Speakers

Our Speaker will be joining us IN PERSON!

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Born and raised in Georgia, Senator Jon Ossoff serves as our Senior United States Senator.

Since his election, Sen. Ossoff has built bipartisanship in the Senate to achieve meaningful legislative results for Georgia — even in a divided Congress. In his first two years in office, he passed into law more standalone bills than any other freshman Senator.

Sen. Ossoff’s legislative achievements include laws to strengthen mental health services and public safety; to tackle the opioid epidemic; to investigate unsolved lynchings and Civil Rights murders; to strengthen mental health care services for veterans; and to fight corruption and improve security in U.S. prisons.

Sen. Ossoff has led bipartisan investigations that exposed the mistreatment of military families living in privatized housing; corruption in Federal prisons; the sexual assault of female inmates; and the medical mistreatment of women in Federal detention.  He has upgraded and strengthened health care facilities across Georgia, helped pass legislation that capped the cost of insulin for seniors at $35/month, and passed bipartisan legislation to protect our kids from online exploitation.

Through the historic bipartisan infrastructure law, Sen. Ossoff is delivering an unprecedented expansion of broadband internet access; upgrading ports, airports, roads, bridges, and water infrastructure statewide; and investing in the resilience of Georgia’s coast to help local communities prepare for storm surge, coastal flooding, and tropical storms.

Focused on improving the lives of Georgia’s veterans, servicemembers, and military families, Sen. Ossoff has passed into law bipartisan legislation to expand veterans’ access to mental health care and to upgrade child development centers for military families and barracks for enlisted personnel. He also championed passage of historic legislation to strengthen VA health care for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Mentored by civil rights legend Congressman John Lewis, Sen. Ossoff previously led a small business that produced investigative journalism exposing war crimes, public corruption, human trafficking, and organized crime.

Sen. Ossoff lives with his wife, Dr. Alisha Kramer, and daughter, Eva Beth, in Atlanta.

Our Speaker will be joining us IN PERSON!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON.  Registration closes THURSDAY, Sep 28 at Noon.

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Thornton Kennedy is the President of PR South, a boutique public relations firm which helps businesses of all sizes and stripes tell their stories through traditional and social media, newsletters, website copy, white papers — anything and everything written. His  firm focuses on real estate, financial & professional services and non-profits. It represents companies with offices around the country and works with media in every vertical, market, and industry.

He is also a longtime local journalist. He got his start on the copy desk of the Gaston Gazette in Gastonia, N.C. before working at the Marietta Daily Journal then jumping to the Northside Neighbor, where he was the editor for five years. Most recently he served as an editor at the Atlanta Business Chronicle. For more than a decade now, he has written a weekly column in the Northside Neighbor. 

He is civically active, having served on the executive committee of the Atlanta Humane Society and on the boards of the Atlanta Preservation Center and the Georgia board of the Trust for Public Land. He is a past-president of the Snake Nation Social Club, a young members guild of the Atlanta History Center, where he still volunteers. He currently serves on the boards of the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta, Buckhead Heritage, the Atlanta Music Festival Association and the Easterling-Hallman Foundation, which supports the University of South Carolina library.

He earned a degree in English literature from Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C. He and his wife Lori have two children; Virginia, a sophomore at the College of Charleston, and Thornton (III), a senior at the University of Maryland. They reside in the Riverside neighborhood of Atlanta.

Our Speaker will be joining us IN PERSON!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON.  Registration closes THURSDAY, OCT 5  at Noon.

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Kathleen Fleiszar retired from Kennesaw State University after 30 years on the faculty of CSM. In the years of teaching biology and running her own consulting firm, Medical Genetics, she had no idea she would be embarking on a new mission to found Atlanta's first freestanding pediatric respite and palliative care home.

A long-time volunteer for Wellstar Community Hospice and local disabilities organizations, Kathleen first heard about a care home providing respite and palliative care for pediatric patients from a Phoenix newspaper article. At the time, there were only 2 such homes in the United States. After touring the Phoenix facility (Ryan House) in 2017, she began to build a team to plan for a similar home in Georgia.

Today, Kathleen serves as Acting Executive Director and co-founder of Life House Atlanta. There are no free-standing respite homes for pediatric palliative care patients (PPC) in the state of Georgia, and only two nationally certified PPC nurses in the metro Atlanta area who provide care for these families. As a result, caregivers of PPC patients are an unseen and underserved population.

Kathleen's passion for supporting families with children who have life-limiting illness comes from a deep understanding and breadth of experience in the world of grief and loss. "The value of adult respite and hospice care organizations is understood by the general public. There is, however, little awareness of the lack of respite for pediatric patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families. There are no such homes in Georgia. My goal is to change that and provide a place for their children to spend time in a safe and caring environment and an opportunity for families to recharge on a vacation get-away."

When she's not busy running an all-volunteer organization, Kathleen remains actively involved with the Cobb Chamber, Kennesaw Business Association, North Cobb Civitan Club, and Cobb Collaborative. She also participates in KSU's retiree association and has generously supported initiatives at CSM and KSU since 1993. To read more about Kathy and say hello to this former colleague (or volunteer alongside her), visit Life House Atlanta.

Our Speaker will be joining us IN PERSON!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON.  Registration closes THURSDAY, OCT 12 at Noon.

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My name is Marteen Blue. I possess a background in Education (both stateside and abroad).  

In 2014, while living in Saudi Arabia, I encountered and survived a massive stroke during a workout. Although challenging, I am better than I have ever been. I have traveled from one country to the other seeking herbal and non-traditional remedies/medicines and ways to treat myself post stroke, which I believe has aided my comeback. I would be dismissive if I did not mention my caretaker, George C. Blue for all of his warmth during my darkest days. He truly made my life worth living.

Today, I practice yoga, cycle, swim, and hike, all of which I had not done prior to having a stroke. It has become my mission to serve as a beacon of hope to others and inform them of my recovery methods and journey to wellness. 

INTRODUCTION: Dan Israel

Our Speaker will be joining us IN PERSON!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON.  Registration closes THURSDAY,  OCT 19 at Noon.

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INTRODUCTION:

Kiwanis 5^th Tuesday Meeting!

Tuesday, Oct 31^st, 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Theatrical Outfit

84 Luckie Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303

CLICK HERE to attend in person!

A special evening for our club to enjoy light appetizers and adult beverages and learn about their story and tour historic The Balzer Theater at Herren’s!

Free for Regular/Corp Members & $20 for Assoc/Satellite/Emeritus/Hon Members/Guests

CLICK HERE TO ATTEND IN PERSON - ~RSVP Deadline Thursday, Oct 26^th~

Our Speaker will be joining us IN PERSON!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND IN PERSON.  Registration closes THURSDAY, NOV 2 at Noon.

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Jonathan W. Jordan is the co-author of "THE WAR QUEENS: Extraordinary Women Who Ruled the Battlefield" (Diversion 2020); and the author of "AMERICAN WARLORDS: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II" (NAL/Caliber 2015); the New York Times bestseller "BROTHERS RIVALS VICTORS: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe" (NAL/Caliber 2011); and the award-winning book "LONE STAR NAVY: Texas, the Fight for the Gulf of Mexico, and the Shaping of the American West" (Potomac Books 2007). He a co-host of the podcast “The War Queens,” and is a contributing author to "The Armchair Reader: World War II" and "The Armchair Reader: The Amazing Book of World History," and the editor of the Library of Texas edition of "To the People of Texas," by Texas Navy Commodore Edwin Ward Moore. A regular book critic for The Wall Street Journal, his writing has appeared in World War II magazine, Armchair General, Military History, World War II History, and MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Jon grew up on Air Force bases, from which his father flew C-141 Starlifters for the Military Air Command during the Vietnam War. He lived in New Jersey, Ohio, and the Philippines until 1976, when his family moved to Selma, Alabama. Jon obtained an accounting degree from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and his law degree from Vanderbilt University. He practiced law in Texas for nine years before moving to Marietta, Georgia. He lives in Marietta with his family and practices commercial litigation and corporate bankruptcy law as counsel to the Atlanta-based international firm King & Spalding LLP.

When not hiking, shooting, or camping, Jon is working on his next book, on the twenty-three year friendship between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Winston Churchill.

You can see more about Jon's upcoming books at his website, jonathanwjordan.com, or his Facebook author page.

 

INTRODUCTION:  Scott Sikes

Thomas “Tom” Creely, PhD, is creator and director of the Ethics and Emerging Military Technology Graduate Certificate Program at the U.S. Naval War College. He serves as Deputy Chair and U.S. Lead for Five Eyes The Technical Cooperation Project Ethical, Legal, Social, and Environmental Issues Action Group on Biotechnology, Defense Panel Member of Special Competitive Studies Project, At-Large Member of Board of Governors for IEEE Society for Social Implications of Technology, and Life Member of Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. He leads the EEMT program in collaboration with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Defense Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, Defense Innovation Board, Office of Naval Research, National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program, and Cyber Solarium 2.0. 

A retired Navy Chaplain, his Navy career included sea, ashore, overseas, and the Marine Corps, as well as having served as an enlisted Sailor. He previously taught at Brown University, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, and University of South Carolina.

Mark C. McDonald retired in the fall of 2023 after 15 years as president and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and a 37-year career in historic preservation.

Under McDonald’s leadership, the Georgia Trust doubled the number of properties protected by its Revolving Fund and Easements programs, successfully completed a $2.3 million capital campaign for the restoration of its headquarters, Rhodes Hall, and its grounds, established the country’s first green certification program for historic buildings and residences, and strengthened its financial position.

McDonald has been named four times to Georgia Trend magazine’s list of “Notable Georgians,” and in 2022, was included in the publication’s “Georgia 500: the State’s Most Influential Leaders” listing. He served as chairman of the Partners Network of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and on the organization’s Board of Trustees and Board of Advisors. He currently serves as chairman of the Georgia Women of Achievement’s Selection Committee, a post he has held since 2011, and on the board of trustees of the Ossabaw Island Foundation.

In addition to the Trust, McDonald served as executive director for three preservation organizations in the Southeast, including the Historic Salisbury Foundation in North Carolina from 1986-1990, the Mobile Historic Development Commission in Mobile, Alabama from 1990-1998, and Historic Savannah Foundation from 1998-2008, and was recognized by the American Institute of Architects with a Citation of Excellence for his 10 years of service in Savannah.

McDonald holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in history and English from Emory University and a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law.

John Hutchins is a veteran trial and technology lawyer at BakerHostetler. He is recognized by Best Lawyers in America® in six distinct practice areas, including Privacy & Data Security, Intellectual Property Litigation, Technology, Commercial Litigation, Copyright, and Information Technology. He has twice been honored by Best Lawyers® as "Lawyer of the Year" in Atlanta, first in Technology 2017 and then again in Information Technology in 2020.

John has published widely on a broad range of technology issues.  His published work has been cited by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and he has published in or been quoted by news outlets such as National Public Radio, Fortune magazine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Forbes, ComputerWorld, and Law360. He has handled literally hundreds of cyber incidents on behalf of clients all over the United States and in Europe.  Since 2005, he has also devoted part of his practice to pro bono representation of inmates on Death Row in Georgia.   

INTRODUCTION: Karen Sheldon

INVOCATION:

 

INTRODUCTION: Karen Sheldon