Author: Indy Rotary

Jennifer Pope Baker, Executive Director of Women’s Fund of Central Indiana since 1998, has dedicated her career to creating transformative and sustainable change for women and girls. Under her leadership, Women’s Fund has become the expert resource for issues impacting women and girls in central Indiana and a leader in seeking solutions in helping emerging adult women move from economic instability to economic security.

Jennifer led the Fund’s endowment growth from $3 million to its current total of nearly $16 million and has implemented a “best-practices” grant-making process with a focus on research that has resulted in distributions of over $6 million to 109 effective women and girl serving organizations.

Jennifer is active in many volunteer activities, currently serving as IWIT LPGA Tournament, Local Organizing Committee Chair 2018, Co-Chair 2017. Her past engagement includes: DePauw University, Board of Visitors; P&G Gymnastics Championships, Local Organizing Committee; multiple NCAA Women’s Final Four Local Organizing Committees; Children’s Museum Guild Member, Treasurer & Board of Directors; Super Bowl XLVI, Indy’s Super Cure Committee & NFL Team Liaison; United Way of Central Indiana, Executive Women’s Leadership Series Moderator.

Jennifer has been named a “Woman of Influence” by Indianapolis Business Journal; she is a Hoosier Fellow, a member of Class XXIV of Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series, a member of the FBI Citizen’s Academy, and was named by Indianapolis Business Journal as a member of the 2002 class of “40 Under Forty.”

The public is always welcome at Rotary! Our programs take place at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center and the cost is just $26 per person. It’s best to arrive by noon and know that we always conclude by 1:15.

Vop Osili is President of the Indianapolis City-County Council, representing District 11 which covers much of downtown Indianapolis and parts of the near west side, including the campus of IUPUI. He is chairman of the Council’s Rules & Public Policy Committee and also serves on its Public Works Committee.

First elected to the Council in November, 2011 Osili has worked extensively with community groups, civic organizations, other public sector officials and the business community on the expansion of work opportunities, skills-training, and disadvantaged small business financing. Vop helped establish the first City-funded microloan program targeting residents and businesses operating in neighborhoods with households well below area median income, and continues to implement new initiatives to incentivize fair wages. He is a champion of urban and economic development, empowerment of distressed and economically-challenged communities, and is committed to ensuring the successful reintegration of those formerly incarcerated.

Osili is an architect who has led urban design and architecture projects in the U.S., Africa and the Middle East. He serves on a number of civic boards in the community and co-chaired the City of Indianapolis’ Urban Design Review Committee. In 2010 he was the Democratic candidate for Indiana Secretary of State. He received his Bachelor’s of Architecture degree from Carnegie Mellon University and his Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University. He and his wife Una are parents of two amazing children, Arinze and Tasia.

The public is always welcome at Rotary! Our programs take place at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center and the cost is just $26 per person. It’s best to arrive by noon and know that we always conclude by 1:15.

On May 14, 2018 the United States Supreme Court ruled the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the federal law that essentially limited legal sports betting to one state for 25 years, to be unconstitutional. The ruling offers each state the opportunity to authorize and regulate sports betting within its borders. Indiana legislators will take a close look at the issue of authorizing legal sports wagering during the 2019 Legislative session.

Matt Bell, President and CEO of the Casino Association of Indiana, will offer the Casino Gaming Entertainment Industry’s perspective on authorizing legal sports wagering in Indiana. Matt served as the President of Ivy Tech Corporate College and also previously served as the Executive Director of the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana.

Matt was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2005 and rose to the rank of Ranking Minority Member of the Public Policy Committee, and served on the Labor and Employment Committee; and the Family, Children, and Human Affairs Committee. Matt was honored to conclude a four year term as a Commissioner of the Indiana Gaming Commission in October of 2014.

The public is always welcome at Rotary! Our programs take place at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center and the cost is just $26 per person. It’s best to arrive by noon and know that we always conclude by 1:15.

Richard Griffith is a career healthcare administrator with service in both the United States Air Force and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was commissioned in 1997, deployed in 2003 as the administrator of the Air Force clinic at Baghdad International Airport, and then conducted humanitarian relief operations following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. After transitioning to the civil service, Richard served in Research administration and then as Executive Officer to the medical center director in Indianapolis. His current portfolio includes strategic planning, capital investment, business intelligence, public-private partnerships, public relations, outreach, and Congressional and state government relations. He received a master of Healthcare Administration degree from the US Army Baylor program, is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and holds an Adjunct appointment at Indiana University’s Fairbanks School of Public Health.

Richard will share about his military experience, the military’s response to disaster relief and how we can better serve Veterans. He provides hope for future Veterans through unique partnerships such as the YMCA and how they are leading the way to serve our Veterans with much needed services.

The public is always welcome at Rotary and this Tuesday we encourage Veterans especially to join us! Our programs take place at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center and the cost is just $26 per person. It’s best to arrive by noon and know that we always conclude by 1:15.

Join us on Tuesday when David E. Sumner will talk about his book, Fumbled Call. A week before the 1962 Georgia-Alabama football game, an Atlanta insurance salesman unintentionally overheard a telephone conversation that thrust him into a scandal that captured national headlines. He thought he overheard Wally Butts, the Georgia athletic director, give Paul “Bear” Bryant, the legendary Alabama coach, play formations that helped Alabama win the game 35-0. The Saturday Evening Post published “The Story of a College Football Fix” a few months later, which led to libel lawsuits by both coaches. Fumbled Call shows how two prominent college football coaches covered up the truth.

David E. Sumner was head of the magazine journalism program at Ball State University for 25 years before retiring in 2015. He published Fumbled Call in March and is currently working on his eighth book, The Coach Who Wouldn’t Quit, a biography of the legendary football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg. He does freelance writing for magazines and newspapers and has published four articles on the Indianapolis Star’s “Faith and Values” page. He and his wife, Elise, a retired Spanish teacher, have been married for 35 years and he is a member of the Anderson Rotary Club.

The public is always welcome at Rotary. Our programs take place at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center and the cost is just $26 per person. It’s best to arrive by noon and know that we always conclude by 1:15.

Our club is delighted to welcome John McDonald, CEO of ClearObject, to Rotary. McDonald is often described as the “Elon Musk of Indiana” for his influence in driving a new tech culture in the state and for promoting Indiana as an emerging center for development of the Internet of Things. Did you know there are presently more “things” autonomously connected to the internet than there are people (more than 8.4 billion things?!) Engines that talk, dishwashers that share their health, and connected human hearts. This is the fascinating world of the internet of things.

ClearObject is an IoT systems innovator helping the world’s best companies connect their bold ideas to the internet of things. ClearObject received the Techpoint Mira Award for Scale-Up Company of the Year in 2017 and was awarded Inc Magazine’s Fastest Growing Private Company in Indiana in years 2014, 2015 and 2016. John serves as chairman of the Venture Club of Indiana, on Forbes Technology Council and Chairs the influential Indiana Chamber of Commerce Technology and Innovation Council.

The public is always welcome at Rotary. Our programs take place at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center and the cost is just $26 per person. It’s best to arrive by noon and know that we always conclude by 1:15.