News from Rotary International Convention 2017

 We are well represented at the Rotary International Convention with at least 12 attendees or about 20% of our club.  We are all enjoying great programs, fun and fellowship.  If you are in attendance, you have no worries about attendance.  If you are not in Atlanta, it is worthwhile to share with you some of the inspirational programs.  Here are some highlights from Monday, June 12, 2017:

Minda Dentler

Insurance professional, triathlete, health advocate, and mother

Despite her legs being paralyzed from contracting polio in India, Minda Dentler became the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in October 2013. This accomplishment led her to be an ESPN ESPY Award Nominee for Best Female Athlete with a Disability. Dentler has been featured on CNN, NBC, Time, CCTV America and Glamour. She has also written articles for Time and Huffington Post on the importance of global childhood immunization and polio eradication.  Dentler is a 2017 Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow. She earned an MBA from Baruch College in New York and a BA in Management Information Systems from the University of Washington. She currently resides in New York City with her husband and daughter. 

John Cena

WWE Superstar, actor, Rotary polio ambassador 

John Cena devotes much of his time working on behalf of numerous charitable causes. He joined Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign in 2015 as a celebrity ambassador and is Make-A-Wish’s most requested wish granter of all time and the only celebrity to grant 500 wishes. Cena also committed to Susan G. Komen and has helped raise more than $1.6 million for breast cancer research and awareness. He is a longtime supporter of the U.S. military, recently recognized by USO Metro as the recipient of their 2016 Legacy of Achievement Award. He recently starred in Ad Council’s Love Has No Labels campaign, We Are America, to further the message of acceptance and love for all communities across the United States. In addition to his work in the community, Cena is a powerhouse on social media with 44 million Facebook fans, making him the most popular active U.S. athlete on Facebook. He is also one of the most followed athletes on Twitter and Instagram with 9.5 and 6.8 million followers respectively.

Cena’s well known acting credits include roles in The Wall, Trainwreck, Sisters, and Daddy’s Home. Cena is the host and executive producer of American Grit, the second season will premiere in June 2017.  Cena has hosted the ESPYS, the Teen Choice Awards, Saturday Night Live, and the Kids’ Choice Awards. He frequently co-hosts the 9 a.m. hour of TODAY. This Christmas, John will voice the title role of Ferdinand the bull in Ferdinand, the animated film based on the iconic children’s book.

As the face of the WWE and a 16-time world champion, John Cena combines his athleticism, charisma, strong work ethic, and genuine personality to make him one of today’s brightest stars.

Bill Gates

Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Along with co-chair, Melinda Gates, he shapes and approves grant-making strategies, advocates for the foundation’s issues, and helps set the direction of the organization. Gates began his major philanthropic efforts in 1994, when he created the William H. Gates Foundation, focusing on global health. Three years later, he and Melinda created the Gates Library Foundation, which worked to bring public access computers with Internet connections to libraries in the United States. Its name changed to the Gates Learning Foundation in 1999 to reflect its focus on ensuring that low-income minority students are prepared for college and have the means to attend. In 2000, to increase efficiency and communication, the two groups merged into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

ill Gates, speaking on 12 June at the Rotary International Convention, highlighted the extraordinary progress that’s been made toward a polio-free world, along with challenges ahead. 

Speaking at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Gates reminded the audience of more than 22,000 attendees, who were given LED bracelets to wear, that the effort must continue and be strengthened before polio cases can be reduced to zero. 

ill Gates, speaking on 12 June at the Rotary International Convention, highlighted the extraordinary progress that’s been made toward a polio-free world, along with challenges ahead. 

Speaking at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Gates reminded the audience of more than 22,000 attendees, who were given LED bracelets to wear, that the effort must continue and be strengthened before polio cases can be reduced to zero.