premier
working horse ranches and event venues.

Her love of Western heritage led her to become a preservation breeder of the
Nokota® horse and a leader within the Nokota Horse Conservancy. As she prepared
to serve as District Governor, Donna made the heartfelt decision to donate her Nokota
horses back to the Conservancy, ensuring their valuable bloodlines would continue to
be preserved for future generations.

Recognizing the demands of leading Rotary District 5470, Donna also made the
difficult decision to place A Painted View Ranch on the market. Over the past nine
months she prepared the ranch for its next chapter, choosing to simplify her
responsibilities so she could devote her full attention, energy, and heart to serving the
clubs and communities of District 5470 during her Governor year.
Donna's Rotary journey has included service as Club President, Assistant Governor,

District Treasurer, Foundation leader, Action Plan Champion, and numerous district
leadership roles. She now has the privilege of serving as District Governor of Rotary
District 5470, where she is committed to strengthening clubs, developing leaders,
expanding Rotary's reach, telling Rotary's story, and creating lasting impact
throughout southern and western Colorado.

She represented Rotary internationally at the 2026 Rotary International Convention in
Taipei, Taiwan, where she experienced firsthand the fellowship that unites more than
one million Rotarians around the world.

Throughout every chapter of her life—from biotechnology executive, to ranch owner,
to preservation breeder, to District Governor—the common thread has remained the
same: building, preserving, and leaving every organization stronger than she found it.

Some leaders are remembered for the offices they held. Others are remembered for
the lives they touched. Donna hopes she will simply be remembered as someone who
cared deeply, led with integrity, welcomed everyone with kindness, and always tried
to leave every person, every organization, and every community just a little better
than she found it.

Aviation safety has continually improved since the Wright Brothers flew at Kill Devil Hills.
Now, primarily due to excellent equipment and rigorous training, mainline commercial
aviation accidents are extremely rare. However, slightly over 1000 general aviation
accidents occur annually and about 15% of those accident result in fatalities. Often
following an accident, a lawsuit is filed claiming that the aircraft or one of its components
caused the accident. The various parties typically hire experts to analyze the accident
and explain what happened and why. Usually, the experts on opposing sides do not
agree on the cause of the accident, and it’s up to the jury to decide who is right. An
example of a general aviation accident, an in-flight breakup, in which the experts
disagreed as to the cause will be discussed in detail. The discussion will include
analysis of the aircraft wreckage, fundamental airplane fluid dynamics, trajectory
analyses, failure analysis, Air Traffic Control issues, and airplane performance.

Bob Winn is a mechanical/aeronautical forensic engineer and Principal Emeritus of
Engineering Systems Inc. (ESi). He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1991 after a 22-year career,                                                                                                      serving as an instructor pilot in four different Air Force aircraft, teaching aeronautical engineering at the USAF                                                                                  Academy, and serving as Chief Scientist of the USAF European Office of Aerospace                                                                                                                          Research and Development in London, England. Dr. Winn has been with ESI since 1994.                                                                                                                    During that time, he served as an expert witness on hundreds of aircraft                                                                                                                                                accidents involving aircraft from ultralights to airliners. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of                                                                                                  Aeronautics and Astronautics and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal
Aeronautical Society.

 

Libby Rittenberg is Professor Emerita of Economics at Colorado College. She received her B.A. In Economics-mathematics and Spanish from Simmons College in 1973, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Rutgers in 1978 and1980, respectively.

Prior to joining the faculty at Colorado College in 1989, she taught at Lafayette College and at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Management. She served as a Fulbright Scholar in Istanbul, Turkiye in the mid-1980s and worked as a research economist at Mathematica, Inc. in Princeton, New Jersey in the late 1970s.

She specialized in the internationally oriented areas of economics, with numerous articles in journals and books on comparative and development economics and a particular emphasis on the Turkish economy.  Edited book titles include The Political Economy of Turkey in the Post-Soviet Era: Going West and Looking East? and The Economic Transformation of Eastern Europe: Views from Within. From 2000 to 2020, she co-authored various editions of a college-level introductory economics textbook (first by Worth Publishers and more recently by Flatworld Knowledge) with UCCS Professor Emeritus Timothy Tregarthen. The textbook continues to be published by Flatworld Knowledge with a new, and younger, author.

Dr. Neena Grover has taught Biochemistry at Colorado College for 26 years. She has
trained more than 200 students in her research lab and published widely with them,
including the book "Fundamentals of RNA Structure and Function" (Springer-Nature, 2022)
in which more than 20 undergraduate students are co-authors.
Dr. Grover work has been recognized through awards such as the 2019 Midstates
Consortium’s Janet Anderson Award for Excellence in Research and Teaching, the 2025

William C. Rose Award for Excellence in Biochemistry Education, and multiple student-
nominated honors, including the Teacher of the Year award in 2025.

She was a founding member of the national undergraduate science networks of ASBMB
and has organized major conferences, secured NSF grants, and maintains collaborations
in the United States, Europe, and North Africa. Her work focuses on understanding RNA
and DNA structures, their interactions with ions, and their stability. She serves as an editor
for CourseSource and as a member of the editorial board of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology Education.

Being Human in the Era of Gene Editing

Gene editing has moved from science fiction into modern medicine, with CRISPR-Cas
systems offering unprecedented possibilities for treating and potentially preventing
disease while raising profound scientific and ethical questions. From the controversial
creation of the first “CRISPR babies,” to new treatment for sickle cell disease, the
technology demonstrates both remarkable therapeutic potential and significant risks. As
gene editing becomes more accessible, including through animal experiments outside
traditional research settings, concerns about unintended genetic changes, safety, cost,
unequal access, and the possibility of altering future generations are growing.
Ultimately, CRISPR forces us to consider not only what gene editing can accomplish,
but what it should accomplish—and who should decide how far we should go in biology.

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