Speakers

Dan Steininger , author, speaker on the national and international stage, business leader, currently writes a column for the Biz Times entitled “Innovate or Die” that is a Press Club winner. He is also the President of Steininger & Associates. The firm focuses on teaching the tools of innovation to drive growth for companies in all sectors of the economy. He is the President and founder of BizStarts. The organization facilitates the creation of new companies in Southeast Wisconsin.

He has taught courses on innovation for the UWM School of Continuing Education for business leaders. He is the former CEO of a major financial institution that he grew to the 147th life company in the United States; and he launched a national equity mutual fund. He also served as President of the Board of Harbor commissioners that oversees the Port of Milwaukee. In that capacity he also helped to shape Milwaukee’s lakefront. He is a graduate of Boston University Law school and frequently describes himself as a" recovering lawyer" and a "recovering CEO". He has served as Chairman of the Young Presidents Organization; and a Board Member of the Better Business Bureau. He has published in scholarly journals; appeared on Wall Street week; and been written about in the New York Times. He was appointed by the Governor to the Wisconsin Workforce Investment Council; and to the Board of Directors of The Milwaukee County Historical Society as well as private company boards. 

The Amigos rotary and the Mirebalais rotary club in Haiti have applied for global grant to provide micro loans to women in Haiti. As you know Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. International Research shows that one of the root causes that keeps people in poverty is the lack of access to financial bank services. The Amigos global grant seeks to address this root cause that keeps families, in generation after generation, in poverty.  The micro loan grant will provide funds to give loans to women who have little or no access to non-exploitive banking services. This micro loan project will build economic viability for women and their families so that they can begin to control their own future.  

The Amigos club is searching for other rotary clubs who would like to support this program and become a partner in this global grant. There is so much more to tell. We would be happy to present a program for your club and/or make a presentation to your board. Please let me know if you club would be interested in learning more about this program and possibly consider supporting this project as part of your commitment to the global family of rotary. 

Mr. Reggie Jackson has served as the Head Griot (docent/oral historian) for America’s Black Holocaust Museum (ABHM) since 2002, during which time he has become a much sought-after public speaker, researcher and writer for regional and national media. 

We believe our country is currently experiencing a uniquely “teachable time” in its journey towards realizing its founding ideals of liberty and justice for all. We formed Nurturing Diversity Partners to advance and support that journey by using methods we’ve honed over many years to build bridges from our past to our future across racial/ethnic, urban/suburban/rural, generational, and other divides. We look forward to partnering with organizations and individuals who seek to join this journey and cross those bridges together.

Erica will explain that racial reconciliation and repair are not easy, but “ Bridge the Divide" believes it best to start with community conversations.

We consider ourselves multilayered.  Since the assumption is that residents of Ozaukee county are not aware of or in tune with many of issues affecting people of color, we spend a lot of time learning historical basis of segregation and unconscious bias. We have many speakers that share perspectives that are eye opening for our community.  We also try to spend time viewing videos and films using talkbacks as a way to spark discussions and tie them in with current events.  Our desire is to take actions steps- civic, government, and education- to continue to engage the community and provide actionable solutions for issues that we see.  By March we are hoping that those action steps will become more defined and that we will have more community members engaged and willing to participate. We also desire for people to spend time together and develop relationships with folks they would not have previously, this proximity helps us create community that expands beyond simply those in our neighborhoods or county.
Our monthly meetings usually have 30-35 people in attendance and our email distribution is up to about 180.  We publish a bimonthly podcast and our highest count was about 200 listeners.

Erica and her husband  Greg were recently recognized by the Oz Co Branch of the NAACP with the “Game Changers of Youth Engagement” award.