Alaha Ahrar is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of International Kindness Sharing (IKS), which spreads kindness and helps people in need. IKS advocates for equity, equality, justice and fairness and is anti-poverty, anti-human trafficking, anti-human smuggling.
Prior to founding IKS, Alaha was the Director of Youth for International World Poetry, Canada since 2011 and she has been on the Board of Directors for the Afghan Women’s Writing Project since 2011.

Alaha has a passion for writing and public speaking and has used these skills extensively to advocate for human rights, justice, and peace. She is an award-winning poet, writer, and social justice and human rights expert. In 2008, she received the Talent Scholarship of University of Mary Washington (UMW). In 2011, she was awarded the “Best Poet of the Year for Afghanistan and the United States” by International World Poetry, Canada. In 2012, she was appointed as the Ambassador of Youth and Peace for Afghanistan and the United States by Canada. In 2016, she received the “Big Heart” Award by Facets for her tireless efforts to help people in need. In 2018, she received the Global Goodwill Ambassadors’ award.

In 2018, Alaha initiated a project that won the 2nd Project of the Year Award through Virginia Statewide Neighborhoods Conference 2018. She won that award for her advocacy and leadership efforts of bringing the entire community together to work on Paradise Park Project at Barros Circle in Centreville, Virginia.

Alaha Ahrar graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a triple major and one certificate. Her majors were Human Rights, Political Science, International Affairs, and her certificate is in Middle Eastern Studies.
Alaha Ahrar completed her master’s degree in Social Justice and Human Rights programs at George Mason University in December 2020.

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Jacques Pitteloud was appointed as Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States of America in 2019. Ambassador Pitteloud was born on November 12th, 1962, in Zurich, Switzerland. He joined the Swiss Foreign Service in 1987, being first assigned as an Advisor to the Foreign Minister. From 1988 to 1989, he served as a trade attaché at the Swiss Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. From 1990-1995, he served in the Swiss Strategic Intelligence Service. Following his service there, he acted as a personal advisor (General Staff matters and Intelligence) to two successive Defence Ministers until 1999. In 1999-2000, he served as the Head of a Study Group tasked to develop the future structures of the Swiss Armed Forces.

After having been a witness of the Rwanda Genocide in 1994, Dr Pitteloud created an organization dedicated to the task of hunting down and bringing to justice the perpetrators and he managed to have several of them prosecuted both by the international as well as by domestic courts. Dr Pitteloud then served as the first Intelligence Coordinator for the Swiss Government from 2000 to 2005: this function entailed drafting intelligence requirements for the executive, overseeing the drafting of strategic assessments on security-relevant topics, coordinating the work of the various intelligence services as well as of law enforcement and analysis agencies. He then became the Director, Arms Control, Disarmament, Security Policy and Intelligence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bern. For the duration of his tenure, Ambassador Pitteloud also headed the Swiss Delegation to the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

From 2010 to 2015, Jacques Pitteloud was Swiss Ambassador to Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia and the Seychelles. He was instrumental in initiating and supporting various civil society initiatives as well as conservation programmes. Dr Pitteloud was also involved in a series of mediations in the region.

Jacques Pitteloud was Director General of the Swiss FDFA from September 2015 prior to being appointed as Swiss Ambassador to the United States in September 2019. As a Director General, he oversaw a budget of USD 3 Billion and was responsible for Human Resources of a 5400-FTE Organization. His tasks also entailed running IT and communications for the whole Ministry, as well as heading the legal and translation services. The Director General was also responsible for the management of all FDFA buildings both in Switzerland and abroad.

Dr Pitteloud earned a Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. from the Law School at the University of Zürich (Master 1986, PhD 1987). Following his assignment in the Middle East, he graduated from the International Training Course in Security Policy (ITC) at Geneva University. He is a retired lieutenant colonel (General Staff) in the Swiss Armed Forces and was the commander of a Mechanized Infantry Battalion. A passionate bird photographer, Jacques Pitteloud has published his pictures in several books and publications in Kenya and South Africa.

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In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 through October 15, Monica Smith, our Club Historian shares the story of NASA astronaut, engineer, inventor, author, and Tierra Lunacvineyard owner José M. Hernández. You may have heard of him recently thanks to a movie that just debuted starring Michael Peña as Hernández. “A Million Miles Away” is based on the true story of Hernández’s ascent from itinerant farmhand to NASA Astronaut.

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Fanny Yayi Bondje is a Cameroonian-American with a passion and strong belief of working from the ground up in the development and humanitarian sector, while using a critical lens to acknowledge and challenge the foundation and hierarchies of such sectors. She is a firm believer of focusing on the impact over the intention of her work as she strives to “get it right, not to be right”.

Ms. Yayi Bondje holds a master’s degree in humanitarianism, aid, and conflict from the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) and a BA in politics, human rights, and development from New York University. With copious amounts of travel and work experiences spanning across five continents, Fanny appreciates being uncomfortable and humbled as she adapts to numerous environments that fosters her broadening global perspective.

Ms. Yayi Bondje is an early career professional with experience working in youth support and development, refugee assistance, and community health systems in South America and West Africa. She is currently a program associate on the Evaluation and Adaptive Learning team at Results for Development (R4D). At R4D, She is working to co-create and co-design development solutions that innovate on traditional monitoring and evaluation approaches, in order to support governance and accountability mechanisms for local community health systems in Mali and Côte d’Ivoire.

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Brian Blum presents PP Lynn with a prestigious recognition from TRF.

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Jayshree Sridhar is a television producer and Media Consultant who specializes in Creative Inputs and Content Development for the Print, Radio, Television and Film industry. She has worked on several television channels and has produced programmes for Doordarshan, Sun TV, Raj TV, Vijay TV, and Zee Tamil. Production of Corporate Films, Ad Campaigns and Biographical works are her forte. She has the unique distinction of starting dedicated Time Bands for Women's programs, and is also the recipient of the ‘Centenarian Seva Ratna Award’ for her contributions to society through her pioneering work in the television industry. She has also been a visiting faculty member at several institutions in Chennai, where Visual Communication and Film Technology are taught.

Jayshree joined the Rotary Club of Madras in 2010. An active participant in all the activities of the club, she became the Chair of the Women Empowerment programs in 2012. She has spearheaded vocational training for women from underprivileged sections of society with the aim of making them financially independent. She has also been working with Interact Clubs in many schools as part of the Youth Service activity.

She was President, Rotary Club of Madras, District 3232 in the year 2022-23. Her theme for the year was Women and Health. Free Health screening programs were started to help underprivileged women with specific reference to cancer screening. The largest rural outreach project of USD 100,000 value was set up in interior South India, where the first of its kind Free Digital Mammogram Project was started. This is helping over 2,000,000 women in the region. Her other initiatives included “Save a Little Heart”, “Literacy and Vocational training for Women”, “Project Vision” and many others which directly benefited the most economically backward sections of society.

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Dr. LaTanya White is the recipient of the North Star and Innovative New Scholar awards for entrepreneurship education and research. She is an expert in belonging, racial equity, and entrepreneurship. As a result of her leadership, impact, and contributions to the Education and Business Administration sectors, Dr. White was recognized by the U.S. Department of State as a Fulbright Specialist. She leverages her research and expertise on Black entrepreneurship and the racial wealth gap to help inclusive entrepreneurs support organizations that create racial equity in
their policies, praxis, and programming.

Dr. White is a 2x author, TEDx Speaker, and Founder of Concept Creative Group, a professional and management development training firm focused on empowering Black entrepreneurs, their families, and their communities.

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Ally Shaw is a fierce survivor who has reinvented herself multiple times after devastating loss. Ally is a cancer survivor who became an opera singer. She is a divorced single mom of two who found the love of her life, married, and became a mom to a blended family of seven amazing children. Ally is an author, entrepreneur, core value ambassador, and a motivational speaker.

Ally earned a bachelor's degree from Elon University and a master's degree from Loyola University New Orleans. Ally and her husband own a seventeen-store Domino's franchise in Virginia and West Virginia, are seven-time Gold Franny winners (top 2% of Domino's franchisees worldwide) and employ over 300 people.

Ally and her husband, Kevin, are passionate about giving back to kids and families in need and have financially supported St. Jude Children's Hospital for decades. Additionally, their commitment to service and a Coats for Kids campaign awarded Kevin a Paul Harris Award in 2012.

Ally is a first-time author of the narrative non-fiction book "Chasing Tigers in the Dark, Life Lessons of a Fierce Survivor” and is represented by Library Tales Publishing in NYC. She launched a new career as a motivational speaker in 2016 and her proudest moment was presenting to an audience of 10,000 at a conference in Las Vegas.

Ally's purpose is deeply rooted in the intersection of trauma recovery and mental health awareness and how each informs our personal development and professional success. Ally's brand is characterized by vulnerability, authenticity, and an abiding zeal for justice. Ally splits her time between Blacksburg, Virginia and Sunset Beach, North Carolina.
Finally, Ally dedicates this talk and speaking tour to her father, who recently passed away and who was a Rotary Club member.

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Rachel Simon is the DMV Regional Relationship Manager for Tickets for Kids Charities. In her role, she works with community partners to help underserved kids in our region access events and experiences that would otherwise be out of reach. In her spare time, Rachel is the Board Secretary for GrandInvolve, an intergenerational nonprofit program serving kids in Title 1 schools in Fairfax County, and also serves as the Asst. Vice President for Youth at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, VA.

Rachel enjoys traveling and experiencing life with her husband, two children, and her loyal rescue dog. She earned her BA in Marketing with a Minor in Communications Studies from Virginia Tech, and has also taken continuing education classes at Georgetown University.

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