Rotary Club of Milwaukee Tuesday Speaker Series

Brad Pruitt is the interim Executive Director of America's Black Holocaust Museum, which builds public awareness of the harmful legacies of slavery in America and promotes racial repair, reconciliation, and healing.This museum has been closed since 2008, and is slated to reopen this fall as part of a $17.7 million project being led by Maures Development LLC and Jeffers & Co. 

Kathleen Bartzen Culver is an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication and associate director of the Center for Journalism Ethics. Long interested in the implications of digital media on journalism and public interest communication, Culver focuses on the ethical dimensions of social tools, technological advances and networked information. She combines these interests with a background in law and the effects of boundary-free communication on free expression. She also serves as visiting faculty for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and education curator for PBS MediaShift.

Click here to view her PowerPoint.

Every business, everywhere is experiencing disruption. As a commercial printer, Quad/Graphics experienced disruption much earlier than other companies. Under the leadership of Chairman, President & CEO Joel Quadracci, Quad has undergone – and continues to undergo – a remarkable transformation. Join Joel as he shares highlights from Quad’s 48-year transformative journey – from a family-owned upstart that underwent rapid greenfield growth to a publicly traded enterprise known for disciplined industry consolidation to today – an integrated marketing solutions provider that helps clients plan, produce, deploy, manage and measure creative assets across all channels (not just print). Quad’s journey has lessons for every leader in every discipline. And, Joel’s gift for storytelling will make it memorable.

Katherine M. Gehl is a business leader, entrepreneur, and political innovation activist. Katherine was president and CEO of Gehl Foods, Inc., high tech food manufacturing company in Wisconsin, where she led an aggressive and transformational growth strategy. In 2015, Katherine sold the company—in part to be able to dedicate more time to political reform.  Over the past decade, Katherine has focused on the urgent need for non-partisan political innovation and reform on both state and national levels. In 2016, Katherine invited Michael Porter from Harvard Business School to join her in applying Michael’s tools for understanding industry competition to politics. Together, they co-authored research and analysis on our political system titled, “Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America.” Today, Katherine will tell us about this exciting work.

Tax policy, trade practices, regulatory enforcement, and foreign relations have all changed dramatically in the past year. Despite the divisive issues we debate, we still share broad economic priorities: business growth, greater access to employment, and individual prosperity. Ryan James Boyle, Vice President and Senior Economist within the Global Risk Management division of Northern Trust, will investigate how the economy has changed and what businesses and consumers can expect in the new year.

It’s not your grandma’s pickled herring company. Baensch Food Products, makers of Ma Baensch Marinated Herring, an iconic Wisconsin product, has a storied past and bright future with owner Kim Wall manning the helm.  Since purchasing the company in 1999, Wall has preserved the “Legend” of Ma Baensch, while evolving the product’s branding and marketing to attract millennials. Responding to consumer demand, she has maintained the original formula while creating a 100% clean product. She also only buys herring from sustainable fisheries and has a progressive hiring practice which includes ex-offenders. Join Kim as she shares Ma Baensch’s recipe for success.

Join us for our annual holiday luncheon as we debut the new Rotary choir, the Reveling Rotarians, as they perform some of your favorite holiday songs. Performers include President Ed Krishok, Beth Heller of the Urban Ecology Center, Dr. Christine Pharr of Mount Mary University, Jodi Ristau of Baird, Patrick Fennelly of Morgan Stanley, Bill Robison of Engberg Anderson Architects, David Froiland of Ogletree Deakins, and Amanda Robison of Swedish News/ Nordstjernan.  Special thanks to Barbara Velez of Velez & Associates for organizing the choir.  In honor of the occasion, we will have an open bar starting at 11:30 am.

We are honored to welcome Rotary International (RI) President Barry Rassin of the Rotary Club of East New Providence, Bahamas. In his role as RI President, Barry oversees the 35,000 Rotary Clubs in over 200 countries around the world. As a Rotarian since 1980, Barry has served Rotary as director and as vice chair of The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees. He also received Rotary's highest honor, the Service Above Self Award, as well as other humanitarian awards for his work leading Rotary’s relief efforts in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake there.  Barry has a MBA in health and hospital administration from the University of Florida and was the first fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in the Bahamas. He recently retired after 37 years as president of Doctors Hospital Health System, where he continues to serve as a Director.

Hershel “Woody” Williams, the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the battle of Iwo Jima in WWII, and co-founder of the Hershel “Woody” Williams Medal of Honor Foundation ("HWWMOHF"), will address our Club. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served in the Battle of Iwo Jima with the 21st Marines, 3rd Marine Division. During the battle, Mr. Williams displayed “valiant devotion to duty” and service above self as he “enabled his company to reach its objective”. Mr. Williams’ actions, commitment to his fellow service members, and heroism were recognized on October 5, 1945, when he received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Truman at the White House. A Rotarian himself, Williams welcomes the opportunity to share his life experiences with those in Milwaukee who share his passion for service. 

This program featured David Haynes, Erin Richards, and Angela Peterson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They discussed their latest project: a series of stories examining rampant student turnover in Milwaukee and at schools nationwide, and how churn is an under-discussed factor tied to lower test scores, fractured social ties, increased discipline issues and in general, a disrupted learning pipeline for many kids.