President Jerry Faletti opened the meeting at 12:15 pm at the Intercontinental Hotel. Without help from a piano this week, Chuck Field was able to lead the club in a hearty rendition of God Bless America. President Jerry thanked the greeters this week, Lindsay Weier from the Minnesota Wild, Heather Christopherson from People Incorporated and the scribe, Linda Mulhern from Collins Electrical. During the invocation, Bob Cardinal recited a number of quotes from Paul Harris, about friendship and the ability to make the world better.
It was noted that Ken Crabb, Jerry Meigs and Jerry Faletti will speak at the Thursday Fellowship breakfast about their experiences at the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta. The Thursday meeting is 7/27 at 7:30 am at the Boy Scout Building.
During introductions, Jim Kosmo introduced two of our Second Century Scholars, Chidy”Aonga” Shalita and Adriana Cortez Mendosa. Aonga just graduated from Macalester College with a degree in biology and will be working with an organization called “Rise” for the next year working with underprivileged youth and then will be entering medical school. Adriana formerly from Open World high school in St Paul, will be starting her studies at St Catherine’s University this fall and looking forward to all of the new opportunities that the scholarship provides.
Jim Delameter was able to provide a few “happy dollars” between announcements.
Upcoming events include the following:
Lynx Promo – On August 22nd, we have the opportunity to watch the Lynx play Phoenix. The evening will begin at Wild Times, between 5:30 pm and 7 pm. The tickets are $35.00 of which $15.00 will come back to the club. The first 50 people to purchase tickets will have the opportunity to get autographs from Lynx players after the game. Kristin Monpetit will be sending out additional information to all members about the game shortly.
Our Next meeting on 8/1 – Nancy Brady announced that our next speaker will be Dr Eric J Jolly from the St Paul Foundation. He will be speaking about the role of foundations in creating great communities.
The Chuck Roast and Toast – We will be honoring Chuck Whitaker for his year as president of the St Paul Rotary club on August 16th at the White Bear Yacht Club. The social hour will start at 5:30 pm with dinner to follow at 6:30 pm.
Chuck Standfuss also announced that the Rotation Day will be Tuesday, October 31st and one of the work places to host the event will be the Hazeldon/Betty Ford Foundation.
Kristin Monpetit was then able to get a few more “happy dollars” from members after the announcements.
Jim Hart from the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health introduced our speaker Gordon Goodwin, GARE Midwest Regional Project Manger at Center for
Social Inclusion. Gordon has lived in many cities within the United States, but started out in Detroit and remembers how the riots in the late 1960s changed the dynamics of the city. He had lived in an integrated community, but after the riots the mix of people changed as people moved to the suburbs due to the riots. He is working with a group of close to 150 cities, counties and state entities to bring people together to create outcomes to achieve for a community.
Gordon talked about how we all know the phases “liberty and justice for all” or “all men are created equal” or “government of the people by the people for the people”, but by definition these phases related to a certain group of people during our history. We have inherited these phases, but can we dismantle their definitions as to who they represented originally? Changes often occur due to great movements within society such as women’s suffrage or demand for civil rights in the 1960s. He is looking to end discrimination within institutions, often it is historically there but it often doesn’t occur to people that there are biases within a government entity. A good example would be setting up an impound lot for cars near a low income neighborhood. It is easy to tow cars from the area to the lot, but for many of these same people in order to retrieve a vehicle, it becomes a major obstacle to pay the costs incurred while also trying to get to work or school.
We as a group need to focus on race equity and in turn can also address other issues such as sexism and gender inequality. In closing the gaps between these inequities, we can close the gaps and improve the outcomes for all. Gordon pointed out that we all have biases and patterns that are developed from our family and/or our culture that become subconscious behaviors. In order to understand these biases though, we need to collect data so we can see how we can improve. A good example would be collect data on how individuals are given prescriptions and see if certain groups are given less or more than needed and how to overcome the biases, so we can in treat all patients the same without bias. Currently at all levels of government, leadership is needed to advance equity for all, and in turn will help everyone.
President Faletti thanked Gordon for his presentation and gave him a certificate of appreciation. The meeting was adjourned at 1:16 pm and concluded with the Four Way Test.
Linda Mulhern
Scribe