Luncheon Speakers

We were pleased to have Jessica Del Vecchio, Manage of Economic Development, City of Boca Raton as our guest speaker last week. We appreciate City Council Member Andrea O’Rourke for getting Jessica to speak to our club.  Of particular note: Since 2010, Boca has committed about $5.8 million to 43 companies creating or retaining 10,956 jobs and leveraged $20 million of State and County incentives. Here are a few of companies that have headquarters here in Boca: Some of the major advertising and promotions that the City of Boca has done includes the following: Thanks to Kelly [...]

Our club was pleased to have President Elect Jeff Tromberg lead a Craft Talk with ‘Sonny’ Lee Tannenbaum. Sonny is an interior decorator, but his love is singing in a rock band called “Sonny Lee & The Straight Shooters” which he joined in 2016.  Sonny grew up in the New York, Rockland County. He went to American University in Washington. He met his wife, Melissa at a singled dance in Clifton, NJ in 1990. They have two sons. He had a manufacturing company in New Haven, CT that employed 100 people. Unfortunately, they had to close the business and [...]

Lisa Talley  Lisa shared that the Youth Peace in Action initiative was featured at the Naples RI Zone 33/34 Conference. Our very own Boca Raton Community High School represented 300+ Internationally based Youth Groups with their combined voices-a song of peace. #YPAvoices. Vanessa Havener  It was a great honor to represent Boca Raton Rotary at the Naples Rotary Reunion Leadership Summit for Zones 33/34 held on 30 September - 3 October.   District Governor Michael Wallstrom invited three of us from District 6930 to participate in the Emerging Leaders class, including Richard Gessert from the RC Vero Beach Sunrise and [...]

Our club was pleased to have Roary District 6930 Governor Michael Walstrom as our guest speaker this week.   Michael talked about the theme of Obsession – how to do any Rotary project with total obsession in order to the best possible. Michael is Co-Founder at Aequus Partners Financial Planning, an independent financial planning practice. Michael Walstrom holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA, an MBA from the Huizenga Business School at Nova Southeastern University, a Certificate in Financial Planning from Northwestern University, and is a CFP®️ professional. Michael has a passion for connecting with people and his adopted community, both [...]

Our club was pleased to induct Chris Maners into the membership of Rotary Club of Boca Raton. Chris is a transfer from the Boca Sunrise Club.  Chris is a proud “Hoosier”, born in Indianapolis, Indiana, raised in the small suburb of Speedway, home of the world-famous Indianapolis 500. He attended Indiana University, Bloomington, graduating 1982, Kelly School of Business, double major Marketing & Management. As a longtime fan of all things “Disney”, he researched the Walt Disney Co., and moved to Orlando, FL starting in Disney World’s Resort Division which led to a progression of jobs and responsibilities in [...]

We were pleased to have Nikki Cabus, Acting Executive Director, as our guest speaker. Tech Hub South Florida is an industry trade non-profit organization that helps facilitate the development of high tech in South Florida – from Miami to Palm Beach County.  Nikki strives to continue Building South Florida's Tech Hub by connecting the community with the right resources in order to bring growth to the region which spotlights us as a place of sustainable economic and business development. This includes closing the cultural and gender gap to include people from all walks of life to create an ecosystem [...]

We were pleased to have Provost Van Williams of PBSC Boca Raton Campus as our guest speaker. He gave us an update on PBSC and, in particular, the state of the Boca Raton Campus. He shared that they serve over 15,000 students and, as a benefit, they have shared access to the FAU library. A copy of Van’s presentation is attached.  Pictured above is a photo with Pia Giannone with Van and Julie for a gift we provided to PBSC to support scholarships including a number of trades including AC/Heating, Marine Science and Auto Mechanics. Van Williams joined Palm Beach State College in [...]

We were pleased to have Brian White, Athletic Director at FAU as our guest speaker.  The invocation was truly special from member Ken Davis: “As John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, once said, ‘Help us to do all the good we can, by all means we can, in all ways we can, in all places we can, at all the time we can to all the people we can as long as ever we can.’ Amen!” Brian White was named Florida Atlantic University Vice President and Director of Athletics on March 3, 2018. Since that time White has [...]

Shelley Wellington, Ed.D. Scholarship Coordinator, FAU We were pleased to have Dr. Shelley Wellington, Scholarship Coordinator at FAU as our guest speaker. Dr. Wellington has worked in academia for the past 20 years, in various capacities, which ranges from Financial Aid Advisor to Academic Advisor and also, as an Adjunct Faculty at FAU. With this steadfastness, she has been able to appreciate the importance of working with students to assist them with building a successful future that all students deserve. Dr. Wellington provided several interesting statistics about FAU and financial aid: ·                    Total undergraduate enrollment: 31,632 ·                    80-85% of undergraduate students [...]