Rotary Club of the University District, Seattle

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Rotary Club of the University District, Seattle

Welcome to the Friendliest Rotary Club in the Universe, because after all, we are University District Rotary!

Time: Friday at 12:15 PM - Meeting Place: Seattle Yacht Club 1807 E Hamlin St.Seattle, WA 98112

06/10/2026

Please join us this Friday 6/12 for our weekly meeting. We meet at noon at the Seattle Yacht Club.
Our speaker is Brandon Bird- President & CEO of the Northwest African American Museum.
Brandon Bird leads one of the Pacific Northwest’s most important cultural institutions dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and sharing the histories, arts, and experiences of Black Americans. Appointed unanimously by NAAM’s Board of Directors in August 2024 following a national search, he previously served as the museum’s Interim Executive Director and Vice President of Operations.
Prior to joining NAAM, Brandon served as the Vice President
of Operations at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where he led a comprehensive program of capital planning, procurement, vendor management and leasing services throughout the Capitol Hill, South Lake Union and Uptown/Queen Anne neighborhoods. During his time at Cornish, Brandon completed several multimillion-dollar capital projects, including a state-of-the-art
performance venue, fabrication studio, art galleries and multidisciplinary studios.
Brandon also previously served as a Board Member of Mary’s Place, a nonprofit organization in Seattle and King County helping families experiencing homelessness, from 2010 to 2016.
A native of Tacoma, Washington, Brandon brings two decades of executive leadership experience in nonprofit, arts, educational, and cultural organizations.
Throughout his career, he has been recognized for building strong community partnerships and advancing institutional sustainability.
Since coming to NAAM, Brandon has led the museum to bring impactful exhibitions to Seattle for the first time, such as the award-winning exhibit, Emmett and Mamie Till Mobley: Let the World See, and most recently, the exhibit, Luther Vandross: Artistry & Elegance, which is currently showing at NAAM through July
19.
As President & CEO, Brandon is leading efforts to expand NAAM’s educational impact, deepen its community partnerships, strengthen its financial sustainability, and position the museum as a nationally recognized center for Black history, arts, and culture. His vision emphasizes the power of museums to foster dialogue, inspire civic engagement, preserve cultural memory, and create a more informed and connected society.

06/04/2026

Please join us this Friday 6/5 for our weekly meeting. We meet at noon at the Seattle Yacht Club.

Our Speaker this week is our own member, Dr. Wolfgang Klug.
Retired cardiologist, Dr. Wolfgang Kluge, has been a member
of our club for almost 22 years. He has completed a memoir
describing his varied experiences growing up and becoming
an adult in Germany. He describes life under the N***s, the
Soviet occupation, life in East Germany and his eventual
escape to the West. Wolfgang was a medical student in
Germany, continuing his medical training in the United States,
and he eventually began his cardiology practice in Seattle.

05/27/2026

Please join us this Friday for our weekly meeting. We meet at the Seattle Yacht Club at noon.
Our Program will be the Annual Scholarship Award Luncheon which is always a highlight every year for our Club!

Our Scholarship Committee, chaired by Linda Fukuda, has
awarded 17 scholarships to students in the UW Professional and Continuing Education Program this year. The scholarship budget for the year is $60,000.
In addition to Linda, members of the Scholarship Committee are Dave Spicer, Hugh Brannon, Jacksen Lund, John Caner, Judy Lovelace, Julius Debro, Lawrie Payne, Paula Williams, Peter Schroeder and Ruth Huwe.
The 2025-26 UDRC scholarship recipients are:
WINTER 2026:
Kriss Jackson-Harper Editing
Carolyn Tompkins- Professional Technical Writing
Monica Caraway- Software Product Management
Molly Nelson- Museum Studies
Elizabeth Bahena- Private Investigation
SPRING 2026:
Ellie Petersen- Editing
Hannah Swartos- Professional Technical Writing
Bailey Ryan- Digital Marketing
Peter Rogers- Digital Marketing
Emma Brown- Editing
Adrienne Litman- Digital Marketing
AUTUMN 2026:
Wakjira Tesfaye Beriso- Paralegal Studies
Jiyoun Kim- Nonprofit Management
Aldo Martinez- Wetland Science and Management
Krista Larrison- Project Management
Kristen Angelo- Nonprofit Management
Kelly Ewing- Wetland Science and Management
Information on our club’s Rotary Scholarship program at the UW can be found at:
University District Rotary Club Scholarship - UW Professional & Continuing Education - UW Professional & Continuing Education. The scholarship covers up to
80% of the cost and amounts to a maximum of $4,000.

04/22/2026

Please join us this Friday, April 24th for our weekly meeting. We meet at noon at the Seattle Yacht Club.

Our Program Speaker this week is BJ Cummings on The River that Made Seattle-
BJ Cummings has worked in the environmental field in Seattle for 25 years, serving as the director of Sustainable Seattle, Duwamish River Community Coalition, and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. She is author of The River That Made Seattle: A Natural and Human History of the Duwamish, and has been awarded the River Network’s national River Hero award for her work leading community based clean up and restoration of the Duwamish River.
Cummings is currently an advisor on community engaged environmental health research for the University of
Washington.

04/08/2026

Please join us for our weekly meeting this Friday, April 10th. We meet at noon at the Seattle Yacht Club.

Our program speaker will be Clark Mather, Executive Director of Northwest RiverPartners.
Clark was appointed Executive Director of Northwest RiverPartners in 2024. As Executive Director, Clark reports to the Board and leads the Northwest RiverPartners team to educate communities and
advocate for clean, reliable and affordable hydropower.
Clark joined Northwest RiverPartners after 11 years with Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU), serving the last 7 years as the organization’s government affairs officer.
Prior to his time at TPU, Clark served in senior advisory
roles for U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) and Former Congressman Norm Dicks (WA-06). Throughout his congressional service, Clark focused on important regional issues including energy, defense, veterans, water, public lands, economic development and agriculture.
Mather earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in both communications and political science from Washington State University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He is a past chair of the National Hydropower Association.

03/18/2026

Please join us this Friday, 3/20 for our weekly meeting. We meet at noon at the Seattle Yacht Club.

Our program speaker will be Steve Deem-
Steve is a civil engineer with over 25 years experience in water and sanitation. His work encompasses a myriad of settings from the Kurdish refugee camps in Northern Iraq, to post-war rehabilitation in Bosnia Herzegovina, to research efforts on UV Disinfection in
the US and Canada with the Water Research Foundation. He is a member of the U.S. Water Alliance National Blue Ribbon ommission for Onsite Nonpotable Water Systems.
Steve has been with the International Programs team at Water 1st since its inception. He evaluates partner organizations’ water and sanitation efforts, and reviews project funding requests. Steve believes that sustainable water and sanitation systems are the cornerstones to economic development and true social
justice.
Since 1988, Steve has worked for the Washington State Department of Health, serving as an Environmental Health Engineer with primary responsibility for the implementation of the State Drinking Water Program in the Seattle Regional Water System and as a statewide distribution specialist. He provides technical professional expertise regarding water treatment, the design of public water
supply facilities, drinking water quality and water system evaluations.

03/13/2026

Rotary Foodies Enjoyed Latin American Food Last Saturday night at our latest club potluck. The event was held at Rosemary & Louis Aragon's house- Thank you Rosemary!!
About 35 Rotarians and family members gathered to sample dishes
from Latin America. The menu included appetizers of nachos, guacamole and chips, and bruschetta with goat cheese; main and side dishes of tapas/papas bravas, salad, black bean soup, Venezuelan pabellon criollo (shredded flank steak, black beans, rice, fried plantains), paella, chicken in mole, rice, fish in tomato-olive-caper sauce, flank steak with chimichurri sauce, and two types of tamales (pork and asparagus); and desserts of tapioca and torta de
tres leches. Beverages included red and white wine, beer and sodas.

03/12/2026

Please join us this Friday, 3/13 for our weekly meeting. We meet at noon at the Seattle Yacht Club.

This week our program speaker is our very own member Paula Laschober-
Paula Laschober is currently the President of our club’s Service Fund (SF), and also a member of the International Service Committee, the Community Service Committee and the Finance Committee.
Paula has been a member of the U District Rotary Club since 2006 and was club president 2015-16. One topic of our Strategic Planning meeting on February 28, Fundraising, indicated that many
club members do not understand the difference between the club’s operating (administrative) budget and the Service Fund
budget—and what we do with the money in each budget. Another topic, Meetings, noted that they’d also like to hear more about “internal” club topics and a “deep dive” into service projects.
In this Friday’s presentation, Paula will explain the differences between our operating budget and our Service Fund budget. She will also invite various members in attendance to briefly discuss service projects (funded by the Service Fund budget) which they or their committees have sponsored this Rotary year.

03/04/2026

Please join us this Friday, March 6th for our weekly meeting. We meet at the Seattle Yacht Club at noon.

Our speaker this week is our 5030 District Governor Jeff Borek-

District Governor Jeff Borek has worked for the IBM Corporation for almost 30 years. He currently leads the Open Source Program Office and works in IBM research to build a scalable and consistent AI software supply chain security framework. His work includes policy, ex*****on, and guidance. He also promotes the concept of open source Artificial Intelligence as an international speaker.
In 1987, Jeff was chosen by the Rotary Club of Seattle to be an England Group Study Exchange Team member. Thirteen years later, in 2000, he joined the Seattle4 club. He served as Seattle4’s Foundation President in 2018-19, and was Club President in 2020-21.
He joined the line of 5030 Governors in the fall of 2022, which was announced by the first female President of Rotary International, Jennifer Jones.
Jeff lives on Mercer Island with his wife of 28 years Kellis. Jeff and Kellis were both born in the Pacific NW and have a son, Jackson William Borek. Kellis recently joined the Mercer Island Rotary Club. Jeff holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the UW and an MBA from Seattle University.
Abstract of presentation:
• How is Rotary changing and evolving across the Pacific Northwest and around
the world?
• What is the District 5030 Strategy plan?
• How can your Rotary club increase its IMPACT and REACH, better ENGAGE with your local community, and ADAPT during these challenging times?
District leadership can answer these questions and help clubs better serve their members and community, grow and retain membership, and increase their overall positive impact both locally and internationally.
Please plan to attend this fact-filled and heart-felt presentation from our District Governor Jeffrey Borek - a Rotary member since 2000, President of Seattle 4 during the pandemic, and dedicated Rotarian in many capacities before his election to District Governor for this 2025/26 Rotary Year.
DG Jeff will address these topics and answer questions

02/25/2026

Please join us the Friday for our weekly meeting. We meet at noon at the Seattle Yacht Club-
Our program speaker this week is Adrienne E. Day, VP Human Resources, Microsoft and the topic is Artificial Intelligence-
Adrienne Day is the senior human resources executive responsible for leading the talent and organizational agenda for the Americas and Enterprise Commercial business therein. In this role, she partners with business leaders to drive organizational performance,
leadership capability, and workforce strategy at scale across one of Microsoft’s most complex and growth‑critical regions.
Previously, Adrienne served as GM of HR for Commercial Solutions and Customer Experience & Success, supporting more than 40,000 employees across 91 countries. Her scope spanned customer service and support, sales strategy, and technical sales enablement—powering over $100B in cloud consumption as organizations adopted cloud infrastructure, business applications, analytics, and AI to accelerate innovation and business outcomes.
Adrienne also led HR4HR, Microsoft’s internal HR strategy organization, where she was a trusted advisor to the Chief Human Resources Officer, shaping function‑wide talent and capability strategies aligned to Microsoft’s bold transformation agenda.
Earlier in her career, Adrienne was the Acquisition Integration Director for Microsoft’s landmark Nokia transaction, serving as the Finland HR lead for the company’s then largest and most complex deal. She guided integration during a period of significant
transformation, preserving value, delivering synergies, and accelerating ex*****on against critical technology and product milestones.
Her Microsoft journey also includes HR leadership roles across Cloud + AI engineering, Windows Server, Enterprise Mobility, and Microsoft Dynamics, where she helped modernize engineering structures, support agile transformation, and stand up the
Microsoft–GE joint venture, Caradigm.
Before joining Microsoft, Adrienne held senior HR leadership roles at NBCUniversal, including enterprise and site leadership positions within the television stations division, and played a key role in culture transformation during the company’s transition from GE
to Comcast. She began her career at General Electric, with global finance roles on GE’s Corporate Audit Staff and as a graduate of GE’s Human Resources Leadership Program, serving as acting HR leader for GE Capital Aviation Services in Europe and Asia.
Adrienne holds dual master’s degrees from The Ohio State University and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Address

Seattle, WA
98103

Opening Hours

12pm - 1:30pm

Telephone

+12065427070

Website

http://www.udrotary.org/

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