Events

Gil Klein, 67, a long-time journalist and journalism educator in Washington, D.C., is the author of "Trouble in Lafayette Square: Assassination, Protest & Murder at the White House," published in May 2018. For 22 years, he was a national correspondent for the Media General News Service, writing for 23 newspapers in the South. His deep interest in American history has led him to explore past stories of where he lives and work. As he often walked across Lafayette Park on his way to work, he began collecting the tales in this book, even as he covered the White House during the George H.W. Bush administration.

He was the 1994 President of the National Press Club and wrote its centennial history in 2008, “Reliable Sources: 100 Years at the National press Club.” He toured the United States for the Club, holding forums on the First Amendment, Freedom of the Press and the Future of Journalism, and he remains the Club’s historian.

After leaving Media General, he was a journalism professor at American University’s Washington Semester Program, and now he is working with the University of Oklahoma to create a Washington program for its journalism school.

A graduate of Rollins College, he earned a Masters degree at American University before launching his journalism career. He lives with his wife, Gail, in Arlington, Va. and they have two grown children.

Richard Rubin created and founded the Alexander Kartveli Association in the former Soviet country of Georgia in 2013 to promote and encourage high school students to pursue STEM and undertake professions that bring them into closer contact with European and American educational scientific and science based organizations.   The story of Alexander Kartveli, a pioneering aviation engineer and innovator who became a US citizen after emigrating from Europe in the late 1920’s and is considered one of the most important aircraft designers in US history, reinforces the need for the development and growth of entrepreneurship and innovation skills both in the scientific community and among students with an interest in STEM in Georgia in today’s world.  In early February 2018, the Alexander Kartveli Association opened the Kartveli Learning Center at the Embassy of Georgia in Washington DC.  

Mr. Rubin is a developmental and emerging market economist and financial expert with over twenty-five years of experience working for private consulting firms, investments banks and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a United States export credit agency.  Mr. Rubin is founder of his own consulting firm, Project Finance Advisors, that engages in technical and financial diligence for U.S. based companies as well as providing financial diligence service to multilateral credit agencies seeking to structure and verify the creditworthiness of various programs and loans. Mr. Rubin has arranged financing for clients from private equity funds, multilaterals banks, export credit agencies and other sources of capital.

Mr. Rubin’s geographic expertise includes the Caucasus region and Georgia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Northern Africa, Central America, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and areas within the Russian Federation.  Mr. Rubin was OPIC’s Senior Finance Office for Russia and the NIS for four years and performed economic diligence and loan negotiations with a number of Russian enterprises as well as Russian government entities.

Mr. Rubin holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, an MA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA from Stanford University. 

Nicole Lynn Lewis serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Generation Hope, an organization which she founded in March 2010. As CEO, Nicole oversees all aspects of Generation Hope’s operations.

Nicole founded Generation Hope because after completing college as a teen mother despite tremendous obstacles, she wanted to help other teen parents earn their college degrees and achieve stable and successful futures. She named the organization Generation Hope because in her own words, "Hope is the number one, necessary, secret ingredient to anyone’s success."  Generation Hope reduces poverty one family at a time by providing direct sponsorships, one-on-one mentoring, and case management to D.C. area teen parents who are attending college.

In just six years, Nicole has created a truly unique and thriving organization that is gaining national attention for its sole focus on college completion for teen parents.  As a testament to her work, Nicole was named a 2014 CNN Hero in June 2014.  She is emerging as a leader in the youth, higher ed, and teen pregnancy/parenting fields.

Prior to founding the organization, Nicole worked for five years with other nonprofit organizations dedicated to youth and/or poverty, providing expertise in the areas of strategic planning, fundraising, and marketing/public relations. Before her nonprofit work, Nicole was a communications and public relations professional for two years with companies in the Washington DC area, such as GEICO. She is also a nationally known author and speaker on topics such as teen pregnancy and parenting, youth development, goal achievement, and self empowerment.

Nicole holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy and Communication from George Mason University and a Bachelor’s degree in English from the College of William & Mary. She was named the 2013 Distinguished Alumna by George Mason University's School of Public Policy for her innovative work with youth through the founding of Generation Hope and was elected to the William & Mary Alumni Association Board of Directors in that same year.  Also in 2013, Nicole was selected and inducted into the National Leadership Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa.  In 2014, she was named a CNN Hero, an honor only given to two dozen changemakers across the globe annually.  She is also a two-time TEDx speaker, a member of the 2016 Leadership Greater Washington Signature Class, and a member of the 2017 Leadership Montgomery Core Program.  In 2016, she was named a finalist in the 13th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business for Female Executive of the Year for Government or Non-Profit -- an international recognition.  Nicole previously served on the Board of Directors for Healthy Teen Network, a national organization focused on teen pregnancy, parenting, and prevention.

Nicole and her husband, Donté Lewis, live in Maryland with their two daughters and son.

C. Brian Williams is a graduate of Howard University and a DC resident for over 25 years. Brian first learned to step as a member of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Beta Chapter in 1989. After living in Africa he began to research stepping, exploring the many sides of this exciting, yet under-recognized American art form and founded Step Afrika! in 1994. Williams has performed, lectured and taught in Europe, South & Central America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Caribbean and throughout the United States. He is a founder of the historic Step Afrika! International Cultural Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Under Brian’s leadership, stepping has evolved into one of America’s newest cultural exports and inspired the designation of Step Afrika! as Washington, DC’s official Cultural Ambassador. Brian has been cited as a “Civic/Community Visionary” by NV Magazine and “Nation Builder” by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. He is featured in Soulstepping, the first book to document the history of stepping, and several documentaries discussing the art form. Brian is also a recipient of numerous awards including the Mayor’s Art Award for Innovation in the Arts and the Pola Nirenska Award for Contemporary Achievement in Dance. Most recently, Brian received an appointment from Mayor Muriel E. Bowser to serve as a Commissioner for the DC Commission on Arts & Humanities.

Anne Midgette is a 1986 graduate of Yale University. After college, she lived for over a decade in Munich, Germany, reviewing opera, music, and art throughout Europe for The Wall Street Journal, Opera News, and other publications. In 2001 she became the first woman to review classical music for The New York Times on a regular basis. She continued as a classical music critic, theater critic, and arts writer for the newspaper until 2008 when she took over as the chief classical music critic for The Washington Post,

In addition to her contributions to periodicals, Midgette has co-authored two biographies. With Herbert Breslin, she wrote the book The King and I, about Breslin's 36 years managing the tenor Luciano Pavarotti, which was published in 2004. She subsequently collaborated with the pianist Leon Fleisher on a book about his life, My Nine Lives, published in November 2010.

Commissioner David Hudson, an officer in The Salvation Army for 42 years, is currently the National Commander of The Salvation Army, stationed at National Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

Prior to coming to National Headquarters in November 2015, Commissioner David was the Chief Secretary for the Western Territory, located in Long Beach, California. He and his wife, Commissioner Sharron Hudson, have a wide range of experience as Salvation Army officers, including several territorial and divisional appointments. The Hudsons were corps officers (pastors) for 14 years, including appointments in Oregon, Idaho and Southern California.

David has Business Management degree and a Master of Science Degree in Organizational Leadership. Sharron holds a Masters Degree in Christian Leadership and is currently the National President of Women’s Ministries. They have been married for 41 years and have two daughters, Jennifer and Amy, as well as two grandchildren.

Bridge to Health medical and dental brigades are comprised of passionate medical and dental professionals brought together by a common desire to help provide healthcare to those in tremendous need. They currently operate in sub-saharan Africa, with ongoing efforts to expand to other locations across the globe. Their aim is to provide sustainable healthcare in a cost effective manner and have a lasting impact on the communities served.

Adam Teitelman is a graduate of Georgetown university with a degree in international Human Resource Management. His deep passion for people and their organizations has enabled him to diversity his experiences working and volunteering in both For - Profit and Non - Profit organizations. His years of expertise working in Sales and Marketing have become a great asset to Bridge to Health as an organization and on the field during the various brigades that Adam has volunteered in. Today Adam leads the Bridge to Health fundraising strategies and execution in both Canada and the United States.

Please join President Lisa McCurdy as she leads a discussion of our Club's achievements, challenges and goals as we start the second half of the Rotary year.

Hendrik Jan Jurriaan Schuwer was born May 3, 1953, in the Hague, the Netherlands, in a family of five. His parents met as journalists who worked for the Netherlands Press Agency.

Henne attended the University of Leiden, where he earned a master’s degree in law. Henne then started working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1978. After postings in Vietnam and India, Henne’s career centered on the EU and the transatlantic relationship.

He served two terms the Netherlands EU permanent representation, most recently from 2002-2006. He was chairman of the Committee of Permanent Representations during the Netherlands EU Presidency in 2004. He also served as the director of the Secretary General of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer from 2006-2009. 

Henne is serving his third term in the United States, where he is the Dutch Ambassador.

He is married to Lena Boman from Sweden. Together, they have four adult children.

Tommy Wells is the Director of the Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE). Appointed January 2015, he is chiefly responsible for protecting the environment and conserving the natural resources of the District of Columbia. Tommy’s team is comprised of approximately 300 environmental professionals collectively working to improve the quality of life for residents and the natural inhabitants of the Nation’s Capital.

Tommy is a Ward 6 resident. He earned a Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in 1991 and a Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota in 1983.

Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes is the Director of The Washington DC Department of Employment Services (DOES).  In her role as State Labor Commissioner, she is directly responsible for more than $150M in local, federal and specific-purpose funds administered by the District of Columbia and the federal government for workforce development programs and training, unemployment compensation, universal paid leave administration and labor standards enforcement along with more than $80M in active capital projects. 

Previously, Dr. Morris-Hughes was the Chief Strategy Officer for DOES. Dr. Morris-Hughes was also OSSE’s Chief Operating Officer, leading numerous management functions in support of the agency’s mission, including a $270 million education grant portfolio and $600 million in student-per-pupil funding. She also provided oversight of several departmental units, namely Grants Management, Facilities, Operations, Contracting and Procurement and Student Enrollment, Funding and Residency. In addition, Dr. Morris-Hughes served as OSSE’s acting Assistant Superintendent of Wellness and Nutrition. 

Dr. Morris-Hughes’ career spans for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She has several years of experience in education, program development, evaluation and compliance. She previously served as Assistant Head of School at Septima Clark Public Charter School, the District’s first all-boys charter school. Her other appointments include: Center Director for the District of Columbia Public Schools; District Director of Programs for Junior Achievement of the National Capital Area; Coordinator of Public Policy for Amazon.com; and Adjunct Professor at Trinity University and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Graduate School.

Dr. Morris-Hughes is a member of the American Educational Research Association, the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, the Textbook and Academic Authors Association of America, the National Alliance of Black School Educators, National Black MBA Association, and the International Leadership Association. She obtained a PhD from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, an MBA from Trinity University, and a BA in English from Johnson C. Smith University.

Bob Cusack has been reporting on policy and politics in the nation’s capital since 1995. He joined The Hill as Business and Lobbying editor in 2003 and became the newspaper’s managing editor a year later. He became the editor in chief in 2014. Cusack has won five awards from the National Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists for investigative articles on a range of issues, including national security, healthcare and 2008 presidential politics surrounding Hurricane Katrina.
 
Cusack regularly appears on MSNBC, Fox, ABC and CNN as a political analyst. Before joining The Hill, Cusack was a chief editor at Inside Washington Publishers. A native of New York City, Cusack received his B.A. in journalism from Loyola College in Maryland. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and has appeared in commercials, television shows and feature films.

David Searby, a native of the Washington, DC area, is the founder of BeachCorps (http://beachcorps.com), a new kind of volunteer vacation company based in the Dominican Republic that combines the best of a great beach vacation with fun, simple volunteer activities near your hotel. David started BeachCorps after serving 27 years as a Foreign Service public affairs and economic officer. David is a published writer, fluent in Spanish and Italian, and an expert in Latin America. Over his career in the Foreign Service, David has developed skills in international negotiations and promoting non-governmental organizations and public private-partnerships and corporate social responsibility programs. He has experience developing complex projects with wide arrays of stakeholders including civil society, private sector, donors, government system organizations and international organizations, such as his successful Super Chef Panama (@SuperChefPanama) reality TV cooking show where underserved Panamanian youth compete in a “Top Chef” setting for a scholarship in Panama’s finest culinary institute. David also has ample experience on Capitol Hill, both as a staff aide and in advancing State Department interests. BeachCorps seeks to tap into the growing demand for "Voluntourism," including among millennials. The BeachCorps model incorporates quality hotels/food, an emphasis on traditional vacation fun, and a new, wider, more creative vision of "Empowerment thru Engagement” volunteer activities to include playing baseball, putting on talent shows, and cooking and serving meals.

Emanuel "Manny" Mandel was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1936, the year in which his parents returned to their native Hungary. Manny's father had been selected to become one of the Chief Cantors of the Budapest. As a five year old child Manny witnessed his first Holocaust experience, the Novi Sad Razia in the winter of 1941, while on vacation at his Mother's home town. Although he understood little at that time,  he has remarkable recall of the events of the day when 1,250 Jews, among some 4,000 people, were shot and cast into the frozen Danube .The Numerus Clausus were developed in Hungary in the 1920's. In the late 1930's the Hungarian version of the Nuremberg laws of 1933 were applied with ferocity. Manny's Father's conscription into the forced labor camp battalions, the nightly air raids and bombings, the yellow star and other depravities made a significant impact on him. When Adolf Eichmann arrived in Budapest in March, 1944, deportations in Hungary, the last country to be made Judenrein began at the rate of  12.000 per day.  The Blut fur Ware barter proposal between Eichmann and Reszo Kasztner culminated in the transport of about 1,700  Jews , including Manny and his Mother to what they though was freedom in Palestine. The transport brought them to Bergen Belsen, delaying their freedom for almost half a year. Nevertheless, the  barter  arrangement, one of several, was consummated and Manny and his Mother were taken to Switzerland. They spent a year in a displaced children's home in Heiden and then finally were able to travel to their original destination. One year in a kibbutz and three years in Haifa reunited Manny with his Mother and Father. Manny emigrated to the U.S. in 1949.
High School, Gratz College, Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Social Work, all in Philadelphia, prepared Manny for the human services field. He  has practiced psychotherapy for over 30 years.A Governor's appointment placed him on the Board of Social Work Examiners, the State Licensing Agency, where he served for eight years including two years as Chair. Adjunct appointments were held at Gallaudet, Michigan, Maryland and Penn.
Manny lives in Montgomery county with his wife Adrienne, a former three term State Legislator,. They have a daughter, a son and three grandchildren.

Dr. George Stosur is a geophysicist who managed the upstream oil and gas R&D program at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. He was responsible for DOE-sponsored research conducted at several universities, National Laboratories, the National Petroleum Technology Office, several joint research projects with other countries and a program with the International Energy Agency.

His private sector experiences include Chevron and Shell Oil Companies. There, he focused on petrophysics, R&D of EOR processes, heavy oil production problems and gas production from ultra-low permeability formations. He authored 86 papers and two textbook chapters on oil recovery and served three times as Distinguished Lecturer to international engineering society conferences. He holds two M.S. degrees and a Ph.D. in petroleum engineering. A native of Poland, he holds two MS degrees and a PhD. Now retired from government service, Dr. Stosur has delivered nearly 300 lectures around the world on a wide range of scientific topics.