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Abel Pacheco is the Government & Community Relations Director for the Central Corridor (Seattle) at Sound Transit. Abel supports Sound Transit’s leadership and project teams in responding to key stakeholders and constituencies within the City of Seattle. Prior to joining Sound Transit, Abel served on the Seattle City Council and represented District Four during 2019. Abel completed his fellowship at The Seattle Foundation and has worked at the Seattle Police Foundation and the University of Washington. Abel earned his BA from California State University, Northridge, and his Master of Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the UW. As a car-free Seattleite, Abel is passionate about ensuring that our community has a robust transportation network to ensure that Seattle remains a great place to live, work, and visit.

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for a program featuring Charlie Keller of Bellevue College discussing the formation of Washington’s landscapes.

The story about the Great Floods of Eastern Washington is really incredible.

This program will be presented both on Zoom and at the Wedgwood Community Church (8201 30th Avenue NE in the church basement).  Doors and the Zoom line will open at 7 am. The formal meeting runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required.

Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning. Join us!

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The dramatic landscapes of Washington have been shaped by Fire (molten rock) and Water (gas, liquid, solid).  These processes have been ongoing for millions of years.  Sometimes requiring millions of years to reach the results we see today.  Sometimes requiring only days to weeks.  This presentation will review the geology that explains the formation of these landscapes and how the evidence supports both Catastrophic and Uniformitarian events. 

Charlie has been an adjunct instructor at Bellevue College since 2016. After 35 years as a consulting hydrogeologist and environmental engineer, he now enjoys his time teaching Geology courses including Geology 101 (Introduction to Physical Geology) and Geology 107 (Geological Catastrophes).  He also enjoys advising students, so would like to hear from anyone with any questions about future careers in environmental science or other earth and space sciences; or questions about science and careers in general.

His academic background focused on isotope geochemistry and fossil fuel geology. He obtained a Master’s of Science degree in Geology from The Ohio State University.

He has been interested in STEM education and increasing diversity in STEM fields most of his career.  He also enjoys skiing, fishing, hiking, biking, carpentry, ceramics, photography, kayaking, music, movies, ale, most foods, wine, spirits, comedy, anthropology, and astrophysics.

When the war in Ukraine broke out in February, 2022, the Netherlands and particularly the village of Schaijk, sprang to action. Members of the Rotary Club Schaijk-Landvan Ravenstein joined with a local pallet importer to fill trucks returning to Ukraine with many tons of needed supplies and emergency aid.

Join us to hear about this amazing project from the participants themselves, members of RotaryClub Schaijk-Land van Ravenstein!

Looking at this again, I think the people in Ukraine would say that the invasion in Feb. 2022, was a continuation of the war that began in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the DonBas.

There is a businessman in the town of Schaijk (pronounced like “shrike”), Netherlands, population <8,000, who imported goods from Ukraine and sent back fruit, vegetables and flowers for sale in Ukraine and Russia. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, imports to Netherlands continued but there was no market for goods for the return trip. The business owner saw the empty trucks heading back and saw an opportunity to help. He began to solicit donations and to get help with loading the trucks for the return trip. Members of the Rotary Club of Schaijk-Land von Ravenstein joined the effort which has to date delivered several thousand tons of food, clothing, and medical supplies directly into Ukraine for distribution. There’s a lot more about this remarkable local effort, involving Rotarians from the club in Schaijk. Come hear about it from the participants themselves!

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for an online program featuring sustainability expert Rory Bakke speaking about why and how to become more sustainable.  Rory Bakke is the Founder of Sustainable Concepts Studio and Principal Coach at Hedgehog Coaching & Consulting.

Our Zoom line will open at 7:00 a.m. for informal discussion. The formal meeting runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required.

Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning. Join us!

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 A Sustainable Value Lens is a new way of seeing opportunities based on sustainability values and principles and helps an organization see new ideas as they consider environmental and social factors, along with new stakeholder marketplace demands. Sustainability is becoming a strategic imperative for an increasing percentage of organizations and understanding and learning how to create sustainable value is at the heart of this transition to align with new market signals and requirements.

We’ll examine sustainable value concepts, look at some examples, and potentially complete an exercise or two together about creating more sustainable growth for your organization and/or your life.

Rory Bakke is the Founder of Sustainable Concepts Studio and Principal Coach at Hedgehog Coaching & Consulting, LLC.

Ms. Bakke specializes in sustainability management (ESG) strategy, practices, and coaching with executives, managers and emerging leaders of companies and public agencies to develop effective programs that boost performance, decision-making, leadership, and drive sustainable business results.

Rory has a passion for collaborating with clients to design sustainability roadmaps for organizations that boost profitability while they build improved awareness in their leaders, better teamwork in their cultures, and more inspiration for their workforce and other stakeholders. She has advanced sustainability progress by working with 25 industries, all levels of public agencies, and environmental not-for-profits in both the United States and Europe. A graduate of Presidio Graduate University, University of California, and Claremont Graduate University, she also holds certifications from the Co-Active (Coaches) Training Institute, UC Extension Program (in Integrated Waste Management) and Human Synergistics, a management training organization that accredits coaches to employ neuroscience based tools that assess and develop constructive leaders, teams and organizational cultures.

As a strategic advisor, planner, and content strategist, Rory co-designs and embeds environmental and social practices, policies and programs that support more regenerative ways of working and being. Rory helps organizations and individuals gain critical buy-in necessary to fulfil the promise of positive sustainable change by employing tools such as:

• ESG strategy, goal setting and reporting
• Employee and supplier engagement
• Materiality assessment
• Net zero program development
• Responsible sourcing
• Stakeholder strategy
• Sustainable business model evaluation
• Training workshops and curriculum in sustainability transformation

She uses active facilitation and coaching tools and frameworks to help leaders and managers translate visions and ideas into actionable steps. 

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for an online program featuring Kelly Van Arsdale and the story of Spinnaker Chocolate and the creation of a bold flavorful chocolate company during a pandemic!

Our Zoom line will open at 7:00 a.m. for informal discussion. The formal meeting runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required.

Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning.  Join us!

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As bean to bar chocolate makers, Spinnaker Chocolate works with the highest quality cacao from around the world and meticulously turns it into bold, flavorful chocolate.

Kelly Van Arsdale grew up in Seattle, Washington. After graduating from Lewis & Clark College with a degree in Economics, he went on to pursue a career in customer experience and product marketing.

Just before the pandemic struck, he decided to pursue his longtime hobby of making chocolate – a passion he shared with his brother, Chris Van Arsdale. The Van Arsdale brothers, with the help of their immediate family, came together and created Spinnaker Chocolate.

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Shane Hamlin has served as the Executive Director of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) since June 2017. He previously served 18 years in Washington state government, including five years with the Washington State Senate, nearly 10 years with the Office of the Secretary of State, and three years with the Office of Financial Management. Working for two Secretaries, Shane served as the Legislative Liaison, Deputy Director of Elections, and Co-Director of Elections. He led Washington’s contribution to building ERIC and he served as the first Chair of the ERIC Board of Directors. Shane holds an undergraduate degree from Eastern Washington University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington.