Rohey Njie - a public Helath specialist who assisted with the purge of polio in Nigeria will speak with us. She is also an honorary Rotarian in Gambia.
Rohey Njie is a public health professional from Gambia in western Africa. Raised by her grandmother in a rural community, Rohey saw first-hand the damaging effects of traditional medicine and was determined to step into the field of Public Health to help others. Through relentless study and discipline, she gained a scholarship for college and became the first person in her family to enter university. She became the only woman in her public health promotion program and excelled quickly.
From graduation in 2009 to June 2019, she rose through the ranks as a public health officer and health education and promotion officer and became a Senior Program Officer for the Ministry of Health in the Gambia. Rohey’s work focuses on advocacy, community engagement, and social and behavior change communication. While working with the health communication division, she was responsible for planning, coordination, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion programs, including immunizations, social mobilization, and disease prevention. She implemented several interventions and response programs working with and supporting and empowering individuals, families, and communities with health information to enable them take control of their own health and wellbeing.
In July 2019, she was recruited by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative assigned to Nigeria and continued her work with public health interventions to fight against polio. Additionally, Rohey has produced three of her own documentaries, her latest being “A Day in the Life of a Polio Survivor.”
Tod Kimmelshue, Our newest Butte County Supervisor, has been married 33 years to wife Sherri ,with 2 sons, Kirk and Chad. He is a 5th generation family farmer and served for 35 years in the finance and banking industry.
Tod has served on numerous Boards including Butte County Farm Bureau, Board Member and Past President; Faith Lutheran Church Council Member, Past President, Sunday School Teacher; Butte County Water Commission, Vice Chairman; Chamber of Commerce, Board Member and Past President, Chico State Foundation, Board Member and Past Finance Chair; California Farm Bureau, Board Member and Past Finance Chair; Northern California Regional Land Trust, Board Member and Past President; and most importantly Rotary Club, Past President.
Tod has received many community service awards:Agricultural Service Award – Farm City Celebration; Distinguished Citizen of the Year – Boy Scouts of America; Member of the Year – Butte County Farm Bureau; Community Service Award – Chamber of Commerce; and American Farmer Degree – Future Farmers of America (FFA)
Andrew Coolidge was raised just south of Butte County in the small town of Loma Rica in the Yuba County Foothills. He moved to Chico in 1993 to enroll in Chico State. He graduated with a Bacholer of Arts Degree in English Literature.
He has owned and operated Coolidge Public Relations for the last 27 years which produces the Chico Home and Garden Shows, Chico Bridal Shows and Yuba City Home, Garden and Recreation Show. He has also worked closely with the Silver Dollar Fair and Yuba-Sutter Fair over the last twenty-five years on both advertising and sponsorship. He is a single father of two children, his daughter, age 18, attends UCLA, and his son, age 14 is a Freshman at Chico High.
Andrew served on the council from 2014-2018 and was part of the council which restored Chico to fiscal health when they were the 5th most likely city to declare bankruptcy in the State of California. He was re-elected to council in 2020 and became Mayor.
Andrew has also been a PTA president at Chico Country Day School for two years, chaired the Butte County Air Quality Management District Board for four years, is a past board member for the Butte County Fair, past chairman of the Internal Affairs Committee for City Council, former board member of the Butte County Association of Governments, former Chair of the Eagle Scout Board of Review, former board member of the Buttes Area Council BSA Board.
Dr. Karin Lightfoot earned her Baccalaureate of Science degree in Nursing at Cal State Bakersfield and has been a registered Nurse for 37 years. She worked mostly in the areas of public health nursing and obstetrics. She earned her Master of Science degree in Nursing at CSU Chico and began teaching at Chico State School of Nursing in 2007. She earned her Ph. D in Public Health from Walden University in 2016 and she became Director of the School of Nursing in 2017.
She is Nationally Board Certified in Community Health Nursing and holds a Public Health Nursing certification from the California Board of Registered Nursing. She is currently the President-Elect for the California Association for Colleges of Nursing, is a State Grassroots Liaison for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and a board member of Kappa Omicron Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honors Society of Nursing.
In her spare time, she enjoys camping, gardening, and taking long walks with her husband Robb Lightfoot. They raised their four children in Palo Cedro, California before moving to Chico in 2017, when she took the Director position. With the support of the University administration and the committed nursing faculty and staff, she has navigated the School of Nursing through the challenges of the Camp Fire and now the COVID pandemic.
Frank Schulenberg - Wiki Education Foundation - Schooling with Wiki
Frank Schulenburg is the Executive Director of Wiki Education, the non-profit that connects Wikipedia with subject-matter experts in higher education and cultural institutions. Frank is motivated by the desire to provide people with free access to accurate and trustworthy information, so they can make their own best choices as informed citizens.
Since the early days of his involvement with Wikipedia, Frank’s work has focused on improving content quality and broadening participation. Until 2014, he served on the Executive Team of the Wikimedia Foundation and spearheaded a number of global initiatives aimed at improving the encyclopedia’s coverage and quality.
Frank has been involved with Wikipedia as a volunteer since 2005, both as an author and as a photographer. His encyclopedia articles and photographs have gained widespread acclaim.
Colonel Heather Fox is the Commander, 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base, CA. She is responsible for approximately 7,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel, and the entire Air Force high-altitude reconnaissance fleet of U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is comprised of four groups and four overseas operating locations, executing worldwide missions in support of all six geographic combatant commanders.
Colonel Fox is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and started her career as a T-38 instructor pilot before transitioning to the U-2 program as a mission pilot. Col Fox’s staff duties have included exchange officer service in the UK Royal Air Force Strategy Division, the Joint Staff J3 Reconnaissance Division, and as a strategist and speech writer for the 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She has earned three Master's Degrees from the American Public University, King’s College London, and the National Defense University. Her combat experience includes missions over Iraq and Afghanistan during Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM, and she has commanded EQ-4, RQ-4, and U-2 combat missions for Operations INHERENT RESOLVE, FREEDOM’S SENTINAL, as well as Sensitive Reconnaissance Operations in the Arabian Gulf.
Colonel Fox is a command pilot with over 2,400 hours in the U-2, E/RQ-4, and T-38A. She has flown 69 combat missions in the U-2 and has over 650 hours of combat time. Prior to her current position, she was a student at the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.
Ingelise Mahlis-Miller graduated from Inspire School of Arts and Sciences a year early and embarked on an adventure as an Exchange Student with Rotary to Taiwan. She is eighteen years old and has lived in Chico for almost all of her life. She is very excited to have been on exchange to Taiwan through Rotary, and sharing her story with us, and expresses her thanks to Rotary for this wonderful opportunity.
Katy Thoma - Katy came to Chico in 1974 from Aptos, CA to attend Chico State where she graduated with a degree in Economics. Katy has 25 years of banking experience, and 16 years’ experience working in the non-profit sector. She also spent 2 summers during college working as a ride operator at Magic Mountain – one of her favorite jobs. She can still recite her “spiel” on demand. Katy takes great pride in the fact her family has been in California for 9 generations. She is a 3rd generation Rotarian. Katy is honored to be the CEO of the Chico Chamber where she works on behalf of the business community.
Chiara Savage Schwartz and Lilah Parker are Caliifornia high school juniors and student ambassadors for Wonderbag, where they have been working since 2106 to bring the Wonderbag non-electric slow cookers to low-income communities around the world. Together, they visit classrooms and community centers both in California and South Africa to raise awareness and understanding of the challenges that face the most vulnerable and teach everyone how more efficient home cooking can be a recipe for change. Chiara and Lilah's efforts have helped thousands of women and girls recover the time to determine their educational and financial futures. They were honored with a Bay Area Jefferson Award from Multiplying Good in 2019 and the Marin Academy Juniors Grant in 2020.
Lilah Parker and Chiara Savage Schwartz will present a new approach to both local and international women's and homeless impowerment. One Wonderbag, one family, one year, resilience.
On the international front, each wonderbag provides 70% less feul needed to cook, up to 1 ton carbon emissions mitigated, 60% less indoor pollution, up to 1,000 hours diverted, 1,000 liters of cooking water spared, and 5 large trees saved from deforestation.
What is this miracle bag? Lilah and Chiara will explain.
Frederick W. Penney is the host of Radio Law Talk, a radio show discussing the latest trending legal topics and news, broadcast throughout many areas around the country and can be found on SRN Radio networks.
The Penney and Associates firm has now expanded to offices in Sacramento, Roseville, Chico, Rocklin and Irvine with satellite offices in Fairfield, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Southern California. Penney and Associates Cases have been featured on the National Nightly News, local nightly news, radio news programs and numerous articles in print media, and Penny Lawyers have handled numerous high profile personal injury cases and thousands of personal injury cases..
Fred was Born in 1963 and admitted to the California State Bar in 1992, receiving his B.A. degree from Brigham Young University in 1988 in Philosophy, and receiving his J.D. degree in 1991 from J. Reuben Clark Law School.
Following his admission to the bar he briefly worked for a nationwide personal injury firm. Within six months of passing his bar he was lead trial lawyer in a large Superior Court personal injury case. Early in his career Mr. Penney has been featured in magazines, newspapers and on the local nightly news about a number of cases.
Mr. Penney is the author of numerous personal injury articles. He became a member of the California Trial Lawyers Association in 1993, has been admitted in 1992 and 1993 to the Federal Eastern District Court and the 9th District Court of Appeals. Fred Penney is a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar and an officer of the court. Mr. Penney is a settlement conference judge for the Placer County Superior Court.
Johrita Solari - A Rotarian since 1993, Johrita is currently a proud member of the Rotary Club of Anaheim, California. She served as District Governor for District 5320 in 2010-2011. Additional service has included chair of the 2013 Southern California/Nevada PETS, training leader at the 2014 and 2015 International Assemblies, chair of the 2015 Institute for Zones 25/26, and membership on Rotary’s Peace Major Gifts Initiative Committee. On July 1, 2019, she became the Rotary International Director (2019-2021) for the newly configured Zones 26/27.
As District Governor, Johrita held the first District 5320 Million Dollar Dinner for The Rotary Foundation. Under her leadership, District 5320 became the second district in the world to become a 100% Paul Harris Club District.
Johrita is Co-Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Solari Enterprises, Inc., a full-service property management company employing 300 team members who specialize in the management of more than $1B of affordable multifamily housing. She works together with her husband and daughters to create a working environment with a high level of ethics and integrity. She has served in many capacities on community and industry boards.
Rotary plays an important role in the lives of the Solari family. Johrita, her husband Bruce, and their two daughters, Gianna and Tressa, are all past club presidents and with their son-in-law, Reece are active supporters of The Rotary Foundation. Johrita and Bruce are members of the Arch Klumph Society.
Laura R. Cootsona holds a Masters in Nonprofit Administration (MNA) from University of San Francisco and a BA from UC Berkeley in Religious Studies and worked with nonprofit organizations as a consultant for 21 years. Cootsona built her consulting practice focused on fundraising, marketing, CEO coaching, strategic planning, and board development. In October of 2015, Cootsona became the Executive Director of the Jesus Center, a social service nonprofit in Chico, CA focusing on reducing the impact of homelessness.
She describes her commitment to folks living on the streets as her first passion, dating back to the early eighties while in school in Berkeley. As an undergraduate she volunteered at the Berkeley Emergency Food Project first as a job coach (and expert spades player) and then as a board member. Since assuming the role of Executive Director, Cootsona focuses on building strategic collaborations for the overall improvement of the community and of those who struggle the most with childhood trauma, mental illness, substance use, and circumstantial challenges. Post Camp Fire, Cootsona serves on the Executive Committee of the Long-Term Recovery Group Board of Directors and is focused on building a full service campus called The Renewal Center.
When she is not at work, Laura enjoys time with her two daughters (22 and 25), biking, reading, swimming, taking pictures, hanging out with friends, and traveling. She and her husband, Greg, a lecturer at CSUC in Religious Studies, are about to celebrate 35 years of marriage.
Susan Cohen Grossman is the Rotary District 5160 Peace Fellowship Chair and has lived in Benicia for more than 30 years. She has been involved with the Peace Fellowship program almost from the start of her 29 years in Rotary and has focused on finding and nurturing potential Peace Fellows.
Susan joined the Fairfield Suisun Club in 1992 when she was the Agricultural Commissioner for Solano County, a position she held for 16 years. She later became a pest management writer at UC Davis, where she joined the Davis Noon Club. For the past 12 years, she has been a member of the Concord Rotary Club. Susan is passionate about International Projects and has been working on an endeavor to bring sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene to impoverished schools in Honduras and Guatemala
Colonel Heather Fox is the Commander, 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base, CA. She is responsible for approximately 7,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel, and the entire Air Force high-altitude reconnaissance fleet of U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is comprised of four groups and four overseas operating locations, executing worldwide missions in support of all six geographic combatant commanders.
Colonel Fox is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and started her career as a T-38 instructor pilot before transitioning to the U-2 program as a mission pilot. Col Fox’s staff duties have included exchange officer service in the UK Royal Air Force Strategy Division, the Joint Staff J3 Reconnaissance Division, and as a strategist and speech writer for the 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She has earned three Master's Degrees from the American Public University, King’s College London, and the National Defense University. Her combat experience includes missions over Iraq and Afghanistan during Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM, and she has commanded EQ-4, RQ-4, and U-2 combat missions for Operations INHERENT RESOLVE, FREEDOM’S SENTINAL, as well as Sensitive Reconnaissance Operations in the Arabian Gulf.
Colonel Fox is a command pilot with over 2,400 hours in the U-2, E/RQ-4, and T-38A. She has flown 69 combat missions in the U-2 and has over 650 hours of combat time. Prior to her current position, she was a student at the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.
A fifth generation Texan and professional forensic genealogist since 1996, Kelvin is a frequent speaker to genealogical societies and family associations throughout the United States. He specializes in southern brick wall problems for clients.
Kelvin is a 1989 and 1990 alumnus of the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research at Samford University and has returned to IGHR as lecturer in the Southern Course and the Professional Courses.
He is a past board member of the Association of Professional Genealogist, a past President of the Lone Star Chapter of APG, and a former member for the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy (CAFG). He currently serves as the chairman of the history and archives committee of First United Methodist Church in Dallas. The Dallas Genealogical Society awarded Kelvin the Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck Distinguished Service Award in December of 2018.
In 2016 Kelvin published Research in Texas for NGS (National Genealogical Society) Research in the States series. Kelvin is also the director of the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR) sponsored by the Texas State Genealogical Society.
Forensic genealogy is the emerging practice of utilizing genetic information from direct-to-consumer companies for identifying suspects or victims in criminal cases. As of July, 2019, the use of this practice has led to the discovery of over 40 suspects of murder and sexual assault.
Tara graduated from PVHS in the Class of 2000. She then went to Dominican University of California, graduating with an MBA in Global Strategic Management in 2004. She went into accounting, traveling the US and Asia as an auditor, then settling back in Chico, gradually working up to CFO, before taking a left turn and starting law school, where she has completed her 1st year.
But throughout her varied career one thing had stayed the same: since 2001, she has produced subtitles for Anime. Tara helped to begin the first international subtitling company focused on digital distribution. Now the leader in Zero Day releases, Tara will be speaking about the unique world of subtitling, how Zero Day production revolutionized the industry, and what other industries can learn from this model.
Mike Guzzi serves as the Associate Vice President for Facilities Operations and Capital Projects at Chico State. His scope includes custodial, grounds, utilities, and maintenance as well as management of construction and sustainability for the entire campus. Additionally, he is directly responsible for all master planning efforts and compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act. He also serves as an adjunct faculty in the Civil Engineering Department teaching leadership, ethics, and construction engineering. Mike holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Chico State, a Master of Arts in American history from the American Military University, and a Master of Science in civil engineering from UCLA. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of California and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional. Prior to his arrival at Chico State, he served 20 years in the US Navy Civil Engineer Corps managing wartime and humanitarian construction and engineering for the military both at home and abroad to include multiple deployments to places such as Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
Mike currently also serves the campus as the Chico State’s Emergency Operations Center Director leading a multi-disciplinary team from across campus in crisis management with most efforts of late involving COVID preparations and response to include academic scheduling, housing, cleaning, disinfecting, case management, and other safety and health protocols.
Guzzi fun facts:
When I was in my 20s I was sent to Iraq to build an Iraqi Special Forces base from scratch. We were given a bombed-out plot of land and had to design and build the entire base. While there I also spent a lot of time in several of Saddam Hussein’s palaces.
Another fun fact: While building a boat ramp in Tanzania our team dropped an excavator into the ocean…..Hoorah….
Megan Gaddis, originally from Placer County, has lived in the Chico area for the past 13 years. She currently resides in Vina, CA with her 5-year old son Logan. Motherhood, friends, family, animals and work keep her busy as well as her love for cooking, gardening and staying active.
Megan graduated from CSU Chico with a BA in Criminal Justice in 2013. Her passion for helping people has led her down a winding professional path. Her current and most esteemed position as the Resource Developer for the Arc of Butte County allows her to advocate for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and provide support to their families. Her goals, both personally and professionally, involve bringing people together within the community to promote the greater good. She strives to help others reach their fullest potential and seeks to make genuine connections within the Rotary organization.
Scott Blow is the Executive Director at California Vocations Inc., Chico CA. where we serve individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Residential Care, Supported Living, and community based day programs. He is the former San Andreas Regional Center District Manager. He is skilled in Compassion, Clinical Supervision, Mental Health Counseling, Leadership, and Team Leadership. And Scott has a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from CSU Fullerton.
Dana Gajda is a business manager (M.B.A), entrepreneur, and a Past President of the Rotary Club of Paradise. She is also a veteran of the Army, where she served as an Instructor. She lives in Paradise and has been involved in community projects, and most recently serving as Chair of the Hope Plaza Committee.
Greg Melton, owner and Principal Landscape Architect of Melton Design Group, has been planning and designing award-winning landscapes for over 25 years. A graduate of both Chico State and UC Davis, Greg is also a member of Chico's Sunrise Rotary Club and has done numerous local projects include Chico City Plaza and Caper Acres.