Shows
Inspiring Women: Celebrating Trailblazers5. Azure Grimes, Libraries Without BordersLibraries in: Refugee Camps, Storm Shelters, Laundromats, Trailer Parks and more...Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders, or LWB) is an international non-profit that strengthens the capacity of people in vulnerable situations by facilitating access to education, information, and cultural resources. In more than 50 countries, Libraries Without Borders creates innovative cultural and learning spaces that allow those affected by crisis to learn, to play, to strengthen their communities, and to construct their futures.Speaker: Azure Grimes For more Info:https://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/ https://www.li...
2025-07-1524 min
Inspiring Women: Celebrating Trailblazers4. Dr. Sarika Khanwilkar, Protecting RainforestsUsing AI, the Rainforest Connection (RFCx) is a science- and technology-driven nonprofit detecting and preventing deforestation and supporting biodiversity and ecosystem monitoring in 119 countries. Founded in 2014, RFCx accomplishes this work by combining the power of acoustics, AI, an international team of field workers, scientists, engineers, and data scientists, and on-the-ground collaborators. By utilizing acoustic data and AI, they can gather data on the presence, distribution, and behavior of a wide range of species, from birds and mammals to insects and frogs, as well as patterns of threats. This information can then be used to inform conservation and...
2025-07-1432 min
Inspiring Women: Celebrating Trailblazers3. Leanne Fan, Detecting and Treating Mid-ear InfectionsLeanne Fan is a high schooler from San Diego, CA. In 2022 she was named America's Top Young Scientist by 3M. Fan's invention can both detect and treat mid-ear infections, and at a low cost.Details: By 2050, 1 in 4 people will have hearing loss to some extent. In children, the majority of this hearing loss is caused by mid-ear infections. Loss of hearing that comes from repeated ear infections can also affect one's future and health. For a child, this can affect the ability to learn and develop social skills. Diagnostic and treatment may be...
2025-07-1426 min
Inspiring Women: Celebrating Trailblazers2. Barb Demorest, Founder of Knitted Knockers“It was 12 years ago now, when I heard the words that no woman wants to hear: that I had breast cancer…” From a casual knitter to the founder of a global organization, Barb Demorest's story is one of passion, purpose, and service. More about Knitted Knockers: • www.knittedknockers.org • www.facebook.com/knittedknockers • Knitted Knockers’ YouTube channel More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley• Website: Rotary.cool • Current and Past Meetings’ Video Archive • YouTube Channel• How to become a member in this online...
2025-07-1432 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service105. This Rotary Year, Your Rotary StoryThis week is the first week of the Rotary year, and we'll hear from Rushton Hurley, the incoming president for '25-'26 and also the charter president from '15-'16.The program is about a third the length of our typical offerings, but Hurley hopes that the focus on what you experience in Rotary that is meaningful to you - your Rotary story - is one that makes you happier personally and more effective professionally. He also hopes you will share your story in the coming months with others wanting and/or needing opportunities...
2025-06-3009 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service102. How the Greater Good Helps Workplaces ThriveUC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) has translated the science of a meaningful life to audiences around the world for over two decades, reaching a million people a month through its articles, podcast, and online tools. Today, GGSC is bringing that science directly to the workplace to address the challenges of the multitudes of people who suffer unnecessarily at work. You'll hear about why kind workplaces are more successful, how gratitude can be a game-changer at work, and how you can engage with GGSC to improve your own workplace.Our speaker, Kia Afcari, is...
2025-06-0931 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service101. eClub Fellowship - a "Go To" Resource for Online ClubsThe Rotarian eClub Fellowship is a springboard for eClubs and online Rotary clubs to connect, communicate and collaborate by sharing best practice and discussing ideas to develop Rotary in the future.Our speaker, Martin Brocklebank, introduces himself this way: I have been a Rotarian for too many years to count. Ten years ago I was instrumental in creating the third eClub in the UK. I have been a District Officer for Membership, Public Imager and Youth over a 12 year period - I now focus on the eClub of Innovation as secretary and the Rotarian eClub Fellowship as...
2025-06-0230 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service89. Powering Economic Progress For Rural Indian Women Through Entrepreneurship TrainingEmpowering Women Entrepreneurs with SankalpSankalp, named after the Hindi word for ""resolution,"" is dedicated to empowering marginalized women in small businesses. Through over 100 hours of entrepreneurship skills training, mentorship from industry experts, access to credit support, and connections with a robust alumni network, our program provides women with the tools and opportunities they need to thrive. We also assist in establishing market linkages, helping them scale their businesses and overcome the unique challenges they face. Our mission is to close the gender gaps in business and create a sustainable, inclusive environment for women entrepreneurs....
2025-03-1030 min
Development Success Stories14. Ocean Trash To JobsErin Smith, a Paul Harris Fellow, who lives in Kenya and sometimes Florida, is a trailblazer in both the corporate and environmental sectors. Erin is the CEO and owner of Ocean Sole, which is transforming ocean debris into awe-inspiring art, and championing environmental causes coupled with creating opportunities in Kenya's coastal communities. Her career spans continents and industries, from high-tech to fintech. Gaining her education at George Mason, Georgetown, UVA and Pennsylvania, she now works to make a difference in people's lives and for our oceans. She has appeared on CNN and the...
2025-03-0132 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service86. Wetland SuperpowersThe Superpowers of salt marshes as a vehicle of hope for our climate. You'll learn about the Steart Marshes of England and their impact globally, covering history, design, and management, as well as how the work being done in the marshes influences policy and has become recognized as a solution to the challenges we all face.Our speaker is Alys Laver, who has always had a passion for nature, and growing up on Somerset's Levels and Moors inspired a particular love for wetlands. After completing her Zoology Degree at Cardiff University, she went on to...
2025-02-1731 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service84. The Pill Smart Dispenser 2.0Dementia is a neurodegenerative disease impacting tens of millions globally, and the number is expected to triple by 2050. Common symptoms of dementia include poor recollection, confusion and paranoia. Although there are medications to alleviate some of these symptoms, remembering to adhere to the medication is often a challenge for seniors with dementia.
Seeing this, our speaker, Joy Akinkunmi, created the Pill Smart. The Pill Smart is an automatic pill dispenser for seniors with mild and moderate dementia.
Designed with adaptive features, such as reminder settings, the device aims to increase medication adherence among this demographic.
2025-02-0231 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service82. Peace PortraitsChristine has been a German Rotarian since 1995, elected to become a member of the Rotary International Board of directors for the period of 2025-27. Her passions are peace in all its meanings and Rotary as a network to promote Rotarians to become role models in their communities and join forces to create knowledge and understanding internationally.
Claudia is a new member of the eClub of Silicon Valley from Berlin, Germany. As a photographer she has worked internationally and has accompanied Christine since 2016 in Rotary events. Together they search for a new imagining of Rotarians in an ever-changing...
2025-01-2037 min
Development Success Stories11. Teens Helping Teens Help Their CommunityWings of Knowledge Youth Initiative
Vahid Motazedian, serves as the executive director for Olinga Learning and the Foundation for the Application of Science (FAS), two California nonprofits dedicated to empowering youth to contribute to the social and economic development of their small, rural communities.
Vahid grew up in Iran, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Oregon. His father studied agriculture and dedicated his life to helping small farmers in rural communities.
Vahid got his BS in electrical engineering from Oregon State University and worked in Silicon Valley for companies including Advanced Micro Devices, Synopsys, Oracle, and Salesforce.
2024-11-1429 min
Inspiring Solutions for a Better World33. Inexpensive Eye Exams with Adaptive Optics$4 glasses are one of the most affordable healthcare interventions.
In this episode, we describe how a breakthrough in adaptive optics makes this possible by providing accurate and inexpensive eye exams.
The Quicksee is an accurate handheld auto refractometer bringing eye prescriptions (the bottleneck to refraction corrections) to remote, underserved areas. The SimVis is a head-mounted binocular visual simulator of presbyopic corrections bringing patients the experience of vision prior to surgery.
Diagnostic devices in ophthalmology inspired by adaptive optics technologies in astronomy have made their way to the clinic in the form of affordable...
2024-11-1333 min
Development Success Stories10. Protecting Wildlife and Livelihoods with Sound and AIRainforest Connection (RFCx) is a science- and technology-driven nonprofit detecting and preventing deforestation and supporting biodiversity and ecosystem monitoring in 119 countries.
Founded in 2014, RFCx accomplishes this work by combining the power of acoustics, AI, an international team of field workers, scientists, engineers, and data scientists, and on-the-ground collaborators. By utilizing acoustic data and AI, they can gather data on the presence, distribution, and behavior of a wide range of species, from birds and mammals to insects and frogs, as well as patterns of threats. This information can then be used to inform conservation and management decisions, including...
2024-10-0332 min
Inspiring Solutions for a Better World29. The 4-day Week and the Future of WorkAlex Soojung-Kim Pang is director of research and programs at 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit promoting the 4-day workweek.
Alex will present an overview of the global 4-day week movement, which aims to shorten working hours without cutting salaries or productivity.
He will conclude by talking about strategies for making the case for a 4-day week in your own workplace.
His books (Work Less, Do More: Designing the Four Day Week (Penguin, 2023); Shorter: Work Better, Smarter and Less - Here’s How (Public Affairs, 2020); Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Le...
2024-08-2233 min
Development Success Stories8. Aid Strategies From a GrandmasterDr. Ernesto Sirolli is a renowned expert in local economic development and sustainable entrepreneurship.
He is the founder of the Sirolli Institute and the author of two books: Ripples from the Zambezi and How to Start a Business and Ignite Your Life.
He is also a popular public speaker and has given a TEDx talk titled "Shut Up and Listen".
In 2016, he received the IOEE International Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship Education at the House of Lords in London.
Dr. Ernesto Sirolli is a community iron man. In 1971, he began practice...
2024-08-2242 min
Development Success Stories7. Does Giving Cash Outperform Aid?GiveDirectly sends cash directly to people living in extreme poverty, no strings attached. GiveDirectly is the first – and largest – nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest.
They believe people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives, and cash enables that choice.
They have successfully delivered over $700M to approximately 1.5M people across 15 countries since their founding. Cash transfers are arguably the most-studied anti-poverty intervention, with proven positive impacts on recipients' economic, health, and education outcomes.
GiveDirectly has advanced the cash r...
2024-08-0828 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service57. Movers and Shakers: The Humanity of ServiceMichael Collopy, San Francisco native and renowned portrait photographer, will discuss his career photographing some of the world’s most influential leaders, including seven U.S. presidents, and 41 Nobel peace laureates, business leaders, and civil rights activists.
Collopy has also been commissioned to photograph such movie stars and musicians as George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Paul McCartney, B.B. King, the Rolling Stones, and Frank Sinatra, and his iconic photos of Mother Teresa in her Calcutta mission have come to symbolize her work and humanity.
His latest published collection of photographs, “Courage,” profiles people who “have exemplif...
2024-07-2944 min
Inspiring Solutions for a Better World27. Internet Archive Founder’s InterviewBrewster Kahle, the founder of the Internet Archive, presenting "Universal Access to All Knowledge."
Current statistics: https://archive.org/about/
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
Website: Rotary.cool
Meetings’ Video Archive
YouTubeChannel
How to become a member in this online Rotary eClub
More about Rotary International:
Website: www.Rotary.org
Find a local Rotary club
Find an online Rotary Club
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
2024-07-1836 min
Development Success Stories6. Libraries without BordersFrom Refugee Camps and Storm Shelters to Trailer Parks and Laundromats, Libraries Without Borders (Bibliothèques Sans Frontières or LWB) is an international non-profit that strengthens the capacity of people in vulnerable situations by facilitating access to education, information, and cultural resources.
In more than 50 countries, Libraries Without Borders creates innovative cultural and learning spaces that allow those affected by crisis to learn, to play, to strengthen their communities, and to construct their futures.
Speaker: Azure Grimes
For more Info:
https://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/
https://www.librarieswithoutborders.us/...
2024-07-1124 min
Inspiring Solutions for a Better World26. 3M Teen Winner: Detecting and Treating Mid-ear InfectionsLeanne Fan is a high schooler from San Diego, CA. In 2022 she was named America's Top Young Scientist by 3M.
Fan's invention can both detect and treat mid-ear infections, and at a low cost.
Details: By 2050, 1 in 4 people will have hearing loss to some extent. In children, the majority of this hearing loss is caused by mid-ear infections.
Loss of hearing that comes from repeated ear infections can also affect one's future and health. For a child, this can affect the ability to learn and develop social skills. Diagnostic and treatment may be...
2024-07-0426 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service53. Looking Back, Looking ForwardThis week we'll hear from Nick LaGarde and Mike Kane.
As we record, Nick is the president for the eClub of Silicon Valley for 2023-2024. As he wraps up his year, Nick is excited to reflect back on the challenges and successes of the Rotary year.
Nick is a proud father of four and the partner to fellow eClub Rotarian, Tatiana. During the work week, Nick helps nonprofits make the most of their mission of helping others through strategy, technology and business transformation, primarily focusing on the implementation of Salesforce. Connect with Nick on LinkedIn...
2024-07-0140 min
Development Success Stories5. The "Uber" of African TractorsJehiel Oliver, the founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, an agricultural technology company that connects tractor owners with smallholder farmers in need of tractor services in Africa.
Jehiel has been honored with numerous awards for his work in social entrepreneurship including being recognized by Foreign Policy Magazine as a Top 100 Global Thinker and a World Economic Forum Circulars inaugural cohort member.
He was appointed under the Obama Administration to serve two years as a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, where he most recently chaired the technology subcommittee.
...
2024-06-2628 min
Development Success Stories4. Flowers Driving Economic DevelopmentThe Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms transforms vacant lots into sustainable urban flower farms, turning blight into economic opportunities for majority-Black inner-city communities.
Local youth are trained as florists and farmers through our workforce development program.
Why flowers? The floral industry generates $35 billion a year. 80% of flowers sold in the USA come from out of the country. Chicago has unused assets in blighted, vacant lots. Youth are unemployed and underemployed - they’re bored. The problems we are facing need systemic solutions, and this program ties together nature, economy, hope, faith, community, and good ol...
2024-06-2632 min
Development Success Stories3. Bikes Eliminating PovertyFor the rural poor, particularly girls in school and young women, bicycles are literally a lifesaver.
Without access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, people continue to live in poverty and die from preventable diseases. World Bicycle relief is changing that.
More about World Bicycle Relief:
Website: https://worldbicyclerelief.org
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More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
Website: Rotary.cool
Meetings’ Video Archive
YouTubeChannel
How to become a member in this online Rotary eClub
Podcast a...
2024-06-2620 min
Development Success Stories2. Rebuilding the Appalachian EconomyBrandon Dennison is the founder and CEO of a non-profit social-enterprise incubator in southern West Virginia lays out his organization's blueprint for rebuilding an entire economy in coal country.
The presentation will assess the current state of West Virginia's economy, then pivot to a series of solutions being tested by Coalfield Development to overcome the many challenges faced.
Success is not assured, but the country needs Appalachia to succeed, or else many of the deep-seated frustrations that are contributing to America's political divide today will only deepen.
On an even larger scale, the...
2024-06-2622 min
Development Success Stories1. Ending MalnutritionTwo billion people globally suffer from malnutrition, aka hidden hunger. Hitting Africa the hardest, many lack access to healthy food, relying on starchy flour for every meal.
This poor diet, lacking vital nutrients, tragically leads to 8,000 preventable child deaths each day.
While developed nations enjoy fortified foods like cereal, milk, and salt, two billion people worldwide lack this basic human right. In parts of East Africa, as many as 95% of the population depend on small rural flour mills for their food source to survive.
Sanku enables local flour mills throughout East Africa to...
2024-06-2633 min
Inspiring Solutions for a Better World25. Is Cash Aid Better?GiveDirectly sends cash directly to people living in extreme poverty, no strings attached. GiveDirectly is the first – and largest – nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest.
They believe people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives, and cash enables that choice.
They have successfully delivered over $700M to approximately 1.5M people across 15 countries since their founding. Cash transfers are arguably the most-studied anti-poverty intervention, with proven positive impacts on recipients' economic, health, and education outcomes.
GiveDirectly has advanced the cash r...
2024-06-2228 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World24. Economic Development Through… Flowers?The Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms transforms vacant lots into sustainable urban flower farms, turning blight into economic opportunities for majority-Black inner-city communities.
Local youth are trained as florists and farmers through our workforce development program.
Why flowers? The floral industry generates $35 billion a year. 80% of flowers sold in the USA come from out of the country. Chicago has unused assets in blighted, vacant lots. Youth are unemployed and underemployed - they’re bored. The problems we are facing need systemic solutions, and this program ties together nature, economy, hope, faith, community, and good ol...
2024-06-0732 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World23. Using Sound and AI for ConservationRainforest Connection (RFCx) is a science- and technology-driven nonprofit detecting and preventing deforestation and supporting biodiversity and ecosystem monitoring in 119 countries.
Founded in 2014, RFCx accomplishes this work by combining the power of acoustics, AI, an international team of field workers, scientists, engineers, and data scientists, and on-the-ground collaborators. By utilizing acoustic data and AI, they can gather data on the presence, distribution, and behavior of a wide range of species, from birds and mammals to insects and frogs, as well as patterns of threats. This information can then be used to inform conservation and management decisions, including...
2024-05-2332 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service45. Un-ternships: Why We Must Pay Young People for Their WorkBlack and brown communities generally do not possess the built-up generational wealth of their white peers.
The Federal Bank of St. Louis performed analysis of that data using the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finance. For white families, that median amount was $184,000. Contrast that with a typical Black and Latine family, for which the median amounts were $23,000 and $38,000 respectively.
As a result, and this is admittedly but one of the factors, they do not have the same capacity to "pay their dues" by accepting unpaid internships within their...
2024-05-0629 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service44. When You Fall in Laugh: How Standup Comedy Helped My Immigration JourneyCathy Zhao is a stand-up comedian and a sit-down entrepreneur based in San Francisco.
She's opened and hosted for Margaret Cho 4 times; Second Place in the First North America Standup Comedy Competition in Chinese Mandarin; performed at the Laugh Factory, SF Punchline, Cobb's, San Jose Improv, SF Comedy Day, Detroit Women Comedy Festival etc.
She co-founded Laughitouthub.org, a 501(c)3 non-profit to empower the mental well-being of teenagers with humor in the format of standup comedy and improvisation.
Today, she will tell us about her personal journey:
In 2018, Cathy took the...
2024-04-2934 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service43. CEN Empowering NonprofitsThis week, we explore possibilities for supporting the sustainability of nonprofit leaders and the organizations they serve.
The speaker's organization, CEN, has adopted IDEAL values (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access and Liberation) that ground its approach to ensure more just and impactful outcomes for the sector. This session will explore the challenges and opportunities CEN and its community members face and ways to get involved and support their efforts.
Shana Peete serves as the current Chief Executive Officer for the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits (CEN).
Prior to joining CEN in 2019, she was the...
2024-04-2230 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World22. Wings of Knowedge: Youth Training YouthVahid Motazedian, serves as the executive director for Olinga Learning and the Foundation for the Application of Science (FAS), two California nonprofits dedicated to empowering youth to contribute to the social and economic development of their small, rural communities.Vahid grew up in Iran, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Oregon. His father studied agriculture and dedicated his life to helping small farmers in rural communities.Vahid got his BS in electrical engineering from Oregon State University and worked in Silicon Valley for companies including Advanced Micro Devices, Synopsys, Oracle, and Salesforce.He left high tech...
2024-04-1929 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World21. Recycling Textile WasteHow does textile waste contribute to climate change?
FABSCRAP provides one solution.
Our speaker, Erin Wiens, is an ethical textile waste management advocate currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Her experience as a buyer in secondhand clothing spurred her interest in holding the fashion industry accountable for its environmental impact.
Currently, in Erin’s role as Community Lead at FABSCRAP, she works to educate local communities, schools, and designers about textile waste and hopeful solutions. Erin strives to make the fashion industry more equitable and sustainable through implementing circular design, redefining waste as a...
2024-04-1826 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service42. Confronting Ethical Challenges in a High Tech WorldMachine Learning has tremendous potential to help us better understand a variety of domains and build tools for automated decision-making. Such tools carry the promise of more accurate predictions and higher efficiency than might be achievable without them.
However, machine learning also has the potential to lead to outcomes that reinforce biases, disproportionately impact particular subpopulations, and violate notions of privacy.
In this talk, we examine some of the promise and perils that arise from work in machine learning to understand both the ethical issues and competing value trade-offs at stake.
Our speaker...
2024-04-1540 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service41. Disrupting the Aid Sector by Giving People CashGiveDirectly sends cash directly to people living in extreme poverty, no strings attached. GiveDirectly is the first – and largest – nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest.
They believe people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives, and cash enables that choice.
They have successfully delivered over $700M to approximately 1.5M people across 15 countries since their founding. Cash transfers are arguably the most-studied anti-poverty intervention, with proven positive impacts on recipients' economic, health, and education outcomes.
GiveDirectly has advanced the cash r...
2024-04-0828 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World20. Who Owns AI Art & Stories You Create?As AI tools become more prevalent, they raise important and complex questions about their intellectual property implications.
Who owns the works created using AI? Do AI-generated works violate IP rights? Do AI models violate IP rights when they use third-party works for training purposes?
This talk will answer these questions, and your own, in an effort to clarify these confusing IP topics.
Our speaker, Eric Goldman, is Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Law, Co-Director of the High Tech Law Institute, and Supervisor of the Privacy Law Certificate, at Santa Clara University School...
2024-04-0431 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service40. Wings of Knowledge Youth InitiativeVahid Motazedian, serves as the executive director for Olinga Learning and the Foundation for the Application of Science (FAS), two California nonprofits dedicated to empowering youth to contribute to the social and economic development of their small, rural communities.
Vahid grew up in Iran, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Oregon. His father studied agriculture and dedicated his life to helping small farmers in rural communities.
Vahid got his BS in electrical engineering from Oregon State University and worked in Silicon Valley for companies including Advanced Micro Devices, Synopsys, Oracle, and Salesforce.
He left high tech...
2024-04-0129 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service39. How Clubs Can Use the Action Plan to Be Simply IrresistibleThe Rotary Club of Eugene Metropolitan, joined by members of several other clubs, including the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, hears from Rotary International President Elect Stephanie Urchick.
Stephanie Urchick is a member of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, USA. She will serve RI as president in 2024-25. She has been an RI director and Rotary Foundation trustee. She has served RI in numerous capacities, including as training leader, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, and RI president’s representative. In addition, Stephanie was a representative and member-at-large to three sessions of the Council on Legislation.
St...
2024-03-2544 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World19. Tobacco and the Environment: It's Worse Than You ThinkAlthough the harms of tobacco use are well-known to almost everyone, the harms that tobacco causes to the environment are less recognized.
These harms start with tobacco growing, which is very hard on soils and woodlands, diverts agricultural efforts away from food production, and harms farmers and their children who are engaged with this cash crop.
Tobacco product manufacturing is a dirty business, now moving away from the US and to countries where environmental regulations may be lacking.
Smoking itself creates health risks through environmental contamination of air (secondhand smoke) and living spaces...
2024-03-2129 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service38. Addressing Depression in the Digital AgeHave you ever wondered why the rates of depression have skyrocketed over the past decade? Mental health has been deemed a public global crisis. And increased rates of depression are linked to higher rates of suicide.
Candice will present on addressing depression in the digital age. Listeners will leave being able to recognize depressive symptoms and signs of suicidal ideation; understand the impact of the current technological culture on the rising rates of mental illness; and how to support yourself or someone in your life who is struggling with their depression.
Candice will also provide...
2024-03-1829 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service37. Making Ophthalmology Optical Diagnostics Affordable and Accessible through Portable/Wearable DevicesDiagnostic devices in ophthalmology inspired by adaptive optics technologies in astronomy have made their way to the clinic in the form of affordable portable or wearable instruments.
The Quicksee is an accurate handheld auto refractometer bringing eye prescriptions (the bottleneck to refraction corrections) to remote, underserved areas. The SimVis is a head-mounted binocular visual simulator of presbyopic corrections bringing patients the experience of vision prior to surgery.
Dr. Susana Marcos is currently the David R Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science, Nicholas George Professor of Optics at the Institute of Optics and Professor...
2024-03-1133 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World18. Student Uses AI to Prevent SuicidesOur speaker today, Siddhu Pachipala, will make the argument that we can do far better identifying and treating suicide risk.
For all the radical leaps forward we've seen in machine learning, biotechnology, and renewable energy over the past 70 years, it feels like psychiatry is sitting firmly in the dust. Just look at the way we handle suicide.
The moment a patient walks into the clinic, they're asked to bullet off their symptoms for the clinician to analyze, a process subject to so much bias that it lets the vast majority of high-risk patients go unnoticed...
2024-03-0729 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service36. Music, Teamwork, and ExcellenceMike Vandemark, leads an amazingly talented community of musicians called the Lexington Lab Band.
In this conversation with the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, we will hear how teamwork and humility allow these musicians to achieve a level of excellence that brings honor to those whose songs they cover, and joy to those who love the music. The lesson for service clubs is a powerful one.
A musician and producer based in Lexington, Kentucky, Mike Vandemark has been collaborating with musicians and leading artistic endeavors for nearly three decades.
The son of two...
2024-03-0429 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service35. Using Sound and AI for ConservationRainforest Connection (RFCx) is a science- and technology-driven nonprofit detecting and preventing deforestation and supporting biodiversity and ecosystem monitoring in 119 countries.
Founded in 2014, RFCx accomplishes this work by combining the power of acoustics, AI, an international team of field workers, scientists, engineers, and data scientists, and on-the-ground collaborators. By utilizing acoustic data and AI, they can gather data on the presence, distribution, and behavior of a wide range of species, from birds and mammals to insects and frogs, as well as patterns of threats. This information can then be used to inform conservation and management decisions, including...
2024-02-2632 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service34. Changing a Family, One Girl at A TimeThe Green That School (GTS) project is designed to engage a diverse, multi-faceted audience, encompassing local and global stakeholders.
The project merges students from the Daraja Academy in Nanyuki, Kenya, and the Merced Union High School District in California in the United States.
The initiative aims to empower young women by addressing critical issues such as gender violence, quality education, and arranged marriages while expanding their educational and professional horizons through Career Technical Education and advocating for women's involvement in STEM fields.
The project amplifies efforts with international organizations like the United Nations...
2024-02-1930 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World17. Ending Malnutrition in Africa for PenniesTwo billion people globally suffer from malnutrition, aka hidden hunger, hitting Africa the hardest. Many lack access to healthy food, relying on starchy flour for every meal. This poor diet, lacking vital nutrients, tragically leads to 8,000 preventable child deaths daily.
While developed nations enjoy fortified foods like cereal, milk, and salt, two billion people worldwide lack this basic human right. In parts of East Africa, as many as 95% of the population depend on small rural flour mills for their food source to survive.
Sanku enables local flour mills throughout East Africa to produce fortified flour...
2024-02-1533 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service33. Finsen Headphones: Detecting and Treating Mid-ear Infections Using Machine Learning and PhototherapyLeanne Fan is a high schooler from San Diego, CA. In 2022 she was named America's Top Young Scientist by 3M.
Fan's invention can both detect and treat mid-ear infections, and at a low cost.
Details: By 2050, 1 in 4 people will have hearing loss to some extent. In children, the majority of this hearing loss is caused by mid-ear infections.
Loss of hearing that comes from repeated ear infections can also affect one's future and health. For a child, this can affect the ability to learn and develop social skills. Diagnostic and treatment may be...
2024-02-1226 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service32. The Wei of Storytelling: District Governor Hung WeiWe hear from Hung Wei, the District Governor of our Rotary District, number 5170.
District Governor Wei was born and raised in Taiwan. She came to the States in 1979 to study at UCLA, received a Master’s Degree in Teaching English as A Second Language, moved to San Jose in 1981 and to Cupertino in 1990.
While her children were in school, she volunteered in many school activities and took leadership roles as PTA President, School Site Council member, event chairs, and fundraising chairs.
More recently, she served as School Board Trustee and past Board President wi...
2024-02-0555 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World16. First Female President and the Supreme CourtSylvia Whitlock, was born in New York City but educated in Kingston, Jamaica. Sylvia worked for the United Nations, before moving to California to start a career in education.
Along the way, she earned her Ph.D., cum laude, from Claremont Graduate School. Subsequently, she earned another masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Azusa Pacific University, and began a second career as a therapist. She is licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in California.
In 1982, joined the "Ex-Rotary Club of Duarte" in California. Why was "Ex" part of the name? The...
2024-02-0135 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service31. Combatting Senior Adult Loneliness & Isolation Through an Online CommunityShags Shagrin shares how he came to create a fully-functioning online community platform for several hundred senior adults who were about to lose an existing platform that brought them together during COVID protocols.
Within 24 hours of learning that sponsorship of a current community platform would be ending, a new one was put together by volunteers. Within 72 hours, over 100 members joined. And within a month, it was a federally and state recognized 501(c)(3) organization with nearly 140 members.
The speed and success of the effort speaks to a widespread challenge - the current unspoken epidemic of senior adult loneliness and isolation...
2024-01-2925 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service30. The BEBOT Robot Cleaning Lake Tahoe's BeachesThe League to Save Lake Tahoe, in collaboration with ECO-CLEAN Solutions, have introduced an innovative new technology to address beach litter, targeting the most difficult to detect, hard to remove, and potentially harmful litter: tiny bits of plastic that have the potential to become harmful microplastics and other debris.
The BEBOT has been recognized by the TRPA as an important Environmental Improvement Project for addressing impacts from recreation and plastics in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The BEBOT is a solar- and battery-powered, beach-cleaning robot. BEBOT sifts and captures small debris from beach sand to a...
2024-01-2232 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World15. Carbon Smart Wood: The Power of Local Regenerative Supply ChainsTheo Hooker is COO and co-founder of Cambium Carbon which is on a mission to build local regenerative wood supply chains.
Most of the 36 million trees that fall in US cities each year are mulched or thrown in the landfill.
Cambium connects that would-be wasted material to their network of sawmills and then into big national buyers.
Their Carbon Smart Wood product diverts waste, creates local jobs, and supports community tree planting with 15% of profits funding local planting.
Theo has cultivated his career around building businesses that are good for people...
2024-01-1914 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service29. Flowers Are Future Of America's Inner CityThe Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms transforms vacant lots into sustainable urban flower farms, turning blight into economic opportunities for majority-Black inner-city communities.
Local youth are trained as florists and farmers through our workforce development program.
Why flowers? The floral industry generates $35 billion a year. 80% of flowers sold in the USA come from out of the country. Chicago has unused assets in blighted, vacant lots. Youth are unemployed and underemployed - they’re bored. The problems we are facing need systemic solutions, and this program ties together nature, economy, hope, faith, community, and good ol...
2024-01-1532 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service28. Ocean Sole: Flip Flop ArtErin Smith, a Paul Harris Fellow, who lives in Kenya and sometimes Florida, is a trailblazer in both the corporate and environmental sectors. Erin is the CEO and owner of Ocean Sole, which is transforming ocean debris into awe-inspiring art, and championing environmental causes coupled with creating opportunities in Kenya's coastal communities. Her career spans continents and industries, from high-tech to fintech. Gaining her education at George Mason, Georgetown, UVA and Pennsylvania, she now works to make a difference in people's lives and for our oceans. She has appeared on CNN and the...
2024-01-0832 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World14. Rebuilding the Appalachian Economy From the Ground UpBrandon Dennison is the founder and CEO of a non-profit social-enterprise incubator in southern West Virginia lays out his organization's blueprint for rebuilding an entire economy in coal country.
The presentation will assess the current state of West Virginia's economy, then pivot to a series of solutions being tested by Coalfield Development to overcome the many challenges faced.
Success is not assured, but the country needs Appalachia to succeed, or else many of the deep-seated frustrations that are contributing to America's political divide today will only deepen.
On an even larger scale, the...
2024-01-0522 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service27. HERS Breast Cancer FoundationThis week's speaker, Tina Fernandez Steckler, will present an overview of HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, this presentation includes HERS Breast Cancer Foundation history, mission, programs and services, outreach, needs, fundraising efforts, and community impact.
A Fremont resident since 1991, Tina has volunteered and worked for nonprofits since the early 2000s. Tina joined HERS in 2017 as Executive Director where her responsibilities include both organization management, development, and marketing communications.
A co-founder of the Tri-City Nonprofit Coalition, Tina is a past participant in the Fremont Chamber of Commerce Leadership Program and the Tri-Valley Nonprofit Alliance Executive Roundtable.
2024-01-0133 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service26. Rotary and AdventHealth: the Partnership Changing the World, One Child at a TimeAdventHealth (formerly Florida Hospital) engages in global mission work because, at its heart, it is our mission: "Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ." Through their Global Missions and Sharing Smiles departments, they deliver healing and hope through quality healthcare, education and training.
We partner with host country healthcare providers and Rotary clubs to build a sustainable legacy.
Our speaker, Ruth E. Bowling, has a B.A. in Business Administration, and is currently pursuing a Masters of Healthcare Administration at AdventHealth University. A former insurance agent with Brown & Brown, Ruth has been privileged since 2013 to represent...
2023-12-2525 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World13. Unleashing Africa’s Lion: Development Strategies that Succeed, Dr. Ernesto SirolliDr. Ernesto Sirolli is a renowned expert in local economic development and sustainable entrepreneurship.
He is the founder of the Sirolli Institute and the author of two books: Ripples from the Zambezi and How to Start a Business and Ignite Your Life.
He is also a popular public speaker and has given a TEDx talk titled "Shut Up and Listen".
In 2016, he received the IOEE International Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship Education at the House of Lords in London.
Dr. Ernesto Sirolli is a community iron man. In 1971, he began practice...
2023-12-2242 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service25. The 4-day Week and the Future of WorkIn this talk our speaker will present an overview of the global 4-day week movement, which aims to shorten working hours without cutting salaries or productivity.
You will learn how companies, nonprofits, and governments have made the transition, as well as what challenges they've faced and benefits they've enjoyed.
Alex will conclude by talking about strategies for making the case for a 4-day week in your own workplace.
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is director of research and programs at 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit promoting the 4-day workweek. His books (Work Less, Do More...
2023-12-1733 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service24. Conserving Antarctica's Historic Buildings in Earth's Most Challenging EnvironmentThis week's speaker, Camilla Johns, is Head of Development at the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, a charity not-for-profit that preserve's six historic sites in Antarctica. This includes Port Lockroy, the southernmost public post office in the world which is surrounded by a vocal gentoo penguin colony.
Each of the six sites has an amazing history and story, and the Trust works to protect the buildings and share Antarctica's amazing past with everyone at home.
Imagine painting your garden shed, but doing so 10,000 miles away on a rocky outcrop in biting Antarctic winds. Each year, for...
2023-12-1125 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World12. Libraries Without Borders: Refugee Camps, Storm Shelters, Trailer Parks & LaundromatsBibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders, or LWB) is an international non-profit that strengthens the capacity of people in vulnerable situations by facilitating access to education, information, and cultural resources.
In more than 50 countries, Libraries Without Borders creates innovative cultural and learning spaces that allow those affected by crisis to learn, to play, to strengthen their communities, and to construct their futures.
Speaker: Azure Grimes
For more Info:
https://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/
https://www.librarieswithoutborders.us/
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
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2023-12-0724 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service23. Ending Hidden Hunger for 100 Million PeopleTwo billion people globally suffer from malnutrition, aka hidden hunger, hitting Africa the hardest. Many lack access to healthy food, relying on starchy flour for every meal. This poor diet, lacking vital nutrients, tragically leads to 8,000 preventable child deaths daily.
While developed nations enjoy fortified foods like cereal, milk, and salt, two billion people worldwide lack this basic human right. In parts of East Africa, as many as 95% of the population depend on small rural flour mills for their food source to survive.
Sanku enables local flour mills throughout East Africa to produce fortified flour...
2023-12-0433 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service22. The Promise and Challenges of Cultivated SeafoodCellular agriculture, or the cultivation of seafood and meat directly from cells, has emerged as a promising approach to offset the unsustainable practices and deleterious effects of our food system.
Unlike plant-based approaches to recreate flavors, textures, and nutrition, cellular agriculture involves growing animal cells into familiar cuts of seafood in brewery-type systems, without the need for farming, fishing, or animal slaughter. The history, underlying technologies, and challenges for the field will be explored, in addition to its potential impact on the future of food.
Our speaker, Aryé Elfenbein, co-founded Wildtype, a company dedicated to c...
2023-11-2732 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service21. Love In The Time Of CoronaRabbi Sanford Akselrad has served as the spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Tamid in Las Vegas, Nevada since 1988. During this time, the Synagogue grew from approximately 60 to more than 600 families, becoming the largest Reform Jewish Synagogue in the State of Nevada.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he turned his congregants' fear into faith with weekly messages focusing on calm, courage, resiliency, and strength, reminding them that CNT is "a special place to belong."
Love in the Time of Corona was the title of Rabbi Akselrad's first essay and it's now the title of his new book...
2023-11-2032 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World11. HIV/AIDS Memorials: An American StoryThe National AIDS Memorial has been sharing the story of the struggle against HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the pandemic. Through their programs, they remember in perpetuity the lives lost, and offer healing and hope to survivors, inspiring a new generation of activists in the fight against stigma, denial and hate for a just future.
Among these programs, the AIDS Memorial Quilt has been one of the most powerful. Originally called the NAMES Project, the Quilt’s first panel was created in June 1987. In October 1987, the Quilt was displayed for the first time on the National Ma...
2023-11-1727 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service20. The Urgency of Dignified MenstruationGlobal South Coalition for Dignified Menstruation strives to obtain inalienable dignity for every individual for their entire menstrual cycle, from the womb to the tomb.
An international collective of diverse organizations and individuals from across the globe, the coalition unites to transform the menstruation movement to center dignity as the mechanism of dismantling the misogynistic and patriarchal structural, institutional, and interpersonal beliefs and behaviors that discriminate against menstruators.
Dignified Menstruation envisions a world free from any forms of abuse, discrimination, and violence associated with menstruation. According to the coalition, "every menstruator deserves freedom from the...
2023-11-1334 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service19. HIV/AIDS: An American Story, 1980s to TodayThe National AIDS Memorial has been sharing the story of the struggle against HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the pandemic. Through their programs, they remember in perpetuity the lives lost, and offer healing and hope to survivors, inspiring a new generation of activists in the fight against stigma, denial and hate for a just future.
Among these programs, the AIDS Memorial Quilt has been one of the most powerful. Originally called the NAMES Project, the Quilt’s first panel was created in June 1987. In October 1987, the Quilt was displayed for the first time on the National Ma...
2023-11-0627 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World10. Saving Birds, Bees and Stars: The Dark-Skies InitiativeLight pollution is bad for birds, bees and your health.
This week's speaker, Stephen Hummel, is the Dark Skies Initiative Coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory, located in the Big Bend region of Texas.
His educational background is in international relations and astronomy. Alongside many partners, Stephen was involved in establishing the world's largest International Dark Sky Association certified Dark Sky Reserve in the Big Bend region of Texas and Mexico in early 2022. Prior to this, Stephen was involved in astronomy and science outreach. In his spare time Stephen is an accomplished photographer, with images used...
2023-11-0331 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service18. Textile Waste Recycling with FABSCRAPThis week's presentation will cover the basics of how waste contributes to climate change, differences between textile waste, industry practices that lead to waste, and FABSCRAP's work to provide solutions.
Our speaker, Erin Wiens, is an ethical textile waste management advocate currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Her experience as a buyer in secondhand clothing spurred her interest in holding the fashion industry accountable for its environmental impact.
Currently, in Erin’s role as Community Lead at FABSCRAP, she works to educate local communities, schools, and designers about textile waste and hopeful solutions. Erin strives to...
2023-10-3026 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service17. Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Intellectual Property (IP) videoAs AI tools become more prevalent, they raise important and complex questions about their intellectual property implications.
Who owns the works created using AI? Do AI-generated works violate IP rights? Do AI models violate IP rights when they use third-party works for training purposes?
This talk will answer these questions, and your own, in an effort to clarify these confusing IP topics.
Our speaker, Eric Goldman, is Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Law, Co-Director of the High Tech Law Institute, and Supervisor of the Privacy Law Certificate, at Santa Clara University School...
2023-10-2331 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World9. Fighting Poverty in Africa with Tractors and Phones (video)Jehiel Oliver, the founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, an agricultural technology company that connects tractor owners with smallholder farmers in need of tractor services.
Jehiel has been honored with numerous awards for his work in social entrepreneurship including being recognized by Foreign Policy Magazine as a Top 100 Global Thinker and a World Economic Forum Circulars inaugural cohort member.
He was appointed under the Obama Administration to serve two years as a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, where he most recently chaired the technology subcommittee.
Prior to...
2023-10-2028 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service16. Tobacco and the Environment...Why We Should All Care (video)Although the harms of tobacco use are well-known to almost everyone, the harms that tobacco causes to the environment are less recognized.
These harms start with tobacco growing, which is very hard on soils and woodlands, diverts agricultural efforts away from food production, and harms farmers and their children who are engaged with this cash crop.
Tobacco product manufacturing is a dirty business, now moving away from the US and to countries where environmental regulations may be lacking.
Smoking itself creates health risks through environmental contamination of air (secondhand smoke) and living spaces...
2023-10-1629 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service15. "Reading" Your Mind with AI to Prevent Suicides (video)Our speaker today, Siddhu Pachipala, will make the argument that we can do far better identifying and treating suicide risk.
For all the radical leaps forward we've seen in machine learning, biotechnology, and renewable energy over the past 70 years, it feels like psychiatry is sitting firmly in the dust. Just look at the way we handle suicide.
The moment a patient walks into the clinic, they're asked to bullet off their symptoms for the clinician to analyze, a process subject to so much bias that it lets the vast majority of high-risk patients go unnoticed...
2023-10-0929 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World8. Mercury and Plastic-free Seafood: Saving Tuna & Other Fish from Extinction (video)Umami meats is now Umami Bioworks:
https://vegconomist.com/cultivated-cell-cultured-biotechnology/cultivated-seafood/umami-meats-rebrands-umami-bioworks/
https://umamibioworks.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/umamibioworks/
Cultivated Seafood: A Sustainable Solution
Our speaker this week, Mihir Pershad, is the founder and CEO of Umami Bioworks, where he is building a team pioneering cultivated, 'not caught' seafood by crafting delicious, nutritious, and affordable cultivated fish that is better for our health, our oceans, and our future.
From Mihir: "Only 7% of global fisheries are sustainable but seafood demand will grow 50% by 2050. Aquaculture can't keep up with demand and there are more than 2...
2023-10-0630 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service14. Agents of Influence: A Media Literacy Video Game (video)In this talk from Rotarian Anahita Dalmia, you'll learn about Agents of Influence, a media literacy video game teaching the next generation to be more responsible information consumers and actors. You can also consider bringing it to your communities.
Our speaker is a third generation Rotarian originally from New Delhi, India, and currently part of the Rotary Club of Newport Beach. Anahita is co-founder and CEO of Alterea.
She has been designing interactive experiences for social impact since she was a high school student, and is a three-time published...
2023-10-0225 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service13. Using Solar Power To Benefit Nonprofits and the Planet (video)The Climate Action Committee of the Rotary Club of Cupertino works with local nonprofits to fund and install solar systems on their roofs and replace their gas water heaters with electrical ones.
They have developed a unique project structure that leverages several small capital and time investments by multiple partners into a large financial benefit for the nonprofit that will continue year after year for decades.
Reducing or eliminating the high cost of electricity through the use of solar power can save nonprofits thousands of dollars per month while...
2023-09-2526 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World7. A Blind Athlete's Vision: The Story of World Champion Lex GilletteSight vs. Vision - World Champion Long Jumper Lex Gillette
Lex Gillette is a globally recognized Paralympic track and field athlete for Team USA. Over his career, he has won four Paralympic medals, four world champion crowns, and even holds the world record in the long jump for totally blind athletes.
At the age of eight, Lex was told by doctors he would never see again. Little did he know, that traumatic moment would help him focus on his life and goals more clearly than any set of eyes. He is currently training for the upcoming Tokyo Paralympic Games where...
2023-09-2230 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service12. Thinking Huts: 3D Printed Schools in Madagascar (video)This week we'll hear about Thinking Huts, an international NGO that 3D-prints schools. They most recently opened Madagascar's first 3D printed school Bougainvillea and are now in development for their most ambitious project yet, Honeycomb.
Honeycomb is a 3D printed campus on the west coast of Madagascar serving an initial 240 students aged 4-16 from 3 neighboring villages. Primarily involved in project and construction management beyond fundraising, Thinking Huts' work evolves around thoughtful innovation and long-term social impact by creating new supply chains in often challenging regions in the developing world and training local construction teams on printer operations.
2023-09-1824 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service11. Sustainable and Biodegradable Products from Algae (video)Algenesis is a bio-materials company that is addressing the problem of plastic pollution with the first biodegradable plant-based alternatives for high performance polyurethanes: bio-based polyurethanes made from plant-based feedstocks.
These bio-based plastics are an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics, which are a major contributor to pollution and climate change. Its mission is to provide cost-competitive, sustainable, and high performance bio-based polyurethane products that meet the demands of consumers and industry, while reducing the environmental impact of plastic pollution.
Our speaker, Stephen Mayfield, is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology at UC San Diego...
2023-09-1129 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service10. Using Games to Provide a Child Centered Learning for Ugandan Refugees Children (video)Joel Baraka, who grew up and attended school in the Kyangwali Refugee Camp in Uganda is the founder of My Home Stars, a nonprofit with the mission of making education accessible to refugee children.
He designed 5 STAZ, an educational board game that aims to get children excited about learning.
An engineer by profession, Joel was inspired by his father, who learned masonry craftsmanship despite no formal education. In college, Joel pursued a civil engineering degree and currently works as a project engineer with a general contractor in the U.S. midwest.
Joel's hope...
2023-09-0430 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service9. Problems with Ravens...From Biologist to Eco-technologist: a 21st Century Conservation Tale (video)Hardshell Labs is working on revolutionary applications of emerging technology to solve difficult conservation problems, largely centered on reducing the conflict between birds, humans and threatened and endangered species.
Our speaker, Tim Shields, will describe these efforts and the conservation successes they have yielded, as well as the surprising benefits of the work for human safety, the reduction of losses to commercial interests and broader social benefits that have emerged. Starting from Hardshell's core mission to attempt to save the Desert Tortoise, he will trace a story of expanding positive results for a broad array of interest...
2023-08-2829 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World5. Unused Oil Wells Remade to Store Wind and Solar PowerAn innovative energy storage system from Renewell Energy, transforming unused oil wells into energy storage with their Gravity Well system.
This week's speaker, Kemp Gregory, is the CEO and a co-founder at Renewell Energy. His personal career is a forerunner of the larger energy transition required to decarbonize the electrical grid. Prior to Renewell Energy, Kemp worked for Shell for five years, where he installed cutting-edge downhole technology, managed capital-intensive projects, and coordinated large operations teams across North and South America.
Renewell’s patented technology stems from a simple idea: use pre-existing wells and the power of gravity to store an...
2023-08-2515 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service8. Tan José No More: Building Vibrant Cities With Artists (video)Local Color builds equitable pathways for artists to thrive.
Based in San Jose, California, Local Color is powered by artists and dedicated to supporting creatives in the area. Local Color is committed to promoting representation and inclusion, with a particular focus on serving communities of color. In fact, 80% of the artists served by Local Color are from communities of color, with most identifying as Latinx, Black/African, Indigenous, or Asian diasporas. Moreover, 68% of the artists identify as women or non-binary. Through its four core programs, Local Color provides affordable, membership-based creative workspaces, public art and creative services...
2023-08-2129 min
Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service8. Tan José No More: Building Vibrant Cities With ArtistsLocal Color builds equitable pathways for artists to thrive. Based in San Jose, California, Local Color is powered by artists and dedicated to supporting creatives in the area. Local Color is committed to promoting representation and inclusion, with a particular focus on serving communities of color. In fact, 80% of the artists served by Local Color are from communities of color, with most identifying as Latinx, Black/African, Indigenous, or Asian diasporas. Moreover, 68% of the artists identify as women or non-binary. Through its four core programs, Local Color provides affordable, membership-based creative workspaces, public art and creative services opportunities, comprehensive...
2023-08-2129 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service7. How Photography Can Be an Access to Social-Emotional Learning (video)Today's speaker, JP Pullos, will describe the curriculum he helped to create that is being used by hundreds of teachers around the world.
See more about 100cameras, including images created by young people from around the world: http://100cameras.org
Students participating in 100cameras programs will often think they're simply going to learn about photography basics. What they walk away with is so much more: each student discovers that photography can be a powerful medium for communicating feelings and emotions. Each student experiences being the author of their own stories and the creative voice behind...
2023-08-1431 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service7. How Photography Can Be an Access to Social-Emotional LearningToday's speaker, JP Pullos, will describe the curriculum he helped to create that is being used by hundreds of teachers around the world.
See more about 100cameras, including images created by young people from around the world: http://100cameras.org
Students participating in 100cameras programs will often think they're simply going to learn about photography basics. What they walk away with is so much more: each student discovers that photography can be a powerful medium for communicating feelings and emotions. Each student experiences being the author of their own stories and the creative voice behind...
2023-08-1431 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World4. From Paralyzed to Athlete: The Inspiring Story of Justin Jesudas and the R2D2 CenterThe inspiring journey of Justin Jesudas, who despite being paralyzed from the neck down, became an international para-swimming champion and an advocate for assistive technologies.
To learn more about Justin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinjesudas/
To learn more about R2D2:
https://r2d2.iitm.ac.in
https://www.linkedin.com/company/r2d2-iit-madras/
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2023-08-1218 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service6. Breaking Poverty Cycles: Empowering Children Through Education & DreamingBoundless Foundation empowers impoverished children through education and resources, inspiring them to "learn to dream," helping them rise above their daily struggle for survival and see a brighter future by opening their minds to new possibilities.
The foundation's "Epic Exchange" program offers donors the chance to see the impact of their investments firsthand, experiencing the joy of giving and making a difference in the world. These visits open the hearts of the donor and expand the minds of the children instantly. Join us in transforming individuals and communities locally and globally for generational impact.
2023-08-0733 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service5. Solving Community Problems with what3wordsInnovation - With Addresses?
Pinpointing places by conventional addressing requires navigating a variety of systems. Into that space steps what3words, a new global addressing standard used by thousands of organizations worldwide to help improve efficiency and internal operations with better addresses.
Our speaker is Khongorzul (Khongoroo) Otgonbayar, the Partnerships Lead at what3words, a global addressing system designed to simplify the communication of precise locations with just three simple words. Originally born in Mongolia, Khongorzul earned her degree in International Relations and Peace Studies from the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan...
2023-07-3131 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World3. Can Bikes Eliminate Poverty? The Remarkable Success of World Bicycle Relief.For the rural poor, particularly girls in school and young women, bicycles are literally a lifesaver.
Without access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, people continue to live in poverty and die from preventable diseases. World Bicycle relief is changing that.
More about World Bicycle Relief:
Website: https://worldbicyclerelief.org
Smile (short inspirational video)
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More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
Website: Rotary.cool
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2023-07-2820 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service4. Mural Diplomacy for Iran in IsraelSome events described are disturbing.
Hooman has done mission work all over the world. In South Africa with Bruce Wilkinson’s team, and independently in Costa Rica, Armenia, Bali, Honk Kong, South Korea, Mexico, Germany, Greece, Uganda, and South Sudan. Hooman's main mission field over the past 20 years has been San Francisco, where he serves the homeless. Hooman was the choir director of St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in San Francisco under Father Gregory Ofiesh. Now, Hooman serves terminally ill children suffering from cancer by creating movies with them in their hospital rooms with the mission of sp...
2023-07-2427 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service3. Women Can Also Serve: The Lawsuit That Changed EverythingSylvia Whitlock, was born in New York City but educated in Kingston, Jamaica. Sylvia worked for the United Nations, before moving to California to start a career in education.
Along the way, she earned her Ph.D., cum laude, from Claremont Graduate School. Subsequently, she earned another masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Azusa Pacific University, and began a second career as a therapist. She is licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in California.
In 1982, joined the "Ex-Rotary Club of Duarte" in California. Why was "Ex" part of...
2023-07-1736 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World2. Crushing Medical Debt - One Nonprofit's Success“Millions of people are on payment plans or declaring bankruptcy that they don't have to pay because they have no idea that these programs exist.” Jared Walker, founder of Dollar For
More about Dollar For:
Website https://dollarfor.org
Does my family qualify? (3 minutes)
Get Involved and help, partner or donate
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More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
Website: Rotary.cool
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Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
More about Rotary International:...
2023-07-1321 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service2. Operation Pollination - A 7th Area of Focus Environmental FrameworkRotary Operation Pollination is a growing movement led by the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG). During this presentation, you will learn about the simple framework and receive an update.
Pollinator decline is a serious issue negatively affecting the health of our planet. Everyone can get involved to help address this issue that impacts all of us, and Rotarians around the world are taking action to do something about it.
Our speaker today is Chris Stein from the United States National Park Service. Chris has been a park ranger for more than four...
2023-07-1039 minInspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service1. Welcome Our New Club President : Nick LaGardeToday we thank Immediate Past President Angelica for her work in '22-'23, and welcome President Nick and his plans for '23-'24.
President Nick is excited to bring his leadership to the eClub while continuing the initiatives set forth under Immediate Past President Angelica's guidance. Nick wants to continue to grow the eClub community and support additional connections with our club members, district and communities.
Nick LaGarde is an Account Director at Cloud for Good where he helps nonprofits use Salesforce to make the most of their mission...
2023-07-0334 minInspiring Solutions for a Better World1. Knitted Knockers–A Remarkable Story of Love, Generosity and Service“It was 12 years ago now, when I heard the words that no woman wants to hear: that I had breast cancer…”
From a casual knitter to the founder of a global organization, Barb Demorest's story is one of passion, purpose, and service.
More about Knitted Knockers:
• www.knittedknockers.org
• www.facebook.com/knittedknockers
• Knitted Knockers’ YouTube channel
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
• Website: Rotary.cool
• Current and Past Meetings’ Video Archive
• YouTube Channel
• How to become a member in this online...
2023-06-2620 minInspiring Solutions for a Better WorldIntroduction to: Inspiring Solutions for a Better WorldStories of remarkable individuals and organizations making a difference in the world. From entrepreneurs and activists to educators and healthcare professionals, we showcase people who are bringing about positive change in their communities, locally, globally, and digitally.
The three segments mentioned in this introduction
Lex Gillette
World Bicycle Relief
Libraries Without Borders
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
Current and Past Meetings’ Video Archive
How to become a member in this online Rotary eClub
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
More about Rotary International:
Website: www.Rotary.org
Find a local Rotary club
...
2023-06-2003 min