Events

Rwanda Nurses Saving Lives is a Rotary vocational training team global grant being conducted in Rwanda in 2024-2025.  The purpose of the project is to train front-line, health center nurses who operate in remote areas without physician support in the early detection of strep throat to prevent the development of rheumatic heart disease.  The project has been piloted in Rwanda and a three-person team is now engaged in implementation through five district. hospitals that whose catchment area covers about 10% of the country.  The instructional team includes two doctoral level nurse practitioners who are advanced practice cardiology nurses and Venters who serves as the grant direction and co-evaluator for the project.  This team will move this project to Zambi in 2026.

Dr. Cassy Venter's professional career was with the University of Missouri Extension Service Small Busienss Development Centers where she served in business and leadership develpment roles.  During that time, she served for thirteen years and director of a leadership exchange program with the Ministry of the Interior of the Royal Thai government.  In Rotary, she has served as a District Governor, District Rotary Foundation Chair, Youth Exchange Outbound Coordinator, Rotary Youth Leadership Coordinator, Group Study Exchange Leader, Kansas City Plaza Rotary Club president and she currently serves as District 6040 Peace and Conflice Resolution Chair and the communications chair of the Kansas City Plaza Rotary Club and grants chair of the Lander Wyoming Rotary Club.  

Allan Gray is a former Lee’s Summit city councilman and a longtime arts advocate in Kansas City.

He is a graduate of Paseo High School and then went away to Morehouse College, returning to Kansas City in 1976 with a political science degree.

He is active in the community, involved in community service organizations including the Black Economic Union, the Missouri Arts Council and Cultural Trust, and the Missouri Council on Economic Education. He is the founder of the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey.

Now, he serves as a partner at Zhou Brothers Art Center in Kansas City, the new $20-plus million art center in the historic 18^th and Vine district.

 “A WWII Soldier’s Story—Omaha Beach to Berlin”   This is a first-person account of one soldier’s journey from being 4-F, to getting certified as a forward observer where the survival rate was 20%, becoming a tank driver and fighting in all 5 major campaigns in northern Europe.  One of his fighting buddies found a German camera and took pictures of the soldier and others during the fighting.  The story includes how he ended up with the pictures and survived from Omaha Beach to Berlin and how he coped beyond.

BIO

Martin Bauer is a life-long Kansan.  Farm boy from near Clay Center, Kansas, K-State undergrad, KU Law School followed by Judicial Clerkship with the Honorable Richard Rogers and now 47 years with Martin Pringle Oliver Wallace & Bauer.  Handled commercial litigation that evolved into trying contested adoptions to adoption practice.   Now handles all Guardianships/Conservatorships for Ascension Hospital for all hospitals in Kansas.  President of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.  Helped found Wichita Montessori, Chaired the Kansas Arts Commission.  Past President of Downtown Rotary Club, Past District Governor.  Married to Ann, 3 children, 5 grandchildren.  Loves tennis, pickleball and international hiking.

In April 2023, Lindsey Rood-Clifford became the first woman to serve as President and CEO for the Starlight Theatre Association of Kansas City, Inc. in its  nearly 75-year history. Starlight is an 8,000-seat outdoor amphitheater that  presents nationally touring and locally produced Broadway, a national concert series each summer, and provides arts access, community engagement, and  education programming. Prior to her current role, Lindsey served as Chief Operating Officer and Starlight’s Vice President of Philanthropy, leading philanthropic efforts for Kansas City’s oldest and largest continually operating performing arts venue. Under her leadership, Starlight’s philanthropic revenue  expanded by more than 50% and the organization launched its largest capital campaign in more than 20 years - a $40 million dollar fundraising effort to support capital improvements  and programming expansions in time for the World Cup in Kansas City in 2026 and Starlight's 75th  anniversary. A lifelong arts enthusiast and advocate, Lindsey believes that access to meaningful arts  experiences is an essential element of healthy, thriving communities and to developing skilled, engaged,  and empathetic students and adults. 

A direct recipient of impactful arts programming, Lindsey began her professional career as a paid  summer intern at Starlight before serving as a consultant for nonprofit and corporate clients in events  and fundraising in the Greater Kansas City region and across the country as part of Starlight’s subsidiary. 

Lindsey is the Immediate Past President for the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals; Secretary of the Centurions Alumni Board; a Vice President of  the Board of Directors for Grace, a foundation dedicated to providing safe sober housing and  normalizing recovery; and a past chair of Kansas City’s National Philanthropy Day. She is a 2017 graduate  of the KC Chamber’s Centurions Leadership Program. She was named by the Kansas City Business  Journal as one of “20 Nonprofit Leaders to Know” in 2022; one of In Kansas City Magazine's "Innovators  and Influencers" in 2023; one of the Independent Magazine's "Rising Stars" in 2024; and one of the  Kansas City Business Journal’s “NextGen Leaders” in 2024. She has appeared on several podcasts  including “There’s Just Something about Kansas City,” “Speak with Presence,” “Show Me Today” and “KC  Leaders.” 

Lindsey grew up in Kansas City and lives in the metro with her husband and son. She has three children - two grown stepdaughters and a very active high school sophomore who keeps her and her husband  running with his active love of the theatre, music, debate, and Scouts.

Julie Quirin, FACHE, serves as president of BJC Health System's West Region, which serves the Kansas City area, northwest Missouri and eastern Kansas and operates as Saint Luke's.  In this role, Julie oversees day-to-day opereations for the region, including its acute care and critical access hospitals, ambulatory clinics and post-acutre care functions, Saint Luke's physician enterprise, hospital throughput, clinical hospital throughput, clinical nursing administration, government affairs team, and philanthropy.

In more than 25 years with Saint Luke's, Julie has served in numerous health systsem leadership roles, including senior vicepresident and chief oeprating officer of Saint Luke's Health System, senior vice president of hospital oeprations, CEO of Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City, senior vice president of continuum of care services, and president and CEO of Saint Luke's South Hospital.

She is past chair and board member of the Missouri Hospital Association and is a past chair of the United Way of Greater Kansas City.

Our speakers will be Alejandro Hernandez, Imani Lemon, and Leah McIntyre. All are members of UMKC Enactus. As many of the Plaza Rotarians know, Enactus is an international social entrepreneurship organization that encourages students to create positive change using the 17 UN Sustainable Development goals as a guide. UMKC Enactus originally connected with the Plaza Rotary and became a Rotaract Club in 2017. This year, they have been working to re-establish and strengthen the relationship between our organizations.

 

In September, Alejandro, Imani, and Leah got the opportunity to travel to Ecuador with the Kansas City based nonprofit, Agua Viva International. On this culturally immersive trip, they supported Agua Viva's mission to provide purified water to remote communities and explored opportunities for UMKC Enactus to solve problems and create impacts internationally.

 

Terri E. Barnes

An advocate for black girls and women, Terri is the Founder and President of The Nia Project. The Nia Project advocates for, celebrates, invests, and reimagines possibilities for black girls and women. For more than 15 years, Terri served as Co-Founder and President of Trace’s Place – A Community Resource for Girls and Women, an organization that focused on mentoring and personal development. She served 12 years as President and served for more than 22 years as a volunteer at the W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center. These two experiences provided up close and personal challenges that young people and families face, particularly girls, in simply trying to live their best lives.

The Nia Project is a way for her to commit her time and resources to be part of a solution.  In the summer of 2024, The Nia Project sponsored an 8 week summer camp for middle and high school girls that used a retail boutique service model to introduce entrepreneurship. As a result, The Nia Project is working to launch a full service program to be a resource for girls that need additional support. Terri is the convener of Black Women Get Fit, a series of health & wellness events led by local practitioners and designed specifically for Black women.  She is also the convener of the Black Nonprofit Leadership Symposium and creator of The Beloved Community – A Black Nonprofit Resource Directory.  Terri is a founding member of the Contending for Children Initiative, a faith-based response to illiteracy and mental health supports for children,  and was recently appointed Chair of the Mayors Commission on Reparations.

With more than 35 years of progressive leadership experience in financial service and healthcare organizations, Terri has a wide range of skills and expertise that have proved valuable in the work she does today.  

A lifelong Kansas Citian, she received her undergraduate degree in Business Management from Park University. Terri is married to Lee Barnes Jr.  and has a brilliant son, Lee Barnes III, who currently works and resides in New York. In her spare time she enjoys live music, exploring new restaurants and supporting efforts to help improve the living conditions of people in our most challenging communities, and uplifting the leaders and organizations that serve them.

Dr. Brandon E. Martin began his tenure as Kansas City Athletics Director on December 3, 2018. Martin’s leadership has helped change the culture within Kansas City Athletics, as his positive energy, passion and strategic vision have helped elevate the Roos' momentum on-and-off the field.  Martin has been a visionary, focused on comprehensive excellence. Since arriving in Kansas City, he has orchestrated the transformational changes below:

• 95% Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and 3.35 GPA for all student-athletes.
• Launced the Roo Athletic Fund – Annual Giving Arm for Athletics, increased donor participation 380% and raised $3.5M since launch of new program.
• Increased department non-gift revenue 1,833% and all revenue 2,638% since December 2018.
• Completed new brand and identity for Kansas City Athletics in June 2019.
• Created Corporate Partnership. Program, increasing revenue 3,850%. Created Founding Partner program and successfully secured multi-year partnerships in health care and energy sector.
• Navigated conference realignment transition from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) to The Summit League.
• Accomplished $1.5 million North Lobby Renovation Program at Swinney Center.
• Finalized enhancements in Swinney Center included new competition court, new graphics and installation of four new Daktronics videoboards.
• Completed Phase One Durwood Soccer Stadium, installing a $1M state of the new art turf pitch.

May 2020, Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal selected Dr. Martin as committee chair of UMKC Forward, a campus-wide Covid-19 strategic initiative aimed at re-envisioning UMKC regarding efficiency, growth, innovation and revenue-generation. As chair of the Community Outreach/Auxiliary/Events Committee, Martin assisted in identifying university-wide opportunities for innovation and investment that lead to revenue growth through auxiliary and external services to advance the mission of UMKC.

In September 2020, Dr. Martin was promoted to Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics. In this role, Martin paired his athletics department leadership with strategic initiatives on campus including leading a task force on retention and graduation for underrepresented, first generation, transfer students, and students of color at UMKC. Since arriving at UMKC in December 2018, Dr. Martin has been appointed Executive in Residence in three academic departments on campus: The Henry Block School of Management, School of Education, and Race, Ethnic, and Gender Studies. In each academic role, he assists with the strategic vision, course development, advising students, and recruitment. These roles also include teaching various courses related to higher education administration, sport management, and diversity and social issues in college and professional sports.

On a national level, Martin serves on the NCAA Division I Council and was appointed 3rd Vice President for the D-I AAA Association in 2022. Dr. Martin also serves as Co-Chair for the Black AD Alliance—an organization aimed at promoting the growth, development, and elevation of Black athletics administrators at the Division I level. He is also the Chair of the Summit League Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. In 2022, Martin was recognized by the Sports Business Journal as one of the top Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leaders in professional and collegiate sport. In that same year, he was also recognized by Ingram’s Magazine Missouri’s Business Magazine as one of the top 50 Missourians to know.

Merna Gill Bio and Session Description

Merna Gill has a Masters Degree in Education. Teaching HS Vocational Home Economics, then, Personal Finance and lastly a program called "Jobs for Americas Graduates". 

She still substitute teaches in Tulsa, Ok where she lives and mentors students all over the globe, thanks to Rotary.

It was her love for students that inspired her to join Rotary to work with Interactors and Rotaractors but it was speaking to Rotary Clubs about her Cuba travels that opened her eyes to Rotary's many missions.

Cuba actually brought Merna to Rotary. She's here today to share how Rotarians are working in Cuba today and the many efforts to re-establish Rotary there.

Merna Gill 480-686-6503

Courtney graduated from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 2001 with Bachelor of Arts degree.  She received her law degree from the University of Kansas in 2004.  

Immediately following her graduation from law school Courtney accepted a position with the Missouri State Public Defender System.  She left the public defender system in 2011 to begin serving as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the City of Kansas City.  In January, 2015, Courtney was appointed by the Mayor Sly James and City Council to serve as Kansas City Municipal Court Judge in Division 203, which has primary jurisdiction over all domestic violence cases filed in municipal court.  

As part of her commitment to offender accountability and victim safety she initiated the compliance docket, a specialized supervised probation docket for high-risk domestic violence offenders.  In October, 2017 the U.S. Department of Justice awarded the Kansas City Domestic Violence Docket a mentor court grant.  The grant is used to instruct other courts from around the nation regarding best practices for offender accountability and victim safety.  Kansas City is the first municipal court in the nation to receive this honor.

In June, 2019, the domestic violence compliance docket developed a drug court track.  This specialized, supervised docket addresses high risk domestic violence offenders with substance use disorders.  The docket is designed to permit domestic violence offenders the therapeutic environment needed to recover from their substance use disorder while simultaneously holding them accountable for their battering behavior.  Kansas City operates the second drug court program specifically for domestic violence offenders in the nation.

In October, 2021 the U.S. Department of Justice awarded the Kansas City Municipal Court a $1 million grant for two early intervention domestic violence programs.  The first is a class required as a condition of bond designed to increase domestic violence awareness with first time offenders.  The second is a Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP) docket that provides targeted services for young adult intimate partner violence offenders and their intimate partners.  

In September, 2022, Courtney was appointed as presiding judge of the Kansas City Municipal Court.  Under her term as presiding judge the municipal court debuted it first ever evening and weekend dockets.    

Courtney is Past President of the board of directors for Sheffield Place and currently serves on their advisory board.  She is an ex-officio member the board of directors for the Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City.  She is a member of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.  She is a mentor with the Association for Women Lawyers Foundation Denise Henning Connections Program. 

Hilari Holt is a Kansas City, Missouri born and raised actor, comedic performer, as well as the founder and Executive Director/Producer of Black Comedy Fest KC. She specializes in comedic improv performing, and is an instructor & coach. There are many facets to her interests and skills but performing & creating shows & events are at the top of the list.

I joined Heart to Heart Int’l in 2014 after 30+ years in the pharmaceutical industry. I’d spent over two years as a teenager living in Ethiopia (my parents were missionaries.) Part of that time we lived deep in the bush, far from any type of medical support. I was drawn by the mission of HHI, including supplying medicines and medical support to areas in need, like places I had lived. I also felt my background in pharmaceuticals was a great fit.

 

After a few years leading HHI, including some fairly intense responses (e.g. Ebola in Liberia, Cholera in Haiti, hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico) I realized that we were not doing as much for people in our own country as I would have wished. Hence the idea to start a nonprofit Patient Assistance Program, bringing high cost medicines to elderly and low income patients in the U.S. by contracting with pharmaceutical companies who would donate the medicines.

 

The HHI board approved the idea in Dec 2018, and in 2019, I began shifting HHI leadership to our COO, who became the CEO. Meanwhile I started RegaloRx, a nonprofit PAP, which launched late that year. It was designed to compete with for profit PAP’s, earn a profit and turn those profits over to HHI.

 

In retrospect, launching a new business right before the pandemic began was the worst possible timing imaginable. We quickly pivoted to a virtual operation and remained that way even after the pandemic subsided. We also had to borrow money to fund the startup expenses, so the profits we started to earn were all going to debt repayment and servicing. It was going to be several years before we paid off the debt and could start funding HHI. By that time we were helping 40,000+ patients across the U.S., providing them free medicines and shipping them from our contracted mail order pharmacy.

 

In 2022, we were approached by a for profit company to buy our operation. In 2023, with the agreement of the RegaloRx Board, we decided to seek other potential acquirers since the value of the company needed to be verified. An obvious question is “how can you sell a nonprofit”? It can be done by selling the assets inside the entity but of course not the 501c3 itself. (I will describe this in the presentation.)

 

In late 2023, we sold all the assets of our nonprofit operation to a for profit company for $7MM, repaid all our debts and obligations, had approximately $900,000 left over (which belongs to HHI) and the pledge by the new  owner to support HHI for up to 7 more years based on certain milestones. No employee lost their job as a result of the acquisition. I remained another year (as a requirement of the deal) to run the new Regalo. I retired from the company at the end of September 2024.