September 12, 2019
Grace Agwaru

topic: GOL Surgery

Grace Agwaru was the first recipient of Gift of Life heart surgery in 1975 when she was 5 years old. Her surgery was sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Kampala, Uganda and Manhasset, NY and took place at St Francis hospital, Long Island.

Grace owes her achievements and inspiration to Rotary, Gift of Life, as well as to her parents who from early days talked about her life story with GOL and encouraged her to achieve her best and also give back.

Professionally, Grace is an Agricultural economist from Makerere University in Uganda. She spent her initial career working with rural communities in her hometown - Soroti; teaching them to be self-sufficient. This was her childhood dream to get a job and give back to GOL and Rotary by working close to the needy. Later Joining Rotary and GOLI made this dream more real.

In 2004 Grace together with her father and a few friends founded the Rotary club of Soroti Central and in 2009 she joined the GOLI family as a Gift of Life International Global Ambassador.

To date Grace continues to work for GOLI and also Uganda Heart institute. She also occasionally meets with fellow GOL beneficiaries in Uganda to celebrate their lifetime gift.


September 12, 2019
DG Mahbub Ahmad

topic: TBA

Mahbub Ahmad, is the District Governor for the Rotary Year 2019-20. For 2017-19, he was the District's Technology Director, tasked with assessing and improving the level and usage of technology among the Clubs and the District. He was the President of the Rotary Club of Yonkers-East Yonkers for 2016-17 and under his Presidency, the Club achieved the highest Rotary Honor - the Presidential Citation for 2016-17 - an honor shared with only 2 of the 43 Clubs in the District. He has been the Club and District's Webmaster. and Co-Chaired the 2018 District Conference Committee. He has facilitated a number of technology-related seminars in the District.

Mahbub was an International Civil Servant at UN Headquarters in New York for 30 years, retiring as Chief, UN Web Services in 2012. He is credited with many innovations at the UN, the foremost being creation of the multilingual UN Website in 1995. He began his UN career as a broadcaster and has prepared and produced many programs for UN Radio and TV, including multi-part Radio series on Human Rights, Children and the Environment, and TV episodes on UN topics broadcast on CNN. He has widely traveled to attend UN Conferences on the Middle-East, Population, Development, Information Technology, among others, and was Spokesperson for the UN General Assembly President. He received the prestigious "UN21" Award for exceptional service from 2 UN Secretaries-General - Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-Moon.

He is a member of the Paul Harris Society and along with his wife, fellow Rotarian Bina Ahmad are Major Donors to the RI Foundation. After 18 years raising their 2 sons in Scarsdale they now are residents of Yonkers.

Mahbub graduated with distinction with a Master's Degree in International Law & Organization from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, in 1978.


June 27, 2019
Joe Jordan

topic: TBA

Joe Jordan, is an insprirational speaker and behavioral finance expert. He's the author of the award-winning "Living a Life of Significance." It has sold over 70,000 copies & is published in four languages.


June 13, 2019
Phyllis Perillo

topic: TBA

Phyllis Frankfort Perillo is President & CEO of Working In Support of Education and Chair of the New York Financial Literacy Coalition. Perillo has 30 years as a non-profit chief officer and is noted for her success in designing award-winning programs. As an educational and nonprofit CEO, her passion is being a change agent.

In 1998, Perillo established Working in Support of Education, a national not-for-profit to improve financial literacy, and readiness for college and the workplace. Each year, w!se initiatives impact more than 180,000 young people and adults primarily in low to middle income communities. Perillo developed a suite of financial education initiatives. MoneyW!se prepares survivors of domestic violence for a life of financial wellness. Her Certification for Personal Finance Instructors is offered to educators in 37 states and the Financial Literacy Certification program for high schools is offered in 48 states preparing high school and college students to manage their personal finances and earn their CFL (Certified Financially Literate) by passing a widely recognized national test. Each year, in April, her national ranking of the 100 Best W!se High Schools Teaching Personal Finance is announced. To prepare young people for college and careers, Perillo created the w!se Institute and the Quality of Life INNOVATIONS research program and competition. Nine years ago, Perillo worked with the Delegation of the European Union to the United States to develop a Euro Challenge now offered in 17 states.

In 1993, Perillo founded the first public High School of Economics & Finance. In 1981, she introduced finance as a high school career focus through her innovative Academy of Finance, followed by an Academy of Travel & Tourism. These Academies led to her founding the National Academy Foundation in 1989. Her career, that began as a high school educator, led to being an administrator, licensed Principal, and a curriculum specialist for the Chancellor of the NYC Department of Education.

Perillo holds a B.A. and M.A. from New York University and a Certificate in Management from Yale University. Her work has been recognized by the media and in national publications. Perillo is on the Board of Governors for the Columbus Citizens Foundation.


May 23, 2019
Sarah Corry

topic: Purple Hearts Reunited

Sarah Corry is the Executive Director of Purple Hearts Reunited, bringing a wealth of experience in business development, innovative strategies, fundraising, event planning and much more from an extensive career in the non-profit sector. She joined Purple Hearts Reunited in January 2016 as the Development Director, assisting with fundraising campaigns, public relations and outreach, along with countless other needs of the organization.

Sarah's father, Paul Mayer, is a two-time Purple Heart recipient after being wounded twice in combat as a Marine in Vietnam. As such, she understands the direct impact the organization can make with regard to veterans and their families.

Prior to joining Purple Hearts Reunited, Sarah served as the Director of Strategic Services for the Spencer Group and as Partner with Giving Tree Partners.

Born and raised in Vermont, Sarah has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Vermont and currently resides there with her children Andrew and Claire.


March 21, 2019
Kevin Tillman ICE

topic: ICE: Homeland Security, Child Exploitation, Child Pornography

Kevin Tillman is a Human Exploitation Rescue Operative and a Computer Forensic Analyst for ICE. He will speak on Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit- Child Pornography

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration to promote homeland security and public safety. ICE was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. ICE now has more than 20,000 employees in more than 400 offices in the United States and 46 foreign countries. The agency has an annual budget of approximately $6 billion, primarily devoted to three operational directorates - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). A fourth directorate - Management and Administration - supports the three operational branches to advance the ICE mission.

March 21, 2019
Darren Williams ICE

topic: ICE: ERO Detention Procedures

Darren Williams is Assistant Field Office Director, Seattle with focus on Enforcement and Removal Operations will speak on ERO Detention Procedures. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforces federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration to promote homeland security and public safety. ICE was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the former U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. ICE now has more than 20,000 employees in more than 400 offices in the United States and 46 foreign countries. The agency has an annual budget of approximately $6 billion, primarily devoted to three operational directorates - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). A fourth directorate - Management and Administration - supports the three operational branches to advance the ICE mission.


March 14, 2019
Rachel Lloyd

topic: TBA

In 1998, at just 23 years old, Rachel Lloyd founded Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) at her kitchen table with $30 and a borrowed computer. She was driven by the lack of services for commercially sexually exploited and domestically trafficked girls and young women and the incredible stigma and punishment they faced from service providers, law enforcement, the courts, their families and society.

Twenty years later, her indelible impact on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking has helped shift the perception of trafficked girls from criminals to victims and now to survivors and leaders. GEMS is now the largest service provider of its kind in the nation providing intensive services and support to over 400 girls and young women, preventive outreach and education to 1,000 youth, and training over 1,400 professionals each year.

Rachel is well-known for her tireless dedication to the girls and young women she serves and has impacted thousands of individual lives through her love and commitment, but she is also passionate about changing public perception and policy. Her courageous advocacy ensured the passage of New York State's Safe Harbour for Sexually Exploited Children Act, which in 2008 became the first law in the nation to protect and not punish trafficked and exploited youth. Since then 28 other states have followed suit.

She co-produced the ground-breaking Showtime documentary Very Young Girls, which has been seen by over 4 million people and created a national dialogue on the issue. Rachel is also the author of the critically acclaimed Girls Like Us, and has used her unique voice to advocate for survivors at the White House, the United Nations, and before Congress.

Nationally recognized for her innovative work in transforming the movement's understanding of survivor leadership, to further empower survivors across the country and to change the public's view of survivors she created GEMS national Survivor Leadership Institute and Resource Center. She was honored as one of the "50 Women Who Change the World" by Ms. Magazine and recognized with a Reebok Human Rights Award. She was also a recipient of a 2009 Ashoka Fellowship, the Frederick Douglass Award from the North Star Fund, and the Susan B. Anthony Award from the National Organization for Women, among many other accolades. Most recently she is the recipient of the World's Children's Prize, an award that was voted on by 1.2 million children globally and has previously been awarded to Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai.

Additionally, Viola Davis and husband Julius Tennon's company, JuVee Productions, is partnering with EveryWhere Studios to produce a movie adaptation of Rachel Lloyd's critically acclaimed novel "Girls Like Us."

Rachel received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Marymount Manhattan College and her Master's in Applied Urban Anthropology from the City College of New York.



February 21, 2019
Holly Ornstein Carter

topic: BYkids

Holly Ornstein Carter - Founder & Exec. Director of BYkids, started her career as a journalist at The New York Time and has worked for 30 years as a journalist, editor, documentary filmmaker, fundraiser and non-profit leader.

She founded BYkids in 2007 as a way to teach empathy and globalism to Americans through film. The short films made by kids around the world are broadcast on public television and are distributed to half the school in America through Discovery Education with innovative educational material reaching 248 million viewers and students.


January 24, 2019
Tom McConnon

topic: Rotary International's Role in the Creation of the UN

Fellow New York Rotarian, Tom McConnon has been an active member of Rotary International since starting up a technical training program as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the early 1980's in partnership with The Rotary Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development. He is also an Honorary Lifelong Member of the Rotary Club of Harlem, and the Rotary Club of Wall Street.

His recently published book provides an enjoyable way to get a richer look at the Permanent Missions, UN Administrative Directors, and Non-Government Organizations (NGO's), such as Rotary International.

The book is based on interviews, conversations, and research that he chronicled from the monthly breakfast meetings of the Rotary Club of New York over a fourteen-year period, and the annual Rotary Day at the United Nations that he first attended in 1989 when only fifty Rotarians attended.

Before joining the Peace Corps, Tom was a financial analyst at Dun and Bradstreet in New York, and editor and manager of their publication "Key Business Ratios". Prior to that, he was a research assistant to the staff economists at Alan Greenspan's economic forecasting company. Tom is currently the CEO of Thomas Refrigeration Inc, a leading company in its field, that provides mechanical services primarily to New York City area real estate manager and owners.

He lives on Long Island with his wife Noemi, who he met while serving with the Peace Corps, and somehow was lucky enough to convince her to move to the United States. They have five children, and, God Willing, are looking forward to the arrival of their eight grandchild this June.

Tom earned a B. S. in Economics from New York University in the late 1970's and completed his MBA degree shortly after returning from the Peace Corps.


January 10, 2019
James R. Moore

topic: Warren Buffet

Jim has been a Rotarian since 2017. Jim lives in Washington Heights with his wife, and runs an investment management business based on the conservative investing principles of Warren Buffett. He has been a guest speaker on investing at NYU's Stern School of Business, Fordham University, Bowdoin College, and for the CFA Society of New York. His research has been published in Bloomberg, Barron's, Fortune, CNNMoney, and MarketWatch. He’s been investing for almost 20 years, and has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Waterloo (Canada), and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Southern California.

Jim has spent thousands of hours studying, researching, and implementing the strategies of Warren Buffett, Buffett's contemporaries, and Buffett's legendary teacher (aka "The Dean of Wall Street") - Benjamin Graham. Contrary to what is taught in the academic world on investing, Jim discusses how Buffett sticks to simplistic investment premises that have proven enormously successful. In Jim's talks he takes the audience deeper than most documentaries and biographies in order to help unravel the mystery of Buffett's exemplary record, explaining the details of how exactly Buffett thinks about his investments. In his spare time Jim volunteers as a host of quarterly educational classes on "Demystifying Investing" targeted toward artists, and non-financial professionals looking to understand the basics.




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