Month: February 2024

Program: “Travel Photography with Robert Stahl,” February 29, 2024

Join award-winning photographer Robert Stahl as he discusses ways to make travel photographs more creative and compelling.  His emphasis will be on cultivating the ‘Art of Seeing’ by the use of composition and design along with utilizing dramatic light when available.

Robert currently teaches continuing ed photo classes (both beginning and intermediate) for North Seattle College as well as offering an annual photo workshop for the Pacific Northwest Art School in Coupeville on Whidbey Island. He also teaches poetry classes for CRI (Creative Retirement Institute) sponsored by Edmonds College.  His work has appeared in National Geographic publications and he has led photo trips to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Kenya, Iceland, France’s Provence, Peru’s Machu Picchu, Antarctica, Patagonia, India, and throughout North America.  Robert has BA degrees in Philosophy and History from the University of Washington and a Master’s degree in Art History from Louisiana State University.

Program: Heather Fitzpatrick, “Three Reasons Our Region’s Approach to Homelessness Isn’t Working,” February 22, 2024

Our speaker on Thursday is Heather Fitzpatrick, President & CEO of Wellspring Family Services. Wellspring is a complex health and human service agency committed to ending family homelessness for good. Founded in 1892, the organization prevents and ends homelessness for both families and employees through five intertwined programs.

Heather joined Wellspring in 2017 as the interim CFO, and stepped into the CEO role in January of 2018.

Prior to joining Wellspring, Heather was a management consultant with MarketFitz, Inc., where she worked primarily with healthcare, professional service, and non-profit clients. She is a CPA and a Chartered Global Management Accountant, and the author of the book Marketing Management for Non-Marketing Managers: Improving Returns on Marketing Investments.

Heather is a member of Seattle Rotary #4 and has served as the Vice-President of Membership and Sergeant-at-Arms for the club. She has served on over a dozen boards of directors, including Leadership Tomorrow, the Washington Society of CPAs, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Girl Scouts of Western Washington, and Northwest Center. She currently serves on the board of Archbright.

Outside of work and community volunteerism, Fitzpatrick enjoys hiking, backpacking, cooking, reading and travel. She lives in Edmonds, Washington, with her husband, her children, and her dog, Riko.

Program: Ken Lee, Seattle Public Utilities, “The Ship Canal Water Quality Project,” February 15, 2024

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for a program featuring Ken Lee of the Seattle Public Utilities speaking on the topic of “The Ship Canal Water Quality Project: Tunnel Effluent Pump Station & Ballard Conveyance.

The program will be presented in person and on Zoom on Thursday morning with the Zoom line opening at 7:00 a.m.  The formal meeting including the program runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required, and the program is free.

The in-person meeting will be at the Wedgwood Community Church at 8201 30th Ave NE, Seattle. Doors open at 7:00 a.m. and the program begins at 7:30 a.m.

The meeting will be available via Zoom. Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning.  The Zoom line will open shortly after 7:00 a.m.

Ken Lee is a senior project manager with Seattle Public Utilities. 

Born and raised in South Seattle, this lifelong University of Washington Husky has an extensive career in leading infrastructure and transportation improvement projects around the Puget Sound area.  As a Project Management Professional and Professional Engineer, Ken’s passion is improving our communities through the wonders of Civil Engineering. 

On the weekend you can find Ken, his wife, and 11-year old son exploring (and sometimes re-exploring) new areas of Seattle!

Program: Andrea Suarez, We Heart Seattle, “Cleaning Up Seattle,” February 8, 2024

Our member, Andrea Suarez, is the Founder of We Heart Seattle. She has lived in King County for twenty-four years and in the downtown area since 2009. In September of 2020, she started ‘We Heart Seattle’ out of love for the city–wanting it clean and safe for all to enjoy.

We Heart Seattle is an action-based, boots-on-the-ground movement that organizes trash cleanups in our public spaces and offers a helping hand to those in need.  Through direct civic engagement, We Heart Seattle leads the way to a more compassionate and healthy community.

They recently reached significant milestones–more than 1,000,000 pounds of trash removed from the city’s parks and public spaces and more than 200 individuals helped off the streets. That includes more than 25,000 needles removed.

Here is a story about the Club working with WeHeartSeattle.