Events

Despite its positive origins, the term hacker has taken on a negative connotation over the past 20 plus years. But over the past ten years, organizations have increasingly tapped the creativity of humans to try and break into their systems before the bad guys do. These so-called ‘white-hat hackers’ are racing against the bad guys - the black hats - to try and make the internet a safe place again. With all the advances in security technology, there are some things that humans can still do best. This talk will describe the origins of hacking, how the concept of paying hackers for good came to be, and how the U.S. government is leading the charge to get everyone to do it.

Featuring Our Very Own Emily Beach

Burlingame Rotarian and City Councilmember Emily Beach attended college at the University of Notre Dame on an Army ROTC scholarship. She went on to serve in the Air Defense Artillery as a PATRIOT missile officer. During her four years on active duty, Emily earned the rank of Captain, graduated from the U.S. Army Airborne Parachute School, and worked proudly alongside service members from all different walks of life in Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Texas. Following our Veterans Day appreciation ceremony in November, Rotarians asked to hear more stories from our Club's veterans.  Emily is delighted to launch this effort by sharing Army memories and lessons-learned on February 17th, and she hopes other veteran Rotarians will chime in with a few of their own!  

DO NOT miss this program! Jim Weil, president and host of the MPSF Speaker Series, will give us a brief overview of the MPSF Speaker Series. Then, he will open things up for our questions. He’s happy to tell us about his experiences with speakers on and off stage.
 
For those who don’t know the MPSF Speaker Series, founded in 1990, is the largest community speaker series in the United States. It brings nationally recognized speakers to San Mateo, Marin, and Oakland. This season’s line up includes Jane Goodall, Wynton Marsalis, W. Kamau Bell, Kara Swisher, Rick Steve, Theresa May, and Michael Pollan. 

Shoreline Park - Burlingame is a collaboration between The SPHERE Institute and the San Mateo Resource Conservation District to transform a 9.4-acre vacant parcel of State-owned bayfront land into a public nature and recreation park. The Project will restore tidal wetlands and transition-zone habitats currently absent from the Burlingame shorefront, provide educational and recreational amenities, upgrade a section of the Bay Trail, and demonstrate to the public and the scientific community how green infrastructure can protect our bayfront and complement future adaptation. Shoreline Park Project Director Greg Boro and Shoreline Park Project Manager Will Johnson will give us a sneak peek into this exciting new Burlingame development.

Greg Boro, Shoreline Park Project Director
Greg Boro serves as Treasurer for The SPHERE Institute where he supervises SPHERE’s finances, project compliance and subcontractor management. In addition to Directing SPHERE’s Finance, Contracts, Proposals, and Business Operations, he leverages in excess of 25+ years of restaurant operations experience, including new restaurant construction, existing restaurant renovations, and human resources management and training to oversee the project and budget management for SPHERE’s ongoing and new work.

Will Johnson, Shoreline Park Project Manager
Will Johnson acts as Shoreline Park Project Manager for the SPHERE Institute, coordinating project design, regulatory approvals and stakeholder outreach. Prior to joining the SPHERE Institute in April 2020, Will spent 7 years managing the rehabilitation of historic office and industrial buildings in San Francisco.

Described as the “best worst business in the world,”
 

Jeff Krolik takes us behind the scenes of the business side of the sports world.
 

Jeff was President of Fox Sports Regional Networks for almost 15 years, and oversaw deals with 44 MLB, NBA, and NHL teams. Jeff is now Principal with JB Sports Consulting.

Geneyx is a computer software company that offers an integrated cloud-based genetic data platform. Geneyx platform offers genetic testing labs and hospital-based facilities, advanced data management, a seamless pipeline from fastq files to VCF.  Geneyx enables Pharma, universities, and institute-based research groups to spearhead the development of innovative drugs, novel therapeutic and diagnostic tools.

C-SPAN provides non-partisan & gavel-to-gavel coverage of the federal government, C-SPAN Programming includes Congressional floor proceedings and committee hearings; White House events and briefings; Supreme Court oral arguments and confirmation proceedings; and interviews and call-in programs. Ways to connect with C-SPAN include 3 TV networks, a video-rich website, smartphone app, social media, and e-mail newsletters.

Keeping chickens has become increasingly popular in urban and suburban areas. More and more cities with previously banned urban chickens are removing old regulations or making permits easier to obtain. The motivations for having chickens range from keeping them as pets or eating pests to raising them for eggs or meat. Some people sell the eggs for side income.

Learn about urban chicken farming from a local expert—Melinda Cardona. 

TheURBANchicken began in 2014 as a backyard urban farm. Around 5 years ago, Melinda raised a threatened species of poultry (unbeknownst to us at the time). The breeders were so thrilled with the survival rate, they asked us to brood and care for a poultry breed which was endangered (the beautiful Crèvecœur). With 100% of the birds making it to adulthood, and the re-homing of those protected birds, theURBANchicken quickly evolved into a modern-day silicon valley business. Today, they offer over 30 different varieties, genetically test for gender determination, educate local schools on poultry, as well as offer advice on general Chicken and urban farm keeping. TheURBANchicken is in this for the movement-they try their best to support local homesteaders, honest husbandry practices and organic urban farming. 

As a teenager growing up in San Diego in the 1970's, Alisa Clancy first got interested in jazz while in Jr. High band (she played drums and piano) and has always fostered a nerdy interest in pop culture, the theater, classical music and film. She managed to combine all of those interests while in college working at stations WKYU in Bowling Green Kentucky during undergrad. school and then at WFDD at Wake Forest University, while working on a Master's Degree.

Clancy worked in professional theater for several years before moving to the Bay Area in 1987 where jazz and broadcasting moved to the solo spotlight. She is the Program Director at KCSM-FM and has been the host of the weekday gig of A Morning Cup of Jazz for more than twenty years.

Join long-time host Alisa Clancy from 6-10am for an eclectic mix of music and jazz history, interviews, tickets to some of your favorite shows, and personally curated sets put together from our remarkable jazz library.

The American marijuana businesses could pump up to $130 billion annually into the U.S. economy by 2024, a staggering figure that highlights the true reach of the nation’s cannabis industry. Estimates published in the newly released Marijuana Business Factbook show the total economic impact of legal cannabis sales increasing from $38 billion to $46 billion in 2019 and $106 billion to $130 billion by 2024—a 181% increase. By comparison, the $130 billion figure is similar to the 2019 gross domestic product of Nebraska, which stands at $129 billion, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Join us on “four-twenty” or National Weed Day and to get a peek behind the scenes of the highly-sophisticated cannabis businesses with Alex Rowland, a successful cannabis entrepreneur. Alex is co-founder and CEO of NewTropic, a leading cannabis manufacturer that provides professional-grade supply chain solutions to California brands. He also serves as the co-founder of Ensemble Brands, an accelerator for cannabinoid-infused product companies, and as co-founder of ANP Holdings, a financial services company focused on the cannabis and hemp markets. 

Dr. Sara Zeff Geber, PhD has developed a niche specialty as an expert in “Solo Aging.” She is an author, certified retirement coach, and professional speaker on retirement and aging.

Through her books, public speaking and coaching, she guides people who have no children or who are aging alone to have a safe, fulfilling life in their retirement years.

Dr. Geber is a recipient of the “2018 Influencers in Aging” designation by PBS’ Next Avenue. She believes Solo Agers have unique needs in later life that warrant greater foresight and a more robust approach to planning.

We’ll have a chance to talk virtually with Malka Kopell and Palma Strand of Civity, a national nonprofit organization working to build and strengthen relationships of respect, empathy, and trust across social, political, and cultural divides. They will introduce Civity and describe how it works with community leaders to build relational infrastructure – especially relationships with people who are different from them. This lunch session will preview a May 18th workshop available to Rotary members.

Civity is a national nonprofit organization working to transform communities so that everyone can belong. Learn more about Civity: http://www.civity.org.     

Malka and Palma will also be hosting a workshop for us on May 18. Check your email for more info about that.    

The Salvation Army's Homelessness Initiative in SF.  Update from the initial presentation given in December of 2019.