History Moment: The Origins of Earth Day

By Friday, May 5, 2023
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Main article image for story titled 'History Moment: The Origins of Earth Day'In honor of Earth Day, which is celebrated annually on April 22 in the US and in many other countries, today I would like to share a Rotary history moment about the origins of the event. I will quote primarily from a blog post written by my National Museum of American History colleague Joan Boudreau.

“What would you have done if you saw your river burning? The Cuyahoga River that runs through the northeastern corner of Ohio was so polluted in the 1950s and 1960s that fish populations were decimated because of the river’s oily, industry-produced pollution. In 1969, with a spark from a train traveling nearby, the river began to burn.
 

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Rotary Club Washington DC

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Wade Warren is a globally recognized leader in international development, with more than three decades of experience shaping U.S. foreign assistance policy and practice. He spent 27 years at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including serving as Acting Administrator, where he oversaw a workforce of 12,000 and an annual budget exceeding $40 billion. His senior leadership roles at USAID spanned the Bureaus for Policy, Planning and Learning, Global Health, and Africa, and he also served at USAID Missions in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Wade was Acting Chief Operating Officer for the State Department’s Office of the Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance (F), helping coordinate foreign aid across agencies. Earlier in his career, he spent nine years on Capitol Hill as an analyst and speechwriter and served as Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Telecommunications Training Institute, a nonprofit providing training to communications professionals from the developing world. From 2018 to 2025, Wade served as Deloitte’s Chief Strategy Officer for International Development, advising clients such as USAID, MCC, DFC, the World Bank, UN, and EU. His work focused on supporting USAID contract delivery, enabling technology adoption across development agencies, and providing thought leadership through global platforms including the UN General Assembly, Tidewater, and the Brookings Blum Roundtable. Wade holds a degree in history from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a graduate degree in international business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He currently chairs the Board of the Society for International Development – US Chapter. Wade Warren, Board Chair, Society for Intl. Dev. (& former Acting USAID Administrator) April 29 2026

Wade Warren, Board Chair, Society for Intl. Dev. (& former Acting USAID Administrator) April 29 2026

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The Rotaract Club of Washington DC takes over the meeting of The Rotary Club of Washington DC for World Rotaract Week. Rafael Centeno, President '25-'26, Rotaract Club of Washington DC

Rafael Centeno, President '25-'26, Rotaract Club of Washington DC

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Mark Peters is the president and CEO of MITRE, the not-for-profit technology company of that manages R&D centers around the world. Peters is responsible for governance and oversight of MITRE’s 7,000+ employees spanning diverse markets including artificial intelligence, aerospace, telecommunications, homeland security, cyber, transportation, defense and intelligence, health, and government innovation. A recognized expert in nuclear energy and national security, Peters spent more than 25 years leading federally funded R&D centers (FFRDCs). Before joining MITRE in 2024, he served as the executive vice president for laboratory management and operations at Battelle Memorial Institute. Prior leadership roles include associate laboratory director for Energy and Global Security at Argonne National Laborator, director of the Idaho National Laboratory and president of Battelle Energy Alliance LLC. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and serves as Vice President and President-Elect of the American Nuclear Society. He also serves on the Idaho Power Board, the National Academies Board on Human-Systems Integration, and several organizations that support innovation and economic development. Dr. Mark Peters | The State of Research and Development in the United States | April 22, 2026

Dr. Mark Peters | The State of Research and Development in the United States | April 22, 2026

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Lesli Creedon is the President and CEO of Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic, a position she has held since 2018. Lesli has over 35 years of experience in the non-profit sector in Washington, DC, having led major fundraising and marketing campaigns for preeminent institutions including the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, United Nations Foundation, The Brookings Institution, Aspen Institute, and Resources for the Future. She enjoys building meaningful relationships with donors to fulfill their philanthropic visions and working with Boards of Directors on strategy and governance. Her passion for Make-A-Wish stems from her family’s receipt of a life-changing wish eight years ago when her son was battling leukemia. Lesli graduated from Miami University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, political science, and diplomacy and international affairs. Lesli Creedon | CEO of Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic | April 1, 2026

Lesli Creedon | CEO of Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic | April 1, 2026

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William Lawrence is the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Area Studies Director and teaches at Georgetown and American universities on U.S relations with the Muslim world and international affairs. He worked and lived immersively for thirteen years in seven African and Asian countries. Since 2011, he served in Dubai as Control Risks’ Associate Director and in Rabat as International Crisis Group’s North Africa director. Prior to that, he served as Senior Advisor for Global Engagement in the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, for which he designed and implemented Muslim World Outreach programs for successive Republican and Democratic administrations. He co-created the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) program, the U.S. Science Envoy Program, and the Maghreb Digital Library; co-chaired the U.S.-Egypt Science and Technology Development Fund; and helped negotiate and implement the first major Dr. William LawrenceU.S.-Libya agreement in decades. He served in short and long-term assignments for the State Department at 30 diplomatic missions in 24 Muslim majority countries from Mauritania to Malaysia. He taught for thirteen years at Johns Hopkins, George Washington, Tufts, and two Moroccan universities and has lectured at over 100 universities worldwide. Mr. Lawrence appears frequently on Al Jazeera, NPR, BBC, and France 24. He co-authored After the Uprisings: Political Transition in Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen and has published analysis in Foreign Policy and with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Middle East Institute, and Oxford University. He also co-produced six films and fourteen albums of Arab music. William Lawrence | U.S. Relations with the Muslim World | March 18, 2026

William Lawrence | U.S. Relations with the Muslim World | March 18, 2026

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His Excellency Henri Etoundi Essomba was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Cameroon to the US in 2016. He was earlier Ambassador to Israel and has served at the Ministry of External Relations and other diplomatic and consular missions of Cameroon abroad: Desk Officer of North America Affairs, Ministry of External Relations, Embassy of Cameroon In Paris. His Excellency Henri Etoundi Essomba | Cameroon Today - Challenges and Successes | March 4, 2026

His Excellency Henri Etoundi Essomba | Cameroon Today - Challenges and Successes | March 4, 2026

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Allan J. "Alonzo" Wind is a senior leader with worldwide experience in the international development and humanitarian assistance arenas with the U.S. government and international NGO organizations. He has built partnership alliances between government, private sector and civil society nonprofits, as well as capacity building for NGO networks. He worked in a wide array of environments, including kinetic situations and fragile state environments, on long and short-term assignments in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He is a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), having worked for two decades on diplomatic assignments with USAID primarily overseas in Peru, Nicaragua, Angola, Nigeria, Iraq, Afghanistan and South Africa and other southern Africa countries. Most recently he served two years until December 2023 as the International Medical Corps Mission Director in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), supervising a staff of seven expats of different nationalities and over 75 local Palestinian staff, in Gaza and Bethlehem. He also served on the UN OCHA Humanitarian Country Team and Advisory Board, and the Executive Committee of the Association for International Development Agencies (AIDA). Mr. Wind previously worked for different INGOs in Ecuador, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and the UK, also serving as the Global Programme Coordinator of the International Save the Children Alliance Secretariat. Mr. Wind is the author of the recent book A JEW IN GAZA: Humanitarian Heartbreak, Hubris and Horrors providing meaningful and thoughtful insights on the conflict between Gaza and the Palestinians and Israel. It was published last summer on Amazon, Barnes & Noble Press and other platforms and formats. He is from a Jewish background and is a longstanding member of the Baha’i Community. Mr. Wind has offered over a dozen podcast interviews and public talks about international development, national security, international risk, management and leadership, following his earlier Amazon bestseller ANDEAN ADVENTURES, An Unexpected Allan J "Alonzo" Wind | Humanitarian Heartbreak, Hubris and Horrors in Palestine | February 25, 2026

Allan J "Alonzo" Wind | Humanitarian Heartbreak, Hubris and Horrors in Palestine | February 25, 2026

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Linh Trinh An | Finance – Risk Management | Risk Management Advisor & Advanced Insurance Planner | Money Umbrella, LLC Linh Trinh An | Finance – Risk Management | Risk Management Advisor & Advanced Insurance Planner

Linh Trinh An | Finance – Risk Management | Risk Management Advisor & Advanced Insurance Planner

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Mohammed Soliman is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), where he focuses on the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and business in the Middle East and other emerging markets. He is the author of the forthcoming book West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East, to be published by Polity Press in November 2025. A trained engineer, Mr. Soliman currently serves on the board of advisors for Ideas Beyond Borders and the Advisory Council of the Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law (ISAIL). He is also a member of the Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (GC REAIM) and the Trilateral Commission. Mohammed Soliman | The Future of the Middle East is Asia | February 18, 2026

Mohammed Soliman | The Future of the Middle East is Asia | February 18, 2026

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