Inspiring People: Stories of Innovation and Service

The World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) works to ensure that every person with a bleeding disorder has access to safe, effective, and sustainable care, no matter where they live. Around the world, thousands of people with bleeding disorders still face life-long pain, disability, and even early death due to a lack of diagnosis and treatment. In this talk, WFH Medical and Humanitarian Aid Director, Dr. Assad Haffar, and WFH Head of Corporate & Community Partnerships and National Director of WFH USA, Marlene Spencer, will share how WFH is advancing global standards of care through humanitarian aid, training and education, and policy advocacy. They will also highlight opportunities for partnerships that align with Rotary’s values of service, global health, and community impact.Dr. Assad Haffar is the Medical and Humanitarian Aid Director at the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) in Montreal, Canada. Since joining WFH in 2000, he has led the organization’s Humanitarian Aid Program, the largest global initiative delivering clotting factor concentrates to countries with limited access, while supporting the development of national care programs and treatment centers worldwide. Dr. Haffar holds an MD from the University of Damascus, as well as advanced degrees from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Environmental and Occupational Health in Japan. Marlene Spencer is Head of Corporate & Community Partnerships at the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) and National Director of WFH USA, the organization’s U.S. affiliate connecting American supporters to WFH’s global mission. With more than 15 years at WFH, she leads fundraising strategies across corporate and community sectors, securing commitments and working to identify and diversify revenue streams to sustain WFH’s global programs.To learn more, read the WFH Impact and stories of 2024:https://wfh.org/https://wfh.org/about-wfh/#wfh-annual-report-2024/1/

Most job seekers don't know their resumes are screened by algorithms before humans ever see them. With 75% of employers using Applicant Tracking Systems, qualified candidates often get filtered out instantly while hiring managers can't find good talent.Soubhik Dawn, founder of AI career platform Upplai, will reveal how hiring really works today, and demonstrate how AI is now empowering candidates to optimize their applications effectively. You'll see live examples of resume transformation and learn why this shift is creating a more equitable job market for everyone involved.Soubhik Dawn is a Stanford and IIT Kharagpur alumnus with nearly two decades of product management and leadership experience spanning Silicon Valley startups to publicly traded companies. As both a hiring manager and product leader, he has built digital products used by millions while leading and hiring across diverse functions including engineering, UX design, product marketing, technical writing, customer support, customer success, solutions consulting, and sales.Having experienced the hiring process from both sides as someone who has hired dozens of professionals and as a job seeker navigating career transitions, Soubhik understands the frustrations of today's job market. This dual perspective inspired him to found Upplai, an AI-powered platform that is helping job seekers get more interviews and land their dream jobs faster.Through Upplai, Soubhik has helped thousands of job seekers, across multiple industries, job functions, and experience levels, present their best selves to employers, transforming how professionals approach job applications in an increasingly competitive and AI moderated market.To learn more, go to:1. The real reason you might not be getting any job interviews: https://youtu.be/8yA9DKxJfks 2. How a laid-off customer support professional went from 0 interviews to 10+ interviews a week using AI: https://youtu.be/3W5nhlGgBl8 3. How an algorithm scores and ranks your resume: https://youtu.be/3W5nhlGgBl8 4. Resume best practices to impress humans and machines: https://uppl.ai/resume-writing-guide 5. Why ChatGPT might be hurting your job search: https://uppl.ai/chat-gpt-resume-prompts/

Following visiting clubs all over our district, our district governor talks at both practical and philosophical levels about shifts happening (or should be happening) within Rotary.Herb Ritter has been a dedicated Rotarian for four decades. He is the 5170 District Governor in 2025-06, and has held a wide variety of leadership positions, including club president. Professionally, he enjoyed a successful 32-year career at Schneider Electric before venturing into entrepreneurship. Herb's commitment to community service extends beyond Rotary, evidenced by his involvement in various organizations. As a 3rd generation Eagle Scout, he has a strong connection to Scouting. With a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA, Herb embodies a blend of education, professional achievement, and service.To learn more about our district, visit:https://www.rotarydistrict5170.org/

The way we live, work, and learn is being transformed at an unprecedented pace. Families around the world are seeking more freedom, flexibility, and purpose - not just in their careers, but in the way they raise and educate their children. Elodie Ferchaud, co-founder of Boundless Life, shares how the future of work and learning is evolving and why so many families are reimagining what’s possible.Drawing from her own journey as a mother of four and global entrepreneur, Elodie explores how Boundless Life is pioneering a new way of living: one that blends place-based learning, meaningful community, and the freedom to work from anywhere. Discover how this movement is empowering families to design lives of growth, connection, and global citizenship.Elodie Ferchaud is an entrepreneur, global brand leader, and mother of four who has dedicated her career to building meaningful communities and businesses across the world. After 15 years in international marketing and sales with leading companies such as L’Oréal and Procter & Gamble, she co-founded Boundless Life, a pioneering organization helping families live abroad with forward-thinking education, housing, and community. Her work blends professional expertise with personal passion, inspiring families everywhere to embrace change, growth, and the adventure of global living.To learn more, go to:https://www.boundless.life/ https://www.instagram.com/boundlesslife/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundlesslife/

This week's speaker is someone many of us have followed for decades. Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva, host of the Remarkable People podcast, author of Wiser Guy, Think Remarkable, and sixteen other books, and adjunct professor at UC Santa Cruz. He was the chief evangelist of Apple, trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, and brand ambassador of Mercedes-Benz. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University, an MBA from UCLA, and an honorary doctorate from Babson College.In this talk, Kawasaki takes aim at the so-called "rules" of business that sound wise but often mislead. From "fail fast" to "growth at all costs," he shows how these maxims can backfire when applied blindly.Instead of chasing clichés, Kawasaki urges leaders to think critically, weigh context, and focus on sustainable success. This talk reframes innovation and growth with nuance, clarity, and a dose of reality.To learn more about our speaker, go to:https://guykawasaki.com/https://guykawasaki.com/remarkable-people/

Our speaker, Robert Freeman, spent nineteen years in the computer industry, rising to Vice President at the seventh largest software company in the world. After that, he taught at Los Altos High School for 16 years. In 2011, he was named "Bay Area Teacher of the Year" by the San Francisco 49ers Organization.In 2007, Freeman founded The Global Uplift Project. TGUP offered high school students the chance to build classrooms in developing-world countries from donations of one dollar. In 2020, when COVID closed all the schools, TGUP opened to adults. The ethic remains the same: small donations, aggregated, to build educational projects in the poorest countries in the world. TGUP has completed 592 such projects in 26 countries.In 2022, he presented to our Rotary club about TGUP, and this week, he shares a bold initiative that his organization has launched.The project is to upgrade the scientific capacity of the entire nation of Uganda. Already underway, TGUP is doing this by installing TGUP's Science Lab in a Box™ (SLaB) at 50 of the top high schools in the country. Early results show 80+% improvement in nationally normed test scores within the first year of installation of SLaB.If this project improves Ugandan GDP by only 1/1000th of 1% in 10 years, it pays for itself 200 times over. TGUP has the support of the Rotary International infrastructure at the highest level of the country. The Ugandan District Governor, Christine Kawooya, has submitted a letter of support stating, "Please know that our entire Rotary team is fully committed to the success of this groundbreaking program."To learn more, go to:The Global Uplift Project: https://tgup.org/ TGUP's Science Lab in a Box™: https://tgup.org/slab Website for this project: https://tgup.org/SEUU The 573 projects TGUP has already completed: https://tgup.org/Project-Thumbnails

After finding success in scaling their trash barriers to intercept plastic waste before it enters the ocean, Sungai Watch launched the Cleanup Collective as the next step in expanding their impact. The program transforms financial contributions into direct, measurable waste removal, tackling plastic pollution not only in rivers but also in mangroves, rice fields, and coastal areas.North Bali provides a powerful example of why adaptability matters. The region is drier, with steeper landscapes and less flowing water, which makes barrier installation less effective and requires more intensive, human-powered cleanups. Through the Cleanup Collective, we’ve shown that scalable solutions must be flexible to local realities, proving that with the right model, communities can support waste removal at three times the rate of barriers and help build a path toward a cleaner and healthier planet.Our speaker, Dika, is the Partnerships Manager of Sungai Watch, an NGO focused on river conservation and community-based environmental efforts. Since 2020, Sungai Watch has collected more than 3.6 million kilograms of non-organic waste in Indonesia's rivers and beyond, installed 380+ trash barriers across 37 subdistricts, engaged over 19,000 community members, and built a team of 160+ River Warriors who are fully local, fully insured, and employed full-time under fair and secure working conditions. Sungai Watch is a 501(c)3-certified entity in the US with offices based in Indonesia."To learn more, go to:https://sungai.watchhttps://sungaidesign.com/To see the slides from this presentation, go to:https://tinyurl.com/bdcnd6jb

Teens Who Invest is a team of students helping students to build a strong foundation in personal finance and entrepreneurship—essential life skills for real-world success.These are teenagers who want students globally to have the opportunity to learn something not typically taught in schools. The team's presentations are a mix of lectures and activities starting with the fundamentals of personal finance, identifying needs and wants, building a budget, saving and investing, along with some advanced topics like saving for college and building a small business.Our presenters, Ria and Mica, are California high school students who have started small businesses of their own, and like many their age also spend time on music and sports.To learn more, go to:https://www.teenswhoinvest.com

" A majority of Americans will at some point in their lives experience poverty."There are many myths and stereotypes surrounding the issue of poverty in the United States. One of the more widespread myths is that poverty strikes other people but not myself -- that poverty is an issue of "them" not "us." In contrast to this belief, our speaker will introduce research that indicates a majority of Americans will at some point in their lives experience poverty.As part of this talk, we will see Confronting Poverty, the poverty website and risk calculator that Dr Rank developed. Dr Rank will demonstrate how the poverty risk calculator works, and will also highlight other components of the website that can help inform users about poverty and inequality.Our speaker, Mark R. Rank, is the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at Washington University in St. Louis. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in the field of sociology, and is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts in the country on issues of poverty, inequality, and social justice. To date he has written ten books on a range of subjects, including an exploration of the American Dream, a new understanding of poverty and inequality, and the role of luck and chance in shaping the course of our lives.Dr Rank has received numerous awards over the years for his scholarship and books, and his research has been widely reported throughout the national and international news media. His work has been cited across major newspapers in the country, including frequent mentions in The New York Times and The Washington Post. He has also been featured in other media outlets including programs on National Public Radio, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS, and many others. In addition, he has provided his research expertise to members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the White House, and many national organizations involved in issues of economic and social justice.To learn more, go to: https://confrontingpoverty.org

We Share Solar's mission is to equip teachers to inspire the next generation of Solar Solutionaries™. Building on the successes of the original Solar Suitcase, We Share Solar (WSS) is proud to announce a new program model and improved hands-on experience for youth. The Solar Suitcase Learning Kit is a stand-alone solar system that has been designed specifically for teaching and learning.When students in the US participate in a We Share Solar program at their school they will also be connected to an international deployment of a Solar Suitcase to a community in an energy scarce region of the world such as rural areas of Kenya or Uganda. Included with the curriculum materials will be information about the linked deployment including photos of installation and use of the Solar Suitcase.Our speaker, Anna Gomberg, is a passionate Oakland (California) Unified School District veteran Environmental Science teacher, and has played a key role in both the creation of We Share Solar's classroom curriculum and professional development workshop content. She has worked with researchers at the Lawrence Hall of Science to develop curriculum and teach for the National Science Foundation-funded EPICC and YESS programs which both aimed to investigate ways of promoting STEM career opportunities and interest for low income youth of color using the Solar Suitcase as a key component. As Senior Program Manager for Solar Education at We Share Solar she is keen to expand access to the inspiring hands-on; climate justice and globally minded opportunities the curriculum provides. Anna grew up in the UK where she studied Materials Science at Oxford University as an undergraduate and remained to complete a Masters in Engineering (MEng); she then went on to train as a teacher at the University of London Institute of Education where she received a second Masters in Teaching (MTeach).To learn more, go to the We Share Solar website:https://www.wesharesolar.org

In December 2019, Elton had a stroke. This is the story of how his daughter rushed him to the Stanford ER, his treatment, his recovery, his subsequent quest to identify the cause of his stroke, and how to prevent another one. For more info on Elton's stroke check out this podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/7dkQIUUccg9pK5yb0JZ1EHSometimes an event, a moment in time, changes your world, and you become an expert in something that you had never paid much attention to. This stroke was one such moment in time. Hopefully, what he learned subsequently can help others and their loved ones. Our speaker, Elton Sherwin, is the author of two books: "The Silicon Valley Way," originally titled, "The 45-Second Business Plan," and""Addicted to Energy, A Venture Capitalist's Perspective on How to Save Our Economy and Our Climate."Prior to working as a venture capitalist Elton worked for Motorola and IBM. Elton is an alumnus of the University of California at Berkeley. He has been a Rotarian since 1999 and joined the eClub of Silicon Valley in 2023. He currently serves as the club’s podcast producer.To learn more:Links to books and organizations mentioned in the presentation:"How Not to Die," by Dr. Michael Greger: https://a.co/d/bLAZx7z "Undo It!: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases" by Dr. Dean Ornish: https://a.co/d/bQ2kzEx "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr.: https://a.co/d/16pLj0eCleveland Clinic’s Heart Disease Reversal Program: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/departments/wellness/integrative/esselstyn-program Dr. Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease: https://ornish.com/ Betr Health: https://betrhealth.com Dr. Michael Greger’s Green light, yellow light, red light food list: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/dining-by-traffic-light-green-is-for-go-red-is-for-stop DailyDozen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tOdfgO31RA&vl=en Jill Bolte Taylor's TED Talk, "My Stroke of Insight" https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_my_stroke_of_insight

Dino Sakkas is a retired aerospace engineer and an active member of the Rotary Club of Cupertino, where he channels his energy into advancing environmental sustainability. An advocate of Rotary’s Environmental Area of Service, he leads projects such as installing solar panels on charitable nonprofit residences (a project we've highlighted in one of our club's programs before), supporting the adoption of heat pump water heaters, and helping organizations maximize the benefits of clean energy.The project in South Africa Dino will describe is designed to eliminate illegal traps threatening wildlife and ecosystems, equip the community with skills to sustain conservation efforts long-term, and protect the environment, along with the tourism-based livelihoods that depend on it.Beyond Rotary, Dino is deeply committed to local environmental stewardship. He volunteers with the Bluebird Nest Box program, monitoring bird populations and maintaining nesting habitats, and he is a beekeeper and Project Leader for the 4-H Beekeeping program, where he mentors youth on the importance of honey bees and sustainable beekeeping practices.To learn more about this beautiful reserve, go to:https://magaliesbergbiosphere.org.za/ For more info on Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) go to: https://www.wessa.org.za/

Connie Cheren, is a nurse and a social worker with over forty years of experience in healthcare and eighteen years of experience working in East Africa. She is the founder and president of Partners for Care, a non-profit organization that employs staff in Kenya to address public health concerns. PFC upholds the principles of local solutions and sustainability in its approach. Their working tenets emphasize empowering individuals to take responsibility for their own well-being rather than relying solely on external assistance. In our actions when serving others, we must critically evaluate whether our intentions are benevolent or detrimental. It is crucial to identify the unforeseen consequences of our interventions and strive to provide assistance without inadvertently causing harm to those we seek to help. While our intentions may not be malicious, it is essential to acknowledge that our actions can sometimes have unintended negative effects. The speaker will delve into the conventional mission approach and share firsthand experiences of the harm that can and does occur when we fail to consider the potential consequences of our actions. To learn more, go to:https://www.partnersforcare.org

Virtual reality (VR) has been the 'next big thing' for decades, but only in the past few years has the hardware and software come together to make this a reality. REM5 STUDIOS is a leader in creating and executing 'VR' experiences at scale that deliver results and lasting impact. For the past 24 months, REM5 has been embedded with the Gates Foundation and GPEI partners to produce two award-winning experiences, 'Polio's Last Mile' and 'Apporter La Vie,' that take stakeholders to the front lines of the fight against polio. These experiences have been shown to tens of thousands around the globe, including the past two Rotary International annual conventions. Today, we'll discuss the impact immersive experiences can have on changing hearts and minds and connecting more than ever to the mission.Our speaker, Brian Skalak, has been with REM5 STUDIOS for the past six years. He has been instrumental in filming and producing the VR documentaries 'Polio's Last Mile' and 'Apporter La Vie - Delivering Life' and has shown them at the past two Rotary International Conventions and events around the world.To learn more, go to:https://seefeelchange.com

Every day, more than 500 million women and girls live without access to menstrual supplies. This often forces them to use unsafe materials that put their health at risk and cause them to miss school or work. With menstruation lasting about 3,000 days over a lifetime (more than 8 years), this challenge is not only a matter of health but also one of equity, dignity, and opportunity.Days for Girls (DfG) wants to change that. Since 2008, DfG has reached 3.5 million people in 145 countries with sustainable menstrual health solutions and education. Through holistic approaches such as their Period Positive Schools and Workplaces initiatives and women-led social enterprises, DfG is building scalable impact that transforms lives and strengthens communities. In this presentation, Days for Girls CEO Tiffany Larson will share powerful stories of change, highlight the connection between menstrual health and gender equality, and share how we can all work towards a world where periods are never a problem.Our speaker, Tiffany Larson, leads Days for Girls International as CEO focusing on dignity, equity, and opportunity for all. A passionate advocate for menstrual health and sustainable development, she has over two decades of experience blending business acumen with a heart for global impact. Her leadership is grounded in the belief that access to health and education is a human right, and that lasting change starts at the community level.Before becoming CEO, Tiffany held several executive roles at Days for Girls, including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Program Officer, each shaping her holistic and inclusive approach to global leadership.To learn more, go to:https://www.daysforgirls.org/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe5eEoSiW-M

How does Zack Curran, our speaker, describe his work with the San Jose Barracuda?"As a proud member of the American Hockey League, our mission is to cultivate a welcoming, family-friendly environment where every fan feels at home. We are committed to offering an affordable, intimate, and uniquely engaging game-day experience. Through meaningful connections with communities across the South Bay, we strive to make every visit to The Reef feel inclusive, memorable, and deeply rooted in a sense of belonging. "Our goal is to build a community that feels like family—one that inspires fans to return game after game, season after season, to their home away from home. "The vision of the San Jose Barracuda is to make a lasting, positive impact within the dynamic and ever-evolving world of hockey. By embracing emerging trends, expanding group experiences, and setting ambitious goals for the future, we aim to elevate every aspect of who we are—as a team, a fan base, and an organization. At the heart of this vision is our celebration of the game of hockey and our unwavering belief that hockey is for everyone."Our speaker, Zack Curran, is coming into his third season with the Barracuda, working closely with local community groups, schools, and season ticket holders on events and special games. We'll learn how those connections make the games more exciting and simultaneously make the larger community a stronger one.To learn more, go to:https://sjbarracuda.com/ https://www.instagram.com/sjbarracuda https://x.com/sjbarracuda https://www.facebook.com/sjbarracuda https://www.youtube.com/@SanJoseBarracuda1 https://www.tiktok.com/@sanjosebarracuda To learn more about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, go to:https://rotary.cool

How can advanced medical technologies - once reserved for elite hospitals - now be made accessible to everyday communities? Our speaker will introduce a procedure called endoscopic ultrasound, or EUS, which allows doctors to see deep inside the body to diagnose conditions like pancreatic cancer and liver disease. Traditionally, this equipment is too expensive for most hospitals and outpatient centers, even in the United States. Here, we'll learn about a breakthrough that dramatically lowers the cost, without sacrificing quality. This innovation is helping to level the playing field in healthcare - making life-saving diagnostics available in rural hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and even in developing countries. Our speaker, Dr Stephen Steinberg, is a physician-inventor working to close the gap in access to advanced medical care, both in the U.S. and around the world. A graduate of Cornell and Johns Hopkins, Dr. Steinberg has spent over 40 years advancing the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy. Dr Stephen Steinberg's work centers on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) - a powerful but traditionally expensive imaging technology. As co-inventor of a breakthrough device that dramatically reduces the cost of EUS, he is helping bring this life-saving procedure to hospitals, outpatient centers, and underserved regions that have long gone without.Dr Steinberg will also share stories from the frontlines of medicine, his journey as a physician-inventor, and why he believes technology must serve people - not the other way around. This talk is designed to inform, inspire, and highlight how local communities can benefit from global innovation.Now based in South Florida as Director the Center for Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy, Dr Steinberg continues to blend hands-on patient care with innovation and mentorship. His goal is simple and urgent: to ensure that cutting-edge tools are not limited by geography or income, but made available to every community that needs them.To learn more, go to:Endoscopic Ultrasound: Benefits & What to Expect (patient oriented) Johns Hopkins: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/endoscopic-ultrasound EndoSound's website, describing our efforts: https://www.endosound.com/

Approximately two billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water, negatively impacting national security, hygiene, and agriculture. Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is the conversion of ambient humidity into clean water; however, conventional dehumidification is energy-intensive. Improvement in AWH may be achieved with elastocaloric cooling, using temperature-sensitive materials in active thermoregulation. Potential benefits, compared to conventional desiccant wheel designs, include substantial reductions in energy use, size, and complexity. Elastocaloric cooling is a promising advancement in dehumidification, making AWH more economical and feasible.John LaRocco is part of the Les Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, and is an accomplished neural engineer, artificial intelligence specialist, and independent researcher with a diverse international background. He has worked on projects spanning automation, AI, medical technology, forensics, archeology, and magazine publishing. He worked with Prof. Qudsia Tahmina and John Simonis to develop a range of prototypes, including an elastocaloric water harvester.Qudsia Tahmina is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University at Marion. She earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2016. Dr Tahmina’s research spans digital signal processing techniques to improve speech intelligibility and auditory prosthetics such as cochlear implants, secure embedded systems and brain-computer interfaces using EEG for non-verbal communication. She also investigates machine toolchain algorithms, speech synthesis, and collaborates with medical schools on behavioral clinical trials and biomedical research. Committed to educational excellence, she has expertise in outcomes assessment and ABET accreditation processes and was honored with a teaching award in 2024 for her dedication to student success.To read their peer-reviewed paper on this topic, go to:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7080/12/10/178"Crazy" cool projects:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2116-5720

Project Tumaini (Project Hope) is a long-term effort by the Outreach Program to install water purification systems into Primary Schools in rural Tanzania. The project provides safe water to a student for a full year for just $2. Over the last three years, the team has installed systems into 31 schools, supplying 24,000 students with safe water. Their current goal is to install systems into 96 primary schools in the Mkalama district to provide another 64,000 students with safe water.Our speaker, Isaac McNary, is Vice President of International Development for The Outreach Program, a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide safe water, food, medical care, and education to children and those in need at home and abroad. He has been fighting hunger since 2009, when he volunteered for his first packaging event. In that time he has facilitated the packaging of 60 million meals with the help of 150,000 volunteers from across the US. In 2019, Isaac expanded his focus to international safe water issues and has provided access to safe water to over 40,000 people in Africa. Isaac is also a dedicated Rotarian. He has served as President of his club, Assistant Governor, District PolioPlus Chair, and is currently the District Governor Elect for District 5680 in Kansas and holds the distinction of being the youngest DG in the district's history and the shortest time from joining Rotary to becoming a DG, 7 years and 7 days. He is a member of the Paul Harris Society, PHF +5, and had the honor of having one of his projects featured in the End Polio Now booth at the Rotary International Convention in Houston in 2023. To learn more, go to:https://outreachprogram.org/clean-water/ To donate to the project, visit: https://outreachprogram.org/2-heart-club/

SLICE 325 is a nonprofit using immersive education, food literacy, and sustainability to empower all communities with a focus on those historically underserved. Led by SLICE 325's founder Shemecka McNeil, you'll learn how SLICE 325 combines hands-on cooking, virtual reality, and environmental education to address chronic disease, food insecurity, and digital inequity. Their approach uses scalable, evidence-based strategies that merge cultural knowledge with health outcomes and climate resilience.We'll explore how SLICE 325's initiatives like VR classrooms for older adults, culturally inclusive cookbooks for managing diabetes and hypertension, and no-power-needed storm survival guides are educational, transformative, and accessible. With a proven track record of community-driven impact, SLICE 325 offers a replicable model for anyone seeking to invest in innovative, culturally grounded, and inclusive approaches to learning, wellness, and sustainability across all communities.Shemecka McNeil has a deep understanding of the relationship between food and health. Growing up in a family with a long history of preventable health conditions, she developed a passion for promoting good health through a nutritious diet. With over a decade of experience in the health sector, Shemecka speaks about the importance of healthy eating for overall well-being. She founded SLICE 325, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating low-income individuals and families on how to create healthy meals using affordable ingredients.Shemecka's expertise extends beyond health education; she is also a trained chef, healthcare professional, farmer, subject matter expert, immersive learning educator, and author. Her varied skill set allows her to approach health and nutrition from a variety of angles, making her a resource for anyone seeking to improve their eating habits and overall health.As the Executive Director of SLICE 325, Shemecka is committed to making a difference in the lives of others, one meal at a time. She believes that every family is unique and that there are countless creative ways to prepare healthy meals that are both delicious and affordable.Shemecka's dedication to promoting health and wellness has earned her recognition as a PSA Grower and a Paul Harris Award from Rotarians. She is an inspiration to those around her and a true advocate for healthy living.To learn more, go to:https://slice325.org/https://www.youtube.com/@SLICE325/videoshttps://www.spatial.io/s/SLICE-325-2025-6838356d7096556e2726a879 https://www.linkedin.com/in/shemecka-mcneil-els-sme-gap-a83941198/https://www.instagram.com/slice325/