Westwood Village Rotary Club

Jose Vera was our speaker today. Jose is a member of the Los Angeles 5 Rotary Club and is co-chair of the District Humanitarian Trip to Puerto Rico (Apr 18, 2022 - Apr 24, 2022). Jose discussed what the District has planned for this trip and how we can participate.

Today's program featured William Bridge, Chairman of Green Cross and CEO of Global Green, discussing challenges to the environment and how to meet those challenges.

Goeff Forgione is Associate General Counsel for the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink). Wedged between Amtrak (longer trips with fewer stops - a vacation line) and Los Angeles Metro (subway), Metrolink compliments these other rail services.

District Governor Guity Javid has been a proponent of community service throughout her life. She has been a member of Rancho Park Rotary Club since January 1991. She served as the President and numerous other positions in her club and district 5280.

Our speakers on September 30, 2021, Zachery Coil and Maureen Rivas, are from The People Concern. The People Concern is a non-profit that works with the homeless in West LA and Santa Monica. The homeless organization, West LA Homeless, has employed TPC to come into West LA to help get people off the streets. Mike Stevenson (President & COO of West LA Homeless) spoke to our Rotary Club last August.

Jennifer Noble is the Director of the Westwood Public Library. Her topics include the joys of reading; what's special about their branch; how the library can help people.

A senior lecturer in the UCLA English Department, Stephen Dickey has received numerous teaching prizes, including the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1993. He teaches various courses in Shakespeare, the English Renaissance, and the Beat Generation, as well as introductory courses in poetry and drama. From 2002-16, Dickey served on the faculty of the Folger Teaching Shakespeare Institute, an NEH-supported program for high school teachers from across the country, held biennially at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Recent publications include works on Romeo and Juliet, the Henry IV plays, American interest in Shakespeare during the Civil War, and the katabasis motif in Beat literature. In 2016-17, he curated America's Shakespeare: The Bard Goes West at the Los Angeles Central Library.

Meeting from September 9, 2021. Fun times - but no speaker today.

Sandra Molina is the Volunteer Coordinator for Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Prior to joining the Reagan hospital she worked at Santa Monica UCLA in the Release of Information Department for three years. She joined the Volunteer Services team in July 2011. She has had the opportunity to recruit hundreds of volunteers from various professional backgrounds and walks of life, who all share the same purpose and desire to help support our patients by providing comfort and compassion. Sandra was joined by her boss, Carey McCarthy, Director of Volunteers at UCLA Health System.

Susan Fitzgerald Rice is an advanced certified fundraising executive. She has her own fundraising consulting firm. She has a Masters in Public Administration from UCLA and a PhD in Education from Pepperdine U. Dr. Rice led a dialogue with John O'Keefe on philanthropy, encouraging people to experience the joys of giving back.

Father Tom Gibbons is making a movie about St. Junipero Serra, who is very controversial now. He has interviewed Serra scholars as well as native Americans, who are part of the controversy. Title of his talk: Junipero Serra, Statue of Limitations.

Dr. McCreary is a retired psychologist. His presentation was on Mindfulness and Meditation and the benefits that are provided from the regular practice of same.

Our speaker was James R. Belardi, co-founder of Athene Holding Ltd. (Athene), a retirement services company Mr. Belardi has served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Athene since May 2009.

Nurit Gery is the founder of Givat Haviva International School in Israel. The school's mission is to transform the Middle East by developing leaders to achieve a shared society and a sustainable just future. Our program, broadcast internationally via Zoom, included the stories of students from the school.

Mike Sullivan was our speaker. Mike is president of Paulist Productions. He discussed with us the book Baseball As A Road to God, by John Sexton. The book is currently in the production phase by Paulist Productions.

Sam Yebri was the speaker. Topic was “From Refugees to Leaders: The Past, Present, and Future of Tehrangeles.” Sam is founder of ‘30 Years After,’ a non-profit with the mission of promoting the participation of the Iranian American community in Westwood, focusing on the Iranian-American Jewish people in civic, political and Jewish life.

Dr. Elizabeth Upton is an Associate Professor in the department of Musicology at UCLA. Her topic of discussion was “Thanks for the Beatles,” the current course she teaches. There were a few "computer glitches" (we all suffer those), and Dr. Upton promised to return to the Club later - perhaps in person when we once again meet at a local venue (to be announced). Nevertheless, we had a lively conversation about the topic - well worth watching.

Our speaker was Isabel Wang, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Bridging Tech Charitable Trust. Bridging Tech’s mission is to bridge the digital divide for children affected by homelessness by giving laptops for learning and educational opportunities. They strive to impact the lives of the children through tutoring and mentorship programs.

Captain Jonathan Tom, LAPD, discussed the issue of "Home Protection" from the Los Angeles Police Departmentperspective and other other issues of importance to the citizens of Westwood.

Greg Fischer returned as a WVRC speaker. Greg gave us an additional historical perspective of the development of Westwood.

Dr. John S. Mulchaey is Director and Crawford H. Greenewalt Chair at the Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena’s oldest scientific establishment and a world leader in research on the evolution of the universe. In addition, Dr. Mulchaey is Science Deputy of the Observatories’ parent organization, The Carnegie Institution for Science, where he oversees scientific developments throughout the Institution’s six departments which span the physical and biological disciplines. Mulchaey earned his B.S. in Astrophysics from UC Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Maryland. He was a Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow before joining the Observatories as a staff scientist in 1999, and served as Associate Director for Academic Affairs before being named The Observatories’ 11th Director in 2015. Today, Mulchaey oversees Carnegie’s main campus in Pasadena as well as The Observatories’ large-telescopes facility in Las Campanas, Chile. He is also on the Board for the Giant Magellan Telescope, a next-generation telescope being designed in Pasadena. Dr. Mulchaey’s research focuses on many key areas in astronomy, including dark matter and black holes. In 1993, he led the team that discovered large amounts of dark matter in the local universe, a discovery that received front-page coverage in The New York Times and a feature in Time magazine. In 2016, he appeared in the press as part of the team following a mysterious fast radio burst for the first time. He is also a frequent consultant to NASA and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Mulchaey also leads numerous Carnegie outreach and educational activities throughout Los Angeles and beyond. He created the annual Carnegie Observatories Astronomy Lectures, a popular series held each spring at The Huntington Library. He hosts astronomy nights at many schools; secured funding for the creation of science rooms at three local elementary schools; and founded a program for gifted high school science students. In 2020 he received the Helios Award, part of the international Rotary Humanitarian STAR Awards program, for his achievements in scientific education.

Our speaker was retired UCLA volleyball coach, Al Scates. Al has won a record setting 19 NCAA volleyball championships. This is the most championships of any men's NCAA sports programs. His winning record percentage of .812 is one of the best ever in collegiate history. He was the only coach to guide his teams to three successive titles three times, including four straight from 1981-84. He was named coach of the year 5 times. This was a truly special program where Al was interviewed by a former player, Tom Stillwell.

Our speaker today was PDG Cozette Vergari. Cozette’s topic was one with which she has become very familiar - human trafficking. Did you know that there is a Rotarian Action Group Against Slavery? Or a Global Slavery Index? How about an organization called the Polaris Project (named for the North Star, which people held in slavery in the United States used as a guide to navigate their way to freedom), or another organization called Coalition Against Slave Trafficking? Cozette was instrumental in the recent establishment of a “cause-based” Rotary e-club - D5280 Rotarians Fighting Human Trafficking - and in the creation of an online resource for Rotarians to collaborate with law enforcement agencies, elected officials and non-profit organizations in assisting victims of human trafficking (composed of both sex trafficking and labor trafficking).

Stephen A. Privett, S.J., was our speaker. Fr. Privett is the President of Verbum Dei High School in Watts. Having spoken to the WVRC previously, he gave us an update on the success of the "Verb" students during the pandemic.

Rotary Club of Hong Kong's President, and our club's member until his death at age 111, Henry Tseng.