Zone Speakers
Ian H.S. Riseley
President 2017-18
President 2017-18
Ian Riseley is a chartered accountant and principal of Ian Riseley and Co., a firm he established in 1976. Prior to starting his own firm, he worked in the audit and management consulting divisions of large accounting firms and corporations.
Riseley has been a member of the boards of both a private and a public school, a member of the Community Advisory Group for the City of Sandringham, and president of Beaumaris Sea Scouts Group. He has been president of Langi-Taan Ski Club as well as honorary auditor or adviser for a number of charitable organizations.
Riseley’s honors include the AusAID Peacebuilder Award from the Australian government in recognition of his work in East Timor, the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the Australian community, and the Regional Service Award for a Polio-Free World from The Rotary Foundation.
A Rotarian since 1978, Riseley has served as treasurer, director, Foundation trustee, and member and chair of numerous RI and Foundation committees.
He and his wife, Juliet, a past district governor, are Major Donors and Bequest Society members of The Rotary Foundation. They live on seven hectares at Moorooduc, where they practice their personal philosophy of sustainable and organic living. They have two children and four grandchildren.
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Michael K. McGovern
Mike McGovern joined Rotary in 1986 as a member of the Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA. He has served as club president, district 7780 governor, district foundation chair, Rotarian Action Group chair, international training leader, RI committee member and chair, trustee and vice chair of the Rotary Foundation, and director and vice president of Rotary International. He has served in numerous other positions at the district, zone and international levels and has attended five councils on legislation in various roles. He currently serves as chair of the International PolioPlus Committee and represents Rotary on the Polio Strategy Committee of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Mike serves on the board of PPH National Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Rotary International providing liability insurance coverage to Rotary clubs in the United States. He is a Major Donor to the Rotary Foundation and a recipient of the Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award.
John Hewko
General Secretary
General Secretary
John Hewko is the General Secretary of Rotary International. Before joining Rotary, he was vice president of operations at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US government international development agency. An attorney, John was a partner with the law firm Baker & McKenzie, working in Moscow, Kyiv and Prague and specializing in international corporate transactions in emerging markets. In 1991-92, he assisted the Ukrainian Parliament in drafting the initial laws on foreign investment, anti-competition and corporations. John is a trustee of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine.
Rotary International is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional and community leaders who provide humanitarian service and build goodwill and peace. There are 34,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographic areas. Rotary’s primary corporate goal is the global eradication of polio. Rotary clubs also develop projects worldwide, that focus on basic education and literacy, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, economic and community development and peace and conflict resolution.
Stephen R. Brown
Motivated by the tragedy of September 11, Rotarian Steve Brown has traveled to Afghanistan twelve times during the last thirteen years working with various programs of the Rotary Foundation and other partnering organizations to carry out educational and humanitarian programs in the City of Jalalabad. He has been successful in working with Rotarian Fary Moini and local Afghans to establish a Rotary Club in Jalalabad and create a Sister Cities relationship between his home town of San Diego and Jalalabad. Additional experiences of Steve and Fary in Jalalabad include building schools, establishing internet connected computer labs for boys and girls in public high schools, working with a local university to facilitate English language training and assisting with Rotary’s polio eradication efforts through a meeting with a Taliban leader and a separate meeting with Afghan President Karzai.
Motivated by the tragedy of September 11, Rotarian Steve Brown has traveled to Afghanistan twelve times during the last thirteen years working with various programs of the Rotary Foundation and other partnering organizations to carry out educational and humanitarian programs in the City of Jalalabad. He has been successful in working with Rotarian Fary Moini and local Afghans to establish a Rotary Club in Jalalabad and create a Sister Cities relationship between his home town of San Diego and Jalalabad. Additional experiences of Steve and Fary in Jalalabad include building schools, establishing internet connected computer labs for boys and girls in public high schools, working with a local university to facilitate English language training and assisting with Rotary’s polio eradication efforts through a meeting with a Taliban leader and a separate meeting with Afghan President Karzai.
Steve was a partner in the San Diego law firm of Luce, Forward from 1972 until retirement several years ago. He has been a member of Stanford Law School’s Board of Visitors. He received the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award from United Nations Association of San Diego. A Rotarian since 1986, he has served The Rotary Foundation as vice chair and trustee (2010-14). Steve has been involved in Rotary Foundation projects in numerous countries and traveled extensively to support international service through Rotary. He is a recipient of Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award and Rotary International’s Service Above Self Award. Steve and his wife, Susan, reside in the Del Mar suburb of San Diego California.
Saju Mathew
Saju Mathew serves as International Justice Mission’s Vice President of Regional Operations for South Asia. IJM currently has offices in five cities in India, and Saju oversees our work to rescue and secure justice for survivors of trafficking and slavery and to transform the justice system so the poor are protected from violence. Saju joined IJM in 2008 as the Field Office Director in Chennai, where he led our collaborative casework to rescue families from slavery and pioneered a flagship program to partner with the government to make reforms that will help end slavery in India. Saju has fourteen years of litigation experience in both federal and state courts working for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. He received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law. Saju lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Anu, and their five children.
Saju Mathew serves as International Justice Mission’s Vice President of Regional Operations for South Asia. IJM currently has offices in five cities in India, and Saju oversees our work to rescue and secure justice for survivors of trafficking and slavery and to transform the justice system so the poor are protected from violence. Saju joined IJM in 2008 as the Field Office Director in Chennai, where he led our collaborative casework to rescue families from slavery and pioneered a flagship program to partner with the government to make reforms that will help end slavery in India. Saju has fourteen years of litigation experience in both federal and state courts working for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. He received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law. Saju lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Anu, and their five children.
Sylvia Whitlock
Sylvia Whitlock was born in New York City and educated through high school in Kingston, Jamaica. She joined the Ex-Rotary Club of Duarte in 1982 and has held every office at the club level. She is currently a member of the Rotary Club of Claremont, California. She was the first women president of a Rotary club in Rotary International, and served as an assistant governor and later District Governor in 2012-13. Sylvia is the recipient of the Rotary Foundation District Service Award, and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and member of the Bequest Society. Sylvia has participated in NIDS, established an AIDS clinic in Jamaica, supported an orphanage in Mexico, sank wells in Nigeria, and raised almost $90,000 for education for girls in India. She has spoken at more than 30 District Conferences, numerous clubs in the United States and overseas, Institutes and Zone events and addressed the 530 incoming governors at the 2013 International Assembly. Sylvia earned a BA in Psychology from Hunter College in New York City and her Ph. D. From Claremont Graduate School. She is an educator and a psychotherapist. She has been the NAACP Woman of the Year and received the United Nations Global Citizen Award in 2013. Sylvia believes her most satisfying achievement was raising her children who have now gifted her with beautiful grandchildren.
Bernd Wollschlaeger
Bernd Wollschlaeger, MD,FAAFP,FASAM is a board-certified family physician in private practice (Aventura,FL). He received his medical education in Germany and Israel and completed his residency training at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL.
He received additional training in addiction medicine and is a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Wollschlaeger also serves as a Voluntary Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Miami. School of Medicine, the Florida International and the Florida State University College of Medicine .
He is a former Board member of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians (FAFP) , the Past President of the Dade County Medical Association (DCMA) and the Past President of the Florida Society of Addiction Medicine (FSAM).
He is a former Board member of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians (FAFP) , the Past President of the Dade County Medical Association (DCMA) and the Past President of the Florida Society of Addiction Medicine (FSAM).
In 2012 he received the FAFP Family Physician of the Year Award and he is also the recipient of the 2014 German American Business Chamber Award of Excellence.
He is a member of the American Jewish Comittee Greater Miami and Broward chapter and was the Chair of the Project Interchange an educational institute of AJC. It brings opinion leaders and policy makers to Israel for a week of intensive travel and learning. Participants experience Israeli society, connect with their Israeli counterparts and learn about Israel’s extensive contributions in their fields.
Dr. Wollschlaeger is also a book author, and his book “A German Life: Against All Odds Change is Possible” describes his struggle growing up in Germany in the shadow of his Father, a highly-decorated WWII tank commander and Nazi officer. He eventually converted to Judaism, emigrated to Israel and served in the Israel Defense Forces as a Medical Officer.
In Spring 2016 he will release his novel “Samson's Shadow” and his book “ Stauffenberg: My Live in the Shadow of a Hero.” He also actively participated in the documentary “The Ghosts of the Third Reich” which was aired in the US, Europe, Brazil and China. In addition he is producing a documentary titled “ Elias' Dream: A Man's Journey Towards Peace” highlighting the issue of Jewish – Arab Coexistence in Israel.
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Francesca Giovannini
Francesca Giovannini is the Program Director for Global Security and International Affairs at the American Academy. In this role, she oversees the projects within the Global Security and International Affairs portfolio. She is an Adjunct to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she teaches a graduate seminar on Nuclear Dossiers: U.S Priorities, Dilemmas and Challenges in a Time of Nuclear Disorder. She is also an Associate to the Project on Managing the Atom at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and an Affiliate to the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University, where she was previously a MacArthur Nuclear Postdoctoral Fellow.
A recipient of the prestigious Rotary World Peace Fellowship (2005-2007), Francesca studied at the University of California Berkeley, where she earned two Master of Arts degrees and was subsequently appointed as lecturer in the Department of International and Area Studies for two years. She also held the position of Academic Coordinator of the Berkeley Summer School for the Global Generation from 2007 to 2010. After Berkeley she was admitted to Oxford University where she completed her PhD in Politics and International Relations with a thesis that explored the role of regional powers in the global nuclear order.
Prior to embark on her academic career, Francesca served as a Post-Conflict State-Building Consultant for the Crisis Prevention and Recovery Network program and the United Nations Regional Pacific Center, Suva – Fiji Islands, and as Resident Coordinator Analyst and Post-Conflict State-Building Specialist for the UN Development Program (UNDP) in Beirut, Lebanon. She also served in the Gaza Strip, Turkey and Ghana.
A recipient of the prestigious Rotary World Peace Fellowship (2005-2007), Francesca studied at the University of California Berkeley, where she earned two Master of Arts degrees and was subsequently appointed as lecturer in the Department of International and Area Studies for two years. She also held the position of Academic Coordinator of the Berkeley Summer School for the Global Generation from 2007 to 2010. After Berkeley she was admitted to Oxford University where she completed her PhD in Politics and International Relations with a thesis that explored the role of regional powers in the global nuclear order.
Prior to embark on her academic career, Francesca served as a Post-Conflict State-Building Consultant for the Crisis Prevention and Recovery Network program and the United Nations Regional Pacific Center, Suva – Fiji Islands, and as Resident Coordinator Analyst and Post-Conflict State-Building Specialist for the UN Development Program (UNDP) in Beirut, Lebanon. She also served in the Gaza Strip, Turkey and Ghana.
Don Evans
Don Evans is a business development consultant, specializing in the areas of strategic planning, team development and conflict resolution. His business career spans 50 years, 30 years in the telecommunications industry and the past 20 in his own consulting business. His work has taken him throughout North America, to China, much of Europe, and a memorable project as part of the peace process in Northern Ireland working with the Police Service on their leadership and conflict resolution skills. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School.
Always active in the community, Don has served on and chaired many community and museum boards, and is also a long time member of the Vancouver Board of Trade. He has a major passion for heritage and railway preservation, and is a Board Member of the Association of Tourist Railways and Railway Museums.
Evans was named a recipient of the Caring Canadian Award which was presented in 2016 by the Governor General of Canada. Other honours include a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 for his active community involvement.
Evans has been active in Rotary since 1986. He is a Past President of the Rotary Club of Vancouver (2002-2003) and has held many different positions with his club. In his District he has been active with District 5040 Strategic Planning, a member of the District Foundation Committee and a PETS Trainer. He was named Rotarian of the Year for District 5040 in 2014 and is District Governor for 2017 – 2018.
Don is a Paul Harris Society Member and he and wife Deb are both Major Donors and Bequest Society members of the Rotary Foundation. Don has two children and four grandsons, and also enjoys classic cars (a one owner 1967 Nova SS!) hiking, photography, cycling and playing piano.
Brenda Cressey
Brenda Cressey has recently been named as a Trustee to the Rotary Foundation and will serve a four-year term on a 15-member international board beginning 1 July 2017 thru 30 June 2021. She is currently serving her fourth year as the Rotary International Zone 26 Endowment/Major Gift Adviser for The Rotary Foundation.
Since serving as Governor in 2001-02, most of her Rotary assignments have focused on successful Fund Development for The Rotary Foundation, specifically in the areas of Polio Eradication, Annual Fund, Paul Harris Society, Endowments, Major and Legacy Gifts. She has enjoyed successful outcomes when serving in a number of Rotary Foundation positions including: Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator, Moderator, and Assistant Moderator for two Regional Rotary Foundation Institutes, including the Future Vision Transition Institute held in San Diego. She is a Rotary Alumnae, having participated in a number of Rotary Foundation Projects around the world and has seen first-hand how gifts to the foundation greatly impact the lives of others. She and her husband Dick are proud members of the Paul Harris Society, major donors, Bequest Society-level 5 and newly inducted members of the prestigious Arch Klumph Society.
When asked what the highlights in her life might be, she will not hesitate to say that they involve being a Rotarian. She was invited to join Rotary 1989, and feels that her membership and gifts to The Rotary Foundation have changed her life and the lives of many whom she will never know. She is the recipient of the RI “Service Above Self Award,” The Rotary Foundation’s “Citation for Meritorious Service,” and the prestigious Distinguished Service Award. She was honored to be nominated as one of President George H.W. Bush’s “1000 Points of Light,” which recognizes those individuals who are making a difference through their volunteer service. She was also awarded Maine Public Broadcasting System’s “Jefferson Award for Meritorious Service,” as well as honored with the “State of Maine Governor Award for Community Service.”
After retiring from New England Telephone in 1986, where she was the lead project manager for large projects, she began her own telecommunications business in Maine and acts as its current CEO. Much of her professional career includes project management, managing people and teams, and business development.
In 1995, with a move to California, she accepted a rewarding volunteer position with the American Cancer Society as the Unit Manager with a newly formed local office to support cancer patients. She was responsible for setting up the office and volunteer systems, working with the local medical community, public speaking, and volunteer training. She was a two-time recipient of the American Cancer Society Volunteer of the Year Award.
Brenda is a member of the Rotary Club of Paso Robles in District 5240 and has been a proud Rotarian for 28 years. She resides in Templeton, California with her husband Richard who recently retired from a long career as a Vice President in manufacturing. They both enjoy spending time with their dog, Casey, and love the outdoors and traveling. Their son, Gary, and his family reside in Maine.