Meet Our Speakers

The Rotary Club of Washington, DC is strategically located to gather the most prestigious group of speakers our nation’s Capital can generate.  From Ambassadors, Business Executives, and Tribal Chiefs to an endless array of Champions of Change.  Our Club Members, and visitors to our weekly meetings, receive an impressive amount of intellectually-stimulating, heart-warming presentations each week.   Further, on this page, is a sample of speakers whom have recently spoken at our Club…

Upcoming Speakers

May 8th 2024 at 12:30 pm
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Meeting
CEO/Chairman and Founder, Minor Football League

Dr. Richard D. Myles, Sr.
Washington, D.C. native, entrepreneur and business person, Dr. Richard D. Myles, Sr. is the CEO/Chairman and Founder of the nation’s only professional minor football league.  Dr. Myles created the Minor Football League (MFL) and MFL Foundation in 1993.

An NFL veteran and Sociology major who graduated from Arizona State University, Dr. Myles has used his professional and academic experience to develop and implement drug prevention, violence reduction, and conflict resolution programs.  An advocate for youth, he volunteers with a number of children's programs and has sponsored and coached teams in the Special Olympics.  He has also supported programs for the Maryland-National Parks and Planning Commission, supporting a variety of programs in various recreational youth centers. Dr. Myles has served on the Montgomery County Police Chief Advisory Board.  In addition to being on the board, Dr. Myles was also involved in the Montgomery County Executive Mentorship Program.

Dr. Myles is long revered in the business community, having received multiple awards and accolades, including being recognized by He Exist Magazine Dollars and Sense magazine as one of “America's Best and Brightest” business people. The Greater Washington chapter of the National Urban League also recognized Myles as the “Volunteer of the Year.” He was also recognized as one of the top business people in the country by the Next Generation Entertainment Awards. Under his leadership, the MFL was named a 2022 Moxie Award Finalist.

Dr. Myles is the father of five successful kids.  As a proud Washingtonian, Dr. Myles is also proud to lead the Washington Chiefs Inc. Cardozo All-Met Hall of Fame dinner at his alma mater. Dr. Myles received his doctorate degree in Philosophy and chaplaincy from Global Oved Dei Seminary and University (GODSU) where he also served as the Assistant Dean of Students. 

 

May 15th 2024 at 12:30 pm
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Meeting
Creating Transformative Change in Urban Areas by Addressing Socioeconomic Disparities, Supporting Youth, and Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Dr. David Heiber is the founder and executive director of Concentric Educational Solutions (CES).  Under Dr. Heiber’s leadership, CES has
been recognized for its innovative approach that places the support of the whole student at the center of the educational experience. Dr. Heiber and his team have partnered with over 100 schools in 20 states.

Dr. Heiber’s personal story of grief, poverty, incarceration, and redemption motivates his work.  His past provides a means for him to
connect with students and challenge them to recognize their potential, honor their promises, and fulfill their purpose.

Dr. Heiber graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania with a triple major.  He went on to receive his Master of Arts in African
American studies from Temple University and his Doctor of Education from Morgan State University in urban education.

 

May 22nd 2024 at 12:30 pm
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Mee

June 5th 2024 at 12:30 pm
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Mee

Missed the meeting? Watch the speaker’s presentation.

YouTube

The Honorable Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. is an attorney and certified public accountant possessing degrees in taxation, law, communications, and business administration. Mr. Orange served 14 years in Washington, DC as an elected official, including two-terms as the Ward 5 Council Member and two-terms as an At-Large Council Member, and served 6 years as the Washington, DC Democratic National Committeeman; and recently served four-years as President & CEO of the DC Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Orange is currently setting up youth apprenticeship programs for the government of the District of Columbia.

In 2005, Mr. Orange authored legislation creating the only District of Columbia public holiday entitled “District of Columbia Emancipation Day” which honors the 3,100 DC enslaved persons freed on April 16, 1862, nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863.

The Honorable Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. has received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2023 President Joseph R. Biden’s Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame Society (2018), DCTV Hall of Fame (2017), Washington Business Journal Power 100 Recognition (2016 & 2017), Prince Hall Lodge No. 14 Life Time Achievement Award (2017), and the Sigma Delta Tau Legal Fraternity, Inc. Outstanding Service Award (2016) for career accomplishments promoting excellence in the study, practice and judicial processes of the law.

Mr. Orange is a life-time member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a Prince Hall Affiliated Mason, and a member of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church located in Washington, DC.

The Honorable Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. is an attorney and certified public accountant possessing degrees in taxation, law, communications, and business administration. Mr. Orange served 14 years in Washington, DC as an elected official, including two-terms as the Ward 5 Council Member and two-terms as an At-Large Council Member, and served 6 years as the Washington, DC Democratic National Committeeman; and recently served four-years as President & CEO of the DC Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Orange is currently setting up youth apprenticeship programs for the government of the District of Columbia.

In 2005, Mr. Orange authored legislation creating the only District of Columbia public holiday entitled “District of Columbia Emancipation Day” which honors the 3,100 DC enslaved persons freed on April 16, 1862, nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863.

The Honorable Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. has received numerous awards and recognition, including the 2023 President Joseph R. Biden’s Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame Society (2018), DCTV Hall of Fame (2017), Washington Business Journal Power 100 Recognition (2016 & 2017), Prince Hall Lodge No. 14 Life Time Achievement Award (2017), and the Sigma Delta Tau Legal Fraternity, Inc. Outstanding Service Award (2016) for career accomplishments promoting excellence in the study, practice and judicial processes of the law.

Mr. Orange is a life-time member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a Prince Hall Affiliated Mason, and a member of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church located in Washington, DC.

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YouTube Video UExJdHZDNlFoRVI5bHJDYUJMemN4bjd2dFZpcEVJRFFKZy45MEI3NjgzMTVFQkZGODYx

Hon. Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. | DC Emancipation Day - Public Holiday April 16th | April 10, 2024

Rotary Club Washington DC 159 views April 16, 2024 6:00 am

Dr. Edwin C. Chapman | Opioid addiction, root causes, treatments community impact | April 3, 2024

Rotary Club Washington DC 21 views April 18, 2024 8:15 am

Sumani Dash, Director of Corporate Development | Project C.U.R.E | March 20, 2024

Rotary Club Washington DC 4 views April 17, 2024 8:15 am

Terrell Danely Washington Literacy Center | Adult Literacy & Paths to Engagement | February 28, 2024

Rotary Club Washington DC 19 views March 1, 2024 1:54 pm

RI President R. Gordon R. McInally owned and operated his own dental practice in Edinburgh until 2016. He has held various academic and professional positions, served as Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and is an ambassador for “Bipolar UK”.
A member of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry in Scotland, Gordon joined Rotary in 1984 aged 26. He has served as President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) and in RI has had many roles, including adviser to the 2022 Houston Convention Committee and chair of the Operations Review Committee. Gordon looks forward to working with members on building new style Rotary clubs and groups. His vision is to ensure that Rotary should exist everywhere in a style to suit everyone who has the desire to do good in the world. 

He is also a patron of “Hope and Homes for Children” and led a partnership between that organization and RIBI during his presidency to lift orphans of the Rwandan genocide out of poverty and into stability. He recalls a moment of epiphany about Rotary’s power to transform lives while in Rwanda when he met a 16-year-old girl who had previously never owned shoes. Gordon is also a patron of “Trade-Aid” for developing countries. 
 

In his free time, Gordon enjoys rugby, good food and wine, and “stick dressing”. Gordon strongly supports The Rotary Foundation, which he describes as “the fuel that provides the energy to do Rotary service.” He and his wife, Heather, also a Rotarian, are Paul Harris Fellows, Major Donors and Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation. They are also members of the Bequest Society. As a proud grandfather, Gordon wishes to dedicate his presidency to making the world a better place for children everywhere to live and thrive. “No matter how long I live, I will never be able to give back to Rotary what Rotary has given me,” he says.

RI President R. Gordon R. McInally owned and operated his own dental practice in Edinburgh until 2016. He has held various academic and professional positions, served as Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and is an ambassador for “Bipolar UK”.
A member of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry in Scotland, Gordon joined Rotary in 1984 aged 26. He has served as President of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) and in RI has had many roles, including adviser to the 2022 Houston Convention Committee and chair of the Operations Review Committee. Gordon looks forward to working with members on building new style Rotary clubs and groups. His vision is to ensure that Rotary should exist everywhere in a style to suit everyone who has the desire to do good in the world.

He is also a patron of “Hope and Homes for Children” and led a partnership between that organization and RIBI during his presidency to lift orphans of the Rwandan genocide out of poverty and into stability. He recalls a moment of epiphany about Rotary’s power to transform lives while in Rwanda when he met a 16-year-old girl who had previously never owned shoes. Gordon is also a patron of “Trade-Aid” for developing countries.


In his free time, Gordon enjoys rugby, good food and wine, and “stick dressing”. Gordon strongly supports The Rotary Foundation, which he describes as “the fuel that provides the energy to do Rotary service.” He and his wife, Heather, also a Rotarian, are Paul Harris Fellows, Major Donors and Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation. They are also members of the Bequest Society. As a proud grandfather, Gordon wishes to dedicate his presidency to making the world a better place for children everywhere to live and thrive. “No matter how long I live, I will never be able to give back to Rotary what Rotary has given me,” he says.

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YouTube Video UExJdHZDNlFoRVI5bHJDYUJMemN4bjd2dFZpcEVJRFFKZy41NUMwNTVERDNBRDc4REM0

RI President, Gordon McInally | February 21, 2024

Rotary Club Washington DC 28 views February 29, 2024 1:49 pm

Rozier "Roach" Brown | Executive Director, The Inner Voices | February 7, 2024

Rotary Club Washington DC 47 views February 10, 2024 4:01 pm

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova was appointed the Ukraine’s Ambassador to the USA and arrived in DC on Apr 20, 2021.  She served in Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance in 2015-2020 as First deputy Minister and Government commissioner on investments and then since 2018 as a Minister of Finance. During her time at the Ministry she was a co-author of Ukraine’s macroeconomic revival program, has conducted unprecedented fiscal consolidation leading to deficit to GDP of 2% and debt to GDP reduction to below 50%, introduced midterm budgeting, gender oriented budgeting as well as negotiated, structured and coordinated successfully two IMF programs and other IFI cooperation programs.  During her tenure she and her team also created UkraineInvest government promotion agency, Ukrainian Startup fund and an eData ecosystem of government public finance portals, including spending.gov.ua, openbudget.gov.ua and analytical instrument BOOST, which opened the majority of the public finance data to the public and increased Ukraine in all major international data transparency ratings.  

Prior to her career in public service, Mrs. Markarova spent 17 years working in private equity and financial advisory, having leadership roles in ITT investment group, Western NIS Enterprise Fund, Chemonics and and World Bank, as well as founded Archidata, a startup electronic archive company in between service positions in 2020. 

Oksana Markarova serves at the Boards of UkraineHouse DC foundation in Washington DC, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukrainian Development Foundation and supports Ukrainian Catholic University and Ukrainian Press Museum-Archive.  She holds BS and MS degrees in Environmental Science from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine and MPA in public finance from Indiana University with academic excellency and best international student awards.  On 16 December 2020, Oksana Markarova received the French National Order of Merit.  On 28 December 2022, Markova received the Order of Princess Olga, 3rd Class By the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 370/2023, dated July 5, 2023, Oksana Markarova was appointed as Ambassador of Ukraine with concurrent accreditation to Antigua and Barbuda.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova was appointed the Ukraine’s Ambassador to the USA and arrived in DC on Apr 20, 2021. She served in Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance in 2015-2020 as First deputy Minister and Government commissioner on investments and then since 2018 as a Minister of Finance. During her time at the Ministry she was a co-author of Ukraine’s macroeconomic revival program, has conducted unprecedented fiscal consolidation leading to deficit to GDP of 2% and debt to GDP reduction to below 50%, introduced midterm budgeting, gender oriented budgeting as well as negotiated, structured and coordinated successfully two IMF programs and other IFI cooperation programs. During her tenure she and her team also created UkraineInvest government promotion agency, Ukrainian Startup fund and an eData ecosystem of government public finance portals, including spending.gov.ua, openbudget.gov.ua and analytical instrument BOOST, which opened the majority of the public finance data to the public and increased Ukraine in all major international data transparency ratings.

Prior to her career in public service, Mrs. Markarova spent 17 years working in private equity and financial advisory, having leadership roles in ITT investment group, Western NIS Enterprise Fund, Chemonics and and World Bank, as well as founded Archidata, a startup electronic archive company in between service positions in 2020.

Oksana Markarova serves at the Boards of UkraineHouse DC foundation in Washington DC, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukrainian Development Foundation and supports Ukrainian Catholic University and Ukrainian Press Museum-Archive. She holds BS and MS degrees in Environmental Science from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine and MPA in public finance from Indiana University with academic excellency and best international student awards. On 16 December 2020, Oksana Markarova received the French National Order of Merit. On 28 December 2022, Markova received the Order of Princess Olga, 3rd Class By the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 370/2023, dated July 5, 2023, Oksana Markarova was appointed as Ambassador of Ukraine with concurrent accreditation to Antigua and Barbuda.

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YouTube Video UExJdHZDNlFoRVI5bHJDYUJMemN4bjd2dFZpcEVJRFFKZy4wMDkwRkI3NzExODA2MTFG

Her Excellency Ambassador Oksana Markarova | Ukraine Ambassador to the USA | January 31, 2024

Rotary Club Washington DC 98 views February 1, 2024 5:50 pm

Sampling of Our Past Speakers

The Rotary Club of Washington, DC would like to thank our past speakers for the engaging and motivational and informative presentations.

Bob Cusack

Editor in Chief, The Hill/TheHill.com

Reporting on politics and policy in the nation’s capital since 1995, Mr. Cusack joined The Hill as Business and Lobbying Editor in 2003 and is now the newspaper’s Managing Editor.  Mr. Cusack regularly appears on ABC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC as a political analyst.

Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana

Ambassador of Rwanda to the United States

Prior to her appointment, Ambassador Mathilde Mukantabana was a tenured Professor of History at Cosumnes River College (CRC) in Sacramento, California from 1994 to 2013. She is also Co-Founder and President of Friends of Rwanda Association (F.O.R.A).

Manny Mandel

Holocaust Survivor

Emanuel “Manny” Mandel was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1936, the year in which his parents returned to their native Hungary. Manny’s father had been selected to become one of the Chief Cantors…

Juan Williams

Fox Political Analyst and Author

Juan Williams is one of America’s leading political writers and thinkers. Mr. Williams is a top political analyst for Fox Television, co-host of the daily talk show ‘The Five’ and a regular panelist for Fox News Sunday and Special Report.

James Chen

Institute for Global Engagement

James Chen is the Vice President of Global Operations at the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE). James first joined IGE in 2011, serving as both a Program Officer and the Executive Director…

Anne Midgette

Classical Music Critic, The Washington Post

Anne Midgette is a graduate of Yale University. She lived in Munich, Germany, reviewing opera, music, and art throughout Europe for The Wall Street Journal, Opera News, and other publications.  In 2008, she took over as the chief classical music critic for The Washington Post.