PAST Programs
2023 – 2024
JULY
July 4: No Meeting! Happy Independence Day!
July 11: Molly Grantham, Anchor. Author. Speaker. Mom. | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
July 18: Dolpheus Ramseur, Manager/Avett Brothers and Founder of NC Music Hall of Fame | Reporter | Speaker Summary
July 25: Spencer Lueders, 24 Hours of Booty | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
AUGUST
August 1: Tom Murray, CEO, Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority| Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
August 8: Held at Noble Smoke, 2216 Freedom Dr. UNCC Head Football Coach Biff Poggi | Reporter | Speaker Summary
August 15: Phil Kirk, fmr NC Education Secretary | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
August 22: NC Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
August 29: Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, UNC – Chapel Hill | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
SEPTEMBER
September 5: Glenn Sherrill, CEO, Steelfab, Inc. | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
September 12: Monte Ritchey, Founder & President, Conformity Corporation | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
September 19: No Meeting – Join Us for the Rotary Scholarship Golf Classic Tournament on September 18th
September 26: Doug Hicks, President, Davidson College | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
OCTOBER
October 3: David Boliek, Chair of UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
October 10: Kelly King, Former CEO, Truist Bank | Reporter | Speaker Summary
October 17: Food Scene in CLT: Frank Scibelli, FS Food Group, Callie Langhorne, Callie Langhorne PR, and Ted Williams, Axios Charlotte | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
October 24: NC Attorney General Josh Stein | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
October 31: Congressman Jeff Jackson | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
NOVEMBER
November 7: North Carolina State Auditor Beth A. Wood, CPA | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
November 14: Rotary District 7680 Governor Debra (Debb) Corbett | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
November 21: How I Got Where I’m At featuring members Craig Field, Lori Keeton, Richard Malnati, Harriett Porter | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
November 28: Miles Atkins, Mayor of Mooresville, NC | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
DECEMBER
December 5: Annual Meeting / John Tosco, Founder/Creator, Tosco Music Party | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
December 12: Bob Goodale, fmr Harris Teeter CEO, fmr NC Deputy Secretary of Commerce | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
December 19: Ron Green Jr., Author/Sports Journalist |Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
December 26: No Meeting – Happy Holidays!
JANUARY
January 2: No Meeting – Happy New Year!
January 9: Pickleball Panel – What’s behind this fast-growing sport? Craig Lemley, Director of Pickleball, Myers Park Country Club, Allan Haseley, Owner, Sports Connection, and Jim Kucera, Director of Pickleball at Rally Pickleball | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
January 16: George Lynch, fmr UNC Basketball Letterman/NBA player | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
January 23: John Hood, John Wood Pope Foundation | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
January 30: Dale R. Folwell, CPA, State Treasurer, North Carolina Department of State Treasurer | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
FEBRUARY
February 6: Michael Smith, CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners
February 13: Excellence In Leadership | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
February 20: Held at Noble Smoke, 2216 Freedom Dr. Mohammad Jenathian, President, Greater Charlotte Hospitality & Tourism Alliance (HTA) | Reporter | Speaker Summary
February 27: David Fisk, Symphony CEO | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
MARCH
March 5: Bo Thompson and Beth Troutman, Anchors, 1110 WBT Morning Radio Show | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
March 12: Marcus Rabun, CEO, Myers & Chapman | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
March 19: Tim Boyum, Political Anchor, Host of Capital News Tonight, Spectrum News Bowtie Celebrity | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
March 26: How I Got Where I’m At featuring Mike Connor, Charles Dahlgren, and Dr. Tony Zeiss | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
APRIL
April 2: Molly Barker, Founder of Girls on the Run, “Empowering Girls” | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
April 9: Matt Doherty, Former UNC-Chapel Hill Head Basketball Coach, Owner of Doherty Coaching | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
April 16: Gary Chesson, Trinity Development | Reporter | Speaker Sumary | Video
April 23: Tiffany Ervin, Executive Director CART (Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust) | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
April 30: Dr. William Downs, University President, Gardner-Webb University | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
MAY
May 7: Rodney Pitts, Owner and Chairman, Southern Elevator Company | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
May 14: Public Safety Panel: CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings; Fire Chief Reggie Johnson; District Attorney, Spencer Merriweather; moderator, President Nominee Patrick Baker, City Attorney. | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
May 21: Panel Discussion: Scott Syfert, Author “The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence” and David Fleming, Author of “Who’s Your Founding Father?” with Moderator, Dr. Tony Zeiss | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
May 28: How I Got Where I’m At featuring club members Anne Brown, John Clarkson, Clark Goodman, and Lori Keller
JUNE
June 4: Peter Browning, former National Gypsum CEO & Sonoco CEO | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
June 11: Mike Ingersoll, Associate, Womble Bond Dickinson, previously with the National Football League, discussing NIL | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
June 18: John Tosco, founder and director of Tosco Music, with this year’s music scholarship recipients | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
June 25: Presidential Transition: Edwin Peacock, President 2023-24 to Kim Brattain, President 2024-25 | Reporter | Speaker Summary | Video
2022 – 2023
October 4, 2022 – Bart Landess, Executive Director, Catawba Lands Conservancy
September 27, 2022 – Cyndee Patterson: Businesswoman Extraordinaire
September 13, 2022 – Terry Shook, Urban Design Mover and Shaker
September 6, 2022 – Keva Walton, CEO, Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
August 30, 2022 – Marc Oken, Falfurrias Capital Partners and Carolina Aviation Museum
August 23, 2022 – Larry Farber – for Love of Music
August 16, 2022 – Coach Will Healy and 49er Football!
August 9, 2022 – Cara Consuegra, Head Coach, Charlotte 49ers Women’s Basketball
August 2, 2022 – Eric Spengler, Executive Director, Friends of Queens Park
July 12, 2022 – Tom Barkin, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
July 5, 2022 – A Beautiful Year in Review
2021 – 2022
June 28, 2022 – Mike Lamach, Chair, Charlotte Executive Leadership Council
June 21, 2022 – Dr. Todd Herman, President & CEO, The Mint Museum
June 14, 2022 – Dr. Charles Edwards, II, MD, Founding Physician, Memory & Movement Charlotte
June 7, 2022 – Wayne Goodwin, “Drive for Excellence”
May 24, 2022 – Timothy Bhatt, MD-MIS CTO, Moody’s Investors Service
May 17, 2022 – “Discovery Place at 75” Catherine Wilson Horne, President and CEO of Discovery Place
May 10, 2022 – Immediate Past President Jerry Coughter, Rotary WASH Ambassador
May 3, 2022 – Michael Almond, Former law partner turned novelist
April 26, 2022 – Always a Favorite: How I Got Where I’m At
April 19, 2022 – Nick Kelly, CEO, Tepper Sports & Entertainment
April 12, 2022 – Tim Miner, Co-Founder, Charlotte is Creative
April 5, 2022 – An update on global supply chain challenges, Omar Kazzaz, Kazzaz Advisory Group
March 22, 2022 – Mecklenburg Tax Assessor
March 15, 2022 Andrew Travis: What is Ransomeware?
March 8, 2022 – Laura Little presents “Behind the Curtain”
March 1, 2022 – Haley Gentry, Aviation Director, Charlotte-Douglas International Airport
Feb. 22, 2022 – Abe Madkour – “All About Sports”
Feb. 15, 2022 – Excellence in Leadership’s 33rd Award Recipient, Former Mayor Harvey Gantt
Feb. 8, 2022 – Ben Goebel: A New and Improved CLT
Feb. 1, 2022 – Bob Schurmeier: An update from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation
Jan. 25, 2022 – HIGWIA (How I Got Where I’m At) featuring Jensen Caudle and Laura Little
Jan. 18, 2022 – Judge C. Renee Little
Jan. 11, 2022 – Astrid Chirinos, ED, Community Engagement, YMCA of Greater Charlotte
Jan. 4, 2022 – Bruce Hensley, Creator of Queen’s Feast
Dec. 21 2021 – Best Christmas Meeting Ever!
Click here for Mark Vitner’s slides
Click here for John Connaughton’s slides.
Dec. 7, 2021 – Peter Frandano, Founder, Frandano Inc., “Life Lessons”
Nov. 30, 2021 – Rotary District 7680 Governor Nico Iannelli
Nov. 23, 2021 – Dean Otto, A Thanksgiving Story to remember video
Nov. 16, 2021 – Ken Schorr, Executive Director, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy
Nov. 9, 2021 – Jim Whaley, Regional President, USO Southeast
Nov. 2, 2021 – Fulton Meachem, CEO Inlivian
Oct. 19, 2021 – Eric Davis, Chairman, NC Board of Education
Oct. 12, 2021 – “Heating Up the Meeting” with Bret Morey, owner of Xtreme Gourmet Sauces.
Oct. 5, 2021 – Hugh McColl’s Chapter Two by Howard Covington
Sept. 21 2021 – COVID-19 Facts & Myths: Doctors Speak
Sept. 14, 2021 – Patricia Shafter, “A Woman with a Mission”
Sept. 7 2021 – Sam Bowles, MD, New Republic Capital division of New Republic Partners
Aug. 31 2021 – Frank Dominguez: Leading WDAV and the Pandemic
Aug. 24, 2021 – Edna Chirico, National Director of Government Affairs, OutTeach
Aug. 17, 2021 – Liz Clasen-Kelly, ED, Roof Above
Aug. 3, 2021 – Laura Smith, EVP, Foundation For The Carolinas, Carolina Theater
July 27, 2021 – Marcellus “MT” Turner, CEO & Chief Librarian, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library
July 13, 2021 – Julie Janson, EVP and CEO Duke Energy Carolinas
July 6, 2021 – Presidential Changeover from President Jerry Coughter to President Carol Hardison
2020 – 2021
June 29, 2021 – Muhsin Muhammad II, Former Carolina Panther, Wild Wing Cafe Investor, Philanthropist
June 15, 2021 – Earnest Winston, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent
June 8, 2021 – Bethany Bradsher, Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament
May 25, 2021 – Dr. Jordan Lipton, Signature Healthcare
May 18, 2021 – Susan Devore, CEO, Premier
May 11, 2021 – Dr. Patrick Warren of Clemson University presents “Spot the Troll”
May 4, 2021 – John Tosco, ED, Tosco Music Organization
April 27, 2021 – Peter Kyle, Director, Rotary Zones 33 and 34
April 20, 2021 – Glen Snider, Duke Energy, Head of Long Term Planning
April 13, 2021 – Jennifer Nichols, Executive Director, The Aspire Carolinas Foundation
April 6, 2021 – Jack Thomson, ED, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission
March 30, 2021 – David Erdman: Insights and Ideas for Charlotte
March 23, 2021 – Panel Discussion: Black Media and its role in Charlotte
March 16, 2021 – John Lewis, CEO, Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS)
March 9, 2021 – Gibbie Harris, MSPH, BSN, Public Health Director, Mecklenburg County
February 23, 2021 – Clay Grubb, Charlotte Developer, Affordable Housing
February 16, 2021 – Excellence in Leadership Recipient, Pat Rodgers, Rodgers President and CEO
February 9, 2021 – CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings
February 2, 2021 – Rebound with Matt Doherty
January 26, 2021 – Dr. Sharon Gaber, Chancellor, UNC Charlotte
January 19, 2021 – Rhett Brown, President, Wingate University
January 12, 2021 – Kelly King, Chairman and CEO, Truist Financial Corp.
January 5, 2021 – Beverlee Sanders, Solid Waste Services, City of Charlotte – “Recycling Charlotte”
December 15, 2020 – The Choir at Saint Peters
December 8, 2020 – How I Got Where I’m At with Paul Haddock and Joe Gass
December 1, 2020 – Ely Portillo, Assistant Director, UNC Charlotte Urban Institute
November 24, 2020 – George “Mr. C” Couchell, A “Quintessential American Success Story”
November 17, 2020 – Peter Brunnick, Hospice and Palliative Care, Charlotte Region
November 3, 2020 – Dr. Michael Bitzer, Nationally recognized political expert
October 27, 2020 – Live from the Double Door Inn documentarians
October 20, 2020 – Christopher S. Lawing, Charlotte Signs Project
October 13, 2020 – Alexys Taylor, Charlotte Program – Unity Project, NC Outward Bound School
October 6, 2020 – Tom Hanchett, Charlotte History 101: Queen, King, Duke, Crown
September 29, 2020 – Rotary Scholarship Golf Classic
September 22, 2020 – Justice Mark Davis
September 15, 2020 – Tribute to Sandy
September 8, 2020 – Courtney Layne, The Mayflower Society
September 1, 2020 – Mike Hill, Athletic Director, Charlotte 49ers
August 25, 2020 – Dr. Willie Griffin, Museum of the New South – Brooklyn Neighborhood
August 18, 2020 – Firoz Peera, Carl Davis – Rotary Million Dollar Challenge
August 11, 2020 – Bill Russell, President & CEO, LKN Chamber
August 4, 2020 – District Governor Mike Walker
July 28, 2020 – David Mildenburg, Editor, Business North Carolina
July 21, 2020 – Panel: Dr. Jessica Saxe, Dr. Pressley Gilbert, Elly Clary
July 14, 2020 – Tom Barker, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
July 07, 2020 – Rocio Gonzales, ED, Latin American Chamber of Commerce Charlotte
2019 – 2020
June 30, 2020 – President’s Changeover
June 23, 2020 – Dena Diorio & Joe Penner, Mecklenburg County’s response to COVID-19
June 16, 2020 – John W. Gaulden, Gensler, Reopening public spaces from an architect’s view
June 09, 2020 – Bill Tobin, Shelter Box
June 2, 2020 – How I Got Where I’m At (Kyle Woodruff & Kevin Loux)
May 26, 2020 – Jamal Tate and Interact Service Awards
May 19, 2020 – Brent Cagle, Charlotte Douglas International Airport
May 12, 2020 – Tory Summey & Bruce Thompson, Federal Pandemic Relief
May 5, 2020 – Krishneel Maharaj, The Mind & Movement Co.
April 28, 2020 – How I Got Where I’m At (Terri Guthrie, T. J. McCullough)
April 21, 2020 – How I Got Where I’m At (Jason Otte, Carol Hardison)
April 14, 2020 – How I Got Where I’m At (Robert Salmon)
March 17, 2020 – Letter from President John Lassiter
March 10, 2020 – Wilhelmenia I. Rembert, PhD, North Carolina Census 2020
March 3, 2020 – How I Got Where I’m At: Charlie Bones, Mary Grace Lostetter, Bryce Chambliss
February 25, 2020 – Excellence in Leadership Award
February 18, 2020 – Michael Reddington, Leadership from the Interrogation Room
February 12, 2020 – Warren Cooksey, NC Turnpike Authority
February 4, 2020 – Dr. Justin Favaro, Oncologist, World Cancer Day
January 28, 2020 – Woody Connette, Climbing to the Top in 50 States
January 21, 2020 – Daniel Lugo, J.D., Queens University of Charlotte
January 14, 2020 – Jim Hintz, Serving Alto Cayma
January 7, 2020 – Rotary District Governor Beth Trotter
December 17, 2019 – Holiday Program
December 10, 2019 – Chief Kerr Putney
December 3, 2019 – How I Got Where I’m At
November 26, 2019 – Tracy Dodson, City of Charlotte
November 19, 2019 – Gary Green, Compass Group North America
November 12, 2019 – Greg Forest, United States Marshal
November 5, 2019 – Radio Personalities Ace & TJ with Adam Goodman
October 29, 2019 – Gene Woods, Atrium Health
October 22, 2019 – Dan Clodfelter, Utilities Commissioner
October 15, 2019 – Dena Diorio, Mecklenburg County Manager
October 8, 2019 – Michael Smith, Charlotte Center City Partners
October 1, 2019 – Dr. Ray Hodgson, Life and Death in Nepal
September 24, 2019 – Bob Morgan, Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson
September 17, 2019 – Chas Fagan, Master Artist/Sculptor
September 10, 2019 – 17th Annual Rotary Scholarship Golf Classic
September 3, 2019 – Mac Lackey, The Value of Entrepreneurial Thinking to CLT
August 27, 2019 – Stephen Saucier, Carolinas Aviation Museum
August 20, 2019 – Stephanie Cooper-Lewter, Leading on Opportunity
August 13, 2019 – How I Got Where I’m At (Chad Lloyd, Rhonda York, Andy Dinkin)
August 6, 2019 – David Gilbert, President & CEO, Destination Cleveland
July 30, 2019 – Richard Vinroot, 10 Things on my Mind
July 23, 2019 – Mick Mixon, Voice of the Carolina Panthers
July 16, 2019 – Mayor Vi Lyles