Speakers

Muhammad Faiz Kidwai, the newly-elected Rotary International (RI) director and first director from Pakistan, on Friday said it was an honour for him to be a part of an organisation devoted to the betterment of every human in the world.

“The heart of RI is our clubs. I am committed to supporting them as they promote health, peace and prosperity in communities across the globe,” said Kidwai while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club. He was accompanied by Muhammad Iqbal Qureshi and Dr Farhan Essa Abdullah.

Kidwai said the RI's mission was to provide quality services in the education and health sectors. “Eradicating polio from the world was a difficult target for the Rotary, which will soon be met,” he stated.

He added that the Rotary’s members were serving the human race regardless of colour and race. Qureshi said Kidwai was the first Pakistani to become the RI director. He added that during his service of more than 30 years as a Rotary member, Kidwai helped raise over $50 million to bring long-term solutions to Pakistan’s most persistent humanitarian challenges, and also actively participated in the Rotary’s top philanthropic goal of ending polio worldwide.

Kidwai, who is also the chairman of CG Global, is a leading architecture, engineering, real estate development and hospitality conglomerate. He will serve as the RI director while representing nearly 800 clubs with up to 16,000 Rotary members across Pakistan, Indonesia, and Bangladesh as part of a 17-member board that supports and guides Rotary’s 36,000 clubs worldwide.

As chairman of the Rotary’s Pakistan Flooding Recovery Fund Committee, Kidwai has been supporting a holistic economic and community recovery programme for 150 families affected by floods. He also initiated a project to enable 2,000 children in Pakistan undergo life-changing congenital heart surgeries.

This "unplugged," less-scripted version of the 2023 State of the Community will be presented by EMRC members Jim Hovland and Stacie Stanley, serving in their communiy roles of Edina Mayor and Edina Schools Superintendent.

Sandy Boren-Barrett has been with Stages Theatre Company (STC) since 1990, allowing her to pursue her passion for theatre production and education, along with community building theatre serving young audiences. During her time in leadership STC has been awarded National recognition with the 2017 Harold Oaks Award for Innovative Contributions to the Field of Theatre for Young Audiences, as well as the 2018 – 50/50 Applause Award for promoting gender equity with playwrights. STC’s 2019-2020 season selection was highlighted in TYA Today Magazine as an example of “a promising increase in representation specifically in works that feature the stories of contemporary young people of color”. Sandy led an international performance tour and artistic exchange with “the egg Theatre, the Young Peoples Theatre of Theatre Royal” in Bath England. Collaboration is at the core of her work, and as an accomplished director has directed over 75 productions at STC which include many new works, dance-inspired productions, and world premieres. She directed the local premier, mainstage production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the musical which remains the highest attended production at Stages Theatre Company. Sandy remains on the Executive Committee, as former chair of Minnesota Citizens for the Arts (MCA) and last spring worked with Racially Conscious Collaboration (RCC) to gain her certification in racial equity organizational leadership.

Rotary Club of Edina and Edina Morningside Rotary Club exchange students, Ivo Sobotka and Sam Gross will be speaking about their home countries and the experiences of being an exchange student.

Kari Thompson joined VEAP in early 2019 as Advancement Director, before becoming our CEO in September of 2022. Prior to VEAP, Kari worked at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities as the Vice President of Development and Communications. She has over 25 years of experience working in non-profit/philanthropic communities in Minnesota.

As CEO, Kari is responsible for the active direction, management and administration of VEAP, and serves as the face of our organization to the communities we serve. Kari works to proactively develop and nurture relationships with peer organizations, philanthropic donors and leaders in the south Hennepin County community to ensure VEAP remains an innovative and responsive organization. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Mankato State University in Industrial Organizational Psychology.

Meet Chad Weinstein and Marty Scheerer, Marty is former Edina Fire Chief.

How do fire fighters and police officers work at such a high level? Chad and Marty will share with us about ethical leadership development and education for teams in publlic safety (police and fire), health care and business.