The Wednesday Morning Group Home Winter / Spring 2016 Fall 2015/Winter 2016 Calendar Important Info Childcare Newsletters Past Speakers In the News Winter / Spring 2016 Speaker Schedule February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 February 2016 February 3 - Pulitzer nominee Daniel Perry serves as both chair of the ACT-AD Coalition (Accelerate Cure/Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease) and the Friends of the Institute on Aging. Daniel is also an advisor for the University of Pennsylvania Medical School’s Institute on Aging and a member of the New York Academy of Sciences. His diverse background includes former President & CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research, work on the Hill serving as special assistant to the Majority Whip of the US Senate, as well as presidential appointee to the Federal Task Force on Aging Research and the Advisory Board of the White House Conference on Aging. As part of the first governing body of the American Medical Accreditation Program, he evaluated the performances of US doctors. February 10 - Attorney Sandra Vu Le is the Chief Confidence Builder of Your Cultural Edge, a business helping minorities and foreign born graduate students and professionals leverage their cultural strengths and effectively communicate in the US culture for personal and professional success. As a Vietnamese immigrant, Sandra intentionally harnessed the strengths of the Asian and American cultures to find her cultural edge: becoming the US Senate Youth Ambassador to Japan at age 16, a successful family and immigration attorney with hundreds of multicultural clients and the first female Vietnamese American in Texas to run for a state congressional seat. As a former co-host on Saigon Television Broadcasting Network, Sandra has appeared on NPR, Dallas Morning News, ABC’s affiliate WFAA, and NBC’s DFW. February 17 - Paula Stone, who has three engineering degrees from MIT (including a PhD), began writing creatively as a little girl. It wasn’t until her retirement that she returned to her childhood passion and became a playwright. More than a dozen of her works have been competitively selected for play festivals, showcased in public readings, and commercially published. Most notably, her one-woman play Kitchen Sink, the story of a woman's life as she sees it from her kitchen sink, received high honors in the Baltimore Playwright’s Festival, Brevard Little Theatre’s Annual New Play Competition, National One-Act Playwriting Competition and Silver Spring Stage One-Act Festival, and it was produced as a full-length play in 2012. February 24 - Attorney Susannah Wellford has founded two inspirational organizations designed to raise the political voice of young women in America: Running Start to inspire young women and girls to political leadership and the nonpartisan Women Under Forty Political Action Committee, which is dedicated to electing young women to political office. She was invited by the Kuwaiti government to meet the country's first women candidates and advise them on their campaigns. Susannah has also been dispatched by the State Department to speak in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Israel, Belgium and Moscow, worked for Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Task Force and was a Legislative Assistant for Senator Wyche Fowler from Georgia. March 2016 March 2 - In November of 1951 Bob Phillips quit his job in television in Los Angeles due to the conflict with his high school classes(!). When he left, one of the directors that worked the remotes gave him a slip of paper with an address, 9030 Sunset Blvd., and a name, Jack Mullin. Turns out that Jack was a friend of Frank Healy who was the head of the Electronic Division of Bing Crosby Enterprises. Based strictly upon a recommendation, they hired Bob to build the first practical video recorder so that Bing Crosby could record his TV shows on magnetic tape just as he was doing with his radio programs. Bob's development opened a new world for Bing and others who did not want the stress of having to do live shows. Years later, Bing recorded his last television program in in London with rock star David Bowie utilizing this recording system. Since the session was recorded, these two opposites were able to put aside their nervousness when they did the duet of Little Drummer Boy. TV Guide listed the Crosby-Bowie duet as one of the 25 most memorable musical moments of 20th century television. Bob will regale us with stories about the industry, his lifetime career and the personality of the Crosby family. March 9 - Danielle Meitiv is a scientist, writer and parent of kids who roam. She is better known to Montgomery County authorities, Washington media, and pretty much every parenting blogger on the internet as the mother of Silver Spring’s “free-range kids.” Meitiv - who, along with her husband, was twice investigated for neglect for letting her children roam alone near their suburban home - is at work on a book about her experience and hatching a nonprofit that aims to free children from what she sees as an unhealthy amount of governmental nannying. Read more in this Washington Post article. March 16 - New York Times bestselling author Eric Weiner hit it out of the park with The Geography of Bliss as well as Man Seeks God. His latest book, The Geography of Genius, has been called “smart, funny and utterly delightful…best book yet.” As a long-time foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, Eric reported from more than 30 nations, from Iraq to Indonesia, covering some of the major international events of recent times. In addition to writing a regular column for BBC Travel, his work appears in The Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and on NPR’s Morning Edition. When not writing, or thinking about writing, Eric is an avid cyclist and consumer of sushi. Visit Eric Weiner's web site to learn more. Book signing event (Cash or check only) March 23 - Eva Cowen advocates on a personal and professional level for the inclusion of people with disabilities into all aspects of life. For more than 20 years she was the Director for Special Needs and Inclusion at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington where she oversaw the full inclusion of people with disabilities into all of the Center's programs and activities. She has consulted nationally and internationally on best practices for inclusion. Growing up with an older brother who has autism in a family that included him in everything, Eva began her advocacy work at a very young age, often coming to his defense when his behaviors and actions were misunderstood by people in the community. Eva served for 10 years on the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council and currently serves on the advisory committee for the Sunflower Bakery and the Board of Directors of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes. Eva will discuss her thoughts and experiences on inclusion and how compassion and education benefit communities as a whole. March 30 - No Lecture April 2016 April 6 - Dr. Alexa Fraser is a passionate believer that those with a terminal condition, with less than 6 months to live, and who wish to receive medical aid in dying should be given that opportunity. She is currently a Unitarian Universalist Seminarian at the Starr King School for Ministry in Berkeley. Previously, Alexa spent nearly three decades researching the health effects of environmental exposures on workers, citizens and children. She has appeared on the Diane Rehm Show, been interviewed for international media, and testified on the Death with Dignity issue in both the Maryland State Senate and the House of Delegates. April 13 - Olivier Knox was the first White House Correspondent for Yahoo News. Prior to this position, he was the Congressional and political correspondent for Agence France-Press. He spent more than a decade covering some of the world's biggest political stories, including the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton, Al Gore's presidential campaign and the 2009 inauguration of Barrack Obama. He also covered 8 years of the George W. Bush presidency and was with him in Sarasota, Florida on September 11th when word of the terrorist attacks was conveyed. He brings a unique perspective and the benefit of his up front seat to the elections and the top news of the day. April 20 - Amelia Segal is a Meteorologist with StormTeam4. A native of Frederick, Md., Segal wanted to forecast the weather in Washington, DC since she started studying meteorology at Penn State University. In fact, she graduated from college early so she could start working! Her first job was with CNET in State College, Pa. While forecasting weather there, she became very familiar with weather phenomena such as lake effect snow, which helped her land her next job as weekend meteorologist for WJET/WFXP in Erie, Pa. To Amelia's delight, Erie recorded its second snowiest winter on record during her first year there. The opportunity to be closer to family and friends brought her back to DC as a member of Washington’s number-one weather team. April 27 - Jan Fox is a four-time Emmy winner who spent more than 25 years on TV interviewing dignitaries and crazies and covering everything from politics to crime. Aren’t they the same thing? She worked for CBS, ABC and NBC. When she launched her ‘life after television,' Jan put out the shingle: Fox Talks. Jan has traveled the country inspiring senior execs, coached 45 TEDx speakers, sales teams, entrepreneurs and associations to become BOLD Speakers. Her training incorporates instruction in proper voice control, body language and networking. Jan’s book, GET YOURSELF on TV, gives insider secrets to get you inside the studio. Book signing event (Cash or check only) May 2016 May 4 - As an attorney, Ambassador Donald Bliss represented airlines, airports, governments, trade associations, and manufacturers on various policy, regulatory, legislative issues affecting aviation. He argued cases before the federal and state courts, including the Supreme Court and served as a federal court-appointed Special Master on transportation issues. He served as US Ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization, and U.S. Permanent Representative on the ICAO Council. He is a member of the Council of American Ambassadors and has served as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Air and Space Law Forum, President of the National Ripon Society and the Harvard Law School Association of DC. Ambassador Bliss is currently the President of United Nations Association of the United States of America National Capital Area. May 11 - Montgomery County-raised Stephanie Rosen is the Executive Director at National Alliance for Mental Illness Montgomery County (NAMI MC), one of the leading mental health organizations in the country. She majored in Genetic and Molecular Biology at Northwestern, then attended Thomas Jefferson University's medical school before transitioning to clinical and preclinical research in stroke and traumatic brain injuries at Georgetown, the National Rehabilitation Hospital and the University of MD's School of Medicine. NAMI MC assists people with everything from housing to fielding 2,400 crisis helpline calls a year to legal referrals. Stephanie overcame her own battle with depression and says of her role at NAMI MC, "It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had. This is exactly what I want to do and where I want to do it. I haven’t felt this way in a long time.” May 18 - Jessica Hansen began acting at age 5. She was a cast member of a TV series on resisting peer pressure at 12 and has performed on stages across the country and in dozens of commercials and industrial training films. She has performed guest star roles on NBC’s Parks & Recreation and HBO’s Veep. If you listen to NPR, you have probably heard her as the voice of their funding credits. She co-founded and serves as Founding Artistic Director of Lean & Hungry Theater, whose shows are currently heard on public radio stations across the nation. She has studied Alexander, Linklater, LeCoq, Stanislawski, Checkhov, Meisner, Roy Hart, Suzuki and methods. Read more on Jessica's web site. May 25 - Kimberly Palmer is the money division senior editor for US News & World Report. Her recent book, The Economy of You: Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur and Recession-Proof Your Life, explains how to come up with a killer idea for the side-business that will help build financial security, how to build and market it, how to juggle and avoid common pitfalls. Her other tome, Generation Earn: The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing and Giving Back provides college grads with guidelines. She's writing Smart Mom, Rich Mom that delves into how to build wealth while raising a family. Bring your calculators and questions! Book signing event (Cash or check only) June 2016 June 1 - Royal Kennedy Rodgers is an Independent Media Producer with years of experience in local and network news and public affairs broadcasting. She has been a career correspondent for NBC, ABC and PBS where she produced Chicago Tonight. She is currently an independent producer for a documentary on pioneering African American architect Paul Revere Williams. He was known as the gorgeous glamour architect to the stars; celebrities Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were his clients. Two of his most noted commercial designs are the futuristic LAX Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport and the Beverly Hills Hotel, where his race prohibited him from staying as a guest. June 8 - Ai-Ling Louie's mother was the first Chinese-American teacher hired by the New York Public Schools and her father was hired by a tap and tool company on Long Island as a machinist -- the company's first non-white employee. After she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, Ai-Ling became an elementary school teacher and children's librarian. Her first book, Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Story From China, is a folk tale passed down from her grandmother. It is one of the oldest-written Cinderella stories in the world and predated the European version. Her series featuring "Amazing Asian Americans" began with Vera Wang, Queen of Fashion, followed by musicians Yo-Yo & Yeou-Cheng Ma, Finding Their Own Way and astronaut Kalpana Chawla, Reaching for the Stars. June 15 - Murray Horwitz began his career working with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus as a clown. After moving to New York City, he appeared in the one-man show, An Evening of Sholom Aleichem, in which he continues to perform at The Kennedy Center, The Manhattan Theatre Club and The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater. He co- created the Broadway musical Ain’t Misbehavin’, which won Tony, Obie, Emmy, Grammy and New York Drama Critics' Circle awards. Murray created several series at NPR, including Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me; Wynton Marsalis: Making the Music, and The NPR Basic Jazz Record Library and received three Peabody awards for his work at there. Horwitz was also creative consultant to the annual Mark Twain Prize ceremonies at the Kennedy Center AND the founding director of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center! Contact us at wmginfo@wmgroup.org Report Abuse|Powered By Google Sites