Welcoming new and returning members

Rotary Club of Ann Arbor, Fall Class of Incoming Members 2020

On Wednesday, November 4, the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor will welcome five new members and 2 returning members to the Club. The induction and introduction will take place during the program portion of the meeting. As we greet these new and returning members now might be a good time for all of us to review the “The Top Ten Reasons to Join Rotary.”

Aleia MacDonald, Membership Co. Chair

LAURIE ATWOOD

Sponsor: Kathy Waugh

Laurie is the Owner and Director of the Children’s Creative Center. Laurie has dedicated her life to teaching young children to follow the principles of “Respect, Kindness and Dignity”, she has worked tirelessly to improve the world around her. A few of her accomplishments include: Women of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts in 2006; Avalon Housing Outstanding Volunteer Award about 2008; Ann Arbor Civic Theatre board member; organized and maintained the COVID-19 lunch program for the Miller/Maple Housing Project and at-risk families, she and her team make 600 lunches a week that are delivered daily; member of the Kerrytown Concert House’s “Wine, Women and Song” troupe and has donated much of her time supporting this local treasure. Laurie has experience leading committees that focus on fundraising. Her Summer Camp program at CCC raises funds every year to help disadvantaged children. Laurie has lived in Ann Arbor nearly 50 years. She moved here in 1971 to start her studies at the University of Michigan and never left.

JOHN BARRIE

Re-instated Member

John has been a Rotarian for 11 years.  His first club was the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor.  He transferred membership to the Rotary E-Club of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala in 2014 and returned to Ann Arbor this year.  John is the founder of a start-up business, Solar-20, a company that manufactures solar power systems for international humanitarian development.  Solar-20 solar power systems have batteries that last 20 years.

John’s background is in Architecture, design and program development.  He is married to Karen Connor, they met in High School and they have three adult children.

John was born in Ann Arbor and he studied Mathematics and Architecture at the University of Michigan. John’s previous job was Executive Director of The Appropriate Technology Collaborative, an NGO that designs technologies and programs for the world’s poor.  During his tenure at ATC they were recognized by the United Nations as one of the top 100 sustainable enterprises worldwide.  ATC incubates woman owned social venture businesses that provide solar power, water filters and clean burning cooking stoves to families in the most remote parts of Guatemala.  ATC has offices in Ann Arbor and Guatemala and they consult on projects in Africa and Asia.

John attends Rotary meetings in both Guatemala and Ann Arbor and he is on Rotary committees in both countries.

JOAN BINKOW

Sponsors: Bev Seiford, Anne and Paul Glendon

Joan was the CEO of General Television Network for 27 years until the business was sold to employees in 2004. Joan is on the Board of Directors for Orchards Children’s Services (Michigan’s largest foster care and adoption agency founded by Joan’s family) and the Dispute Resolution Center of Washtenaw County (10 years). She volunteers at Mitchell elementary school and established a collaboration with Children’s Literacy Network to distribute 10 new books to each child. Joan started CAN Art & Design after school art in 2 elementary schools and six low income community centers under the umbrella of Community Action Network (CAN). She takes particular delight in enriching the lives of children and is thrilled with the impact the CAN art program is having on kids from low-income families. She pretty much single handedly created the concept, raised the money, hired the staff, formed an advisory board, and put the program on the map! Joan has lived in Ann Arbor for more than 50 years.

ELAINE BESH

Sponsors: Joanne Pierson, Agnes Reading and Ann Schriber

Elaine leads Adobe’s partnerships in the Education segment, enabling students with the creative tools to be digitally fluent. Elaine has a passion for supporting educators & students-enabling them to develop the creative and communication skills they need for their future career success. She has been at Adobe for 20+ years leading partnerships between Adobe and partners who help bring our solutions to market; strategic planning and execution; Supporting customers and partners while also driving Adobe’s success. Elaine has a passion for helping students of all backgrounds to succeed; bringing people together; driving collaboration and finding solutions together; and mentoring and helping others to develop leadership skills.  Elaine has lived in the Ann Arbor area for 15 years.

DAN ROMANCHIK 

Reinstated Member

Dan is rejoining the club after a short absence. He has served the club in a variety of roles, including program committee chair and membership chair. He is also a member of our championship bowling team.

KINNARI SHAH

Sponsors: Agnes Reading and Aleia MacDonald

Kinnari has focused her energies on tutoring K-12 students while her sons were in those grades. She also has done some substitute teaching. Kinnari has successfully taken on many short-term assignments associated with the public schools.  Kinnari has already attended a STRIVE Committee meeting. She has lived in the Ann Arbor area for 21 years and is eager to learn more about the town and surrounding community through the lens of Rotary. Kinnari is looking for new experiences in volunteering and also recruited her friend, Elizabeth Trinh to join with her.

ELIZABETH TRINH

Sponsors: Agnes Reading and Rob Shiff

Elizabeth is currently a first-year Ph.D. student in the Management and Organizations program at Michigan Ross. She is originally from Georgia but has spent the last 6 years in California. She earned B.A., B.S., and M.A. degrees from Stanford, and she was a graduate researcher at the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. In connection with her work at the Center, she met many Rotarians in the Bay Area and Puget Sound region and realized what a great resource it would be in learning about and participating in a new community. Elizabeth has many interests and is excited to learn more about the different committees. She just recently arrived in the Ann Arbor area, and this winter will be her first experience with the Midwestern cold.

If you are not a member of our club and would like the Zoom invitation to this meeting, please contact Lori at executivedirector@a2rotary.org