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
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Meeting
Downtown Revitalization and The Work of The Foundation
Rachel Rose Hartman is the founding Executive Director of the DowntownDC Foundation, which serves and celebrates the DowntownDC community. Since May 2019, Rachel has created and led this new organization to effectively support homeless services, parks and public spaces and events and programming efforts in DowntownDC.
Rachel previously worked for five years at the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID), where she rose to lead all marketing and communications efforts as the Director of Interactive Marketing & Communications. In that role, Rachel created a robust summer event program from the ground up, established new partnerships and sponsorships in the public and private sectors and increased awareness and communications for the organization and its stakeholders through coordinated PR, marketing and communications plans.
Rachel joined the BID after 10 years in political journalism, including working as White House Reporter for Yahoo News. Previously, she served as a national political blogger for Yahoo News, and covered politics and down ballot federal races for Congressional Quarterly.
Rachel was awarded an Emerging Leader Fellowship from the International Downtown Association in 2017. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the board of directors for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Rachel holds a B.A. in print journalism from American University. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two sons.
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Meeting
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Meeting
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Mee
In-Person/Hybrid Washington DC Weekly Club Mee
Missed the meeting? Watch the speaker’s presentation.
YouTube
Hon. Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. | DC Emancipation Day - Public Holiday April 16th | April 10, 2024
Dr. Edwin C. Chapman | Opioid addiction, root causes, treatments community impact | April 3, 2024
Sumani Dash, Director of Corporate Development | Project C.U.R.E | March 20, 2024
Rotaract Week 2024 | March 13, 2024
Terrell Danely Washington Literacy Center | Adult Literacy & Paths to Engagement | February 28, 2024
RI President, Gordon McInally | February 21, 2024
Dr. Dee Carroll | Podcast Host and Empowerment Coach | February 14th, 2024
Rozier "Roach" Brown | Executive Director, The Inner Voices | February 7, 2024
Her Excellency Ambassador Oksana Markarova | Ukraine Ambassador to the USA | January 31, 2024
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.