A Unique Approach to Solving Global Homelessness
Meeting for the week of September 28 - October 04, 2020
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: A Unique Approach to Solving Global Homelessness
Speaker: Sam Ballmer
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page.Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
To properly attend this meeting, please:
Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
Complete the attendance survey.
Everyone is also encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from Website Design Committee Co-Chair - Mark Busani:
Website Design Committee Co-Chair - Mark Busani
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.
You are certainly not required to pay anything in order to attend our meetings. However, if you would like to make a small contribution to our service efforts, you are welcome to do so in our secure Happy Dollars section down the page. This could be what you normally pay at your own club's meetings for lunch, for example. Any amount is welcome, but first and foremost, we're happy you've joined us, and hope you will share with others who we are and what we do to help inspire Service Above Self.
And don't forget to fill out our attendance form so you get an email you can pass on to your club's secretary!
The Four Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say or do
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Weekly Funny with Shags.
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin !
You never know...
Father Murphy walked into a pub in Donegal, and said to the first man he meets, "Do you want to go to heaven?"
The man said, "I do Father."
The priest said, "Then leave this pub right now!" and approached a second man. "Do you want to got to heaven?"
"Certainly, Father," was the man's reply.
"Then leave this den of Satan," said the priest, as he walked up to O'Toole.
"Do you want to go to heaven?"
"No, I don't Father," O'Toole replied.
The priest looked him right in the eye, and said, "You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?"
O'Toole smiled, "Oh, when I die, yes, Father. I thought you were getting a group together to go right now."
Weekly Inspiration
Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change.
Oh, but you'll love this one! A huge shout-out to the Rotary Club of Gibsons (British Columbia, Canada) for sharing this video when I (Rushton) visited them last week.
Coffee With a Rotarian
Every 4 weeks, each member of our club is matched with another member for one-on-one conversations!
Here are the current matches!
Manuj Mittal and Angelica Marotta
Sarah Tuberty and Rushton Hurley
Maxi Bustos and Suzanne Van Stralen
Tzviatko Chiderov and Hardeep Kaur Singh
Nathan Gildart and Tanya Martin
Brett Sham and Catherine
Carlos Gabuardi and Gabi Lopez
Alexandra Heller and Imad Ghoummid
Keith Marsh and Nan Herron, MD
Ferheen Abbasi and Mark Dohn
Roger Plested and Kelly Ku
Rory R. Olsen and Cecelia Babkirk
Tatiana LaGarde and Olu
Nick LaGarde and Richard Knaggs
Mark Busani and Cal Mann
Caleb LaPlante and May Yam
Sandy Stabile and Felix Pretscheck
Steven -Shags- Shagrin and Susan Howell
Mahmood Khan and Emily Paver
Weren’t matched? 😔
Join the #coffee-with-a-rotarian channel in our club’s Slack workspace to participate in the next round!
World of Rotary
Every month we will focus on a particular story that tells of our organization and the work of Rotarians in the world.
Rotary member Dr. Tunji Funsho named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!
If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
I call this composition "Covid Cast-offs". While walking around town, I started noticing lots of masks that were most likely dropped. No one wants to pick them up for fear of contamination. The monage was created in Photoshop after I resized each image the same. I took all with an iPhone11.
Learn Something New
This section is curated by members Shags Shagrin and aims to teach our members and guests something new, fun and useful! If you have any ideas on a fun trick or skill you'd like to share please contact Shags.
Outstanding Quick & Easy Mushroom Soup!!
I like to think of myself as a Fun Guy/Fungi! That's why my little dog is named Truffle -- he's small and sweet like the confection, and he's certainly a fungi to be with!! In any event, I do love good mushroom soup, or anything with mushrooms, as the umami is a palate tsunami!!
Service Report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
On the first meeting of every month, we feature service reports from club members for the previous month. Thanks for your service everyone!
Club Announcements
Haven't joined the conversation on Facebook yet? Consider joining the conversation by signing into our club members-only Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rotarysiliconvalley/
Our Events & Projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! This section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
Past Events:
Upcoming Events:
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
District 5170 Events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Happy Dollars: Do Good by Sharing Something Good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it’s appropriate!)
Unless stated otherwise, Happy Dollar donations made in October will go to Polio Plus! Learn more at endpolio.org.
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!
This section is usually updated on the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
Anonymous? made a $15 donation.
Polio Plus
Rory Olsen made a $20 donation.
Survived the rain. Jazzy and the other cats are fine. All is well.
Rory Olsen made a $20 donation.
Survived the rain. Jazzy and the other two cats are fine. All is well.
Selected Comments
Every week at the bottom of our meetings, there is a comments section for members and guests to tell us what they enjoyed about the meeting or to ask questions to the speaker. We select a few comments every week from last week’s meeting to be featured during this week’s meeting.
Here are the comments selected from last week’s meeting.
Monique le Conge Ziesenhenne said:
Keith, such a beautiful photo! Thanks. Kate, enjoyed your presentation. Thank you. Over 20 years ago, I had a colleague who was passionate about the social impact of her investments and have often made changes thinking about that. And really, very good returns over time. Good info.
Mark B said:
Thanks for the presentation Kate. It is really interesting to think of investing as more than making money and considering the impact as well. i think that is fantastic. I also work in a bank so enjoyed your insights about financial institutions as well. I know we try and do a lot in the community and I see it more than we are just trying to get good PR. Although I am certain there is an element of that in play.
A really strong message from Maya Angelou that is super positive.
Thanks for the jokes Shags and another great photo Keith.
Thanks to everyone else who contributed to this weeks program
Emily Paver said:
Wow, Kate. I am blown away by your presentation. Thank you so much for your time and your work. In a time of financial strain for so many and simply not knowing what the future will look like, your advice is so pertinent. I learned so much--especially as a millennial who wants more confidence in exploring sound investment options.
Also, thanks to all for another great program.
Be sure to leave a comment at the end of this week’s meeting after you watch the program below, and perhaps you’ll see your comment featured next week!
Program: A Unique Approach to Solving Global Homelessness
Speaker: Sam Ballmer
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
The problem we’re solving is bigger than us, and it’s growing. An estimated 3 billion people will be living without access to adequate shelter by 2050; that's a 200% increase over three decades.
To tackle this massive issue, we’re researching breakthroughs in homebuilding and proving them in every community we build. Then, we’re sharing them with other nonprofit organizations and governments, so collectively, we can all build faster, cheaper, better, and stronger.
New Story is a unique organization that sits across housing R+D, government, and nonprofits. We create innovations, prove them and share them with the affordable housing industry that is woefully behind the technology curve despite the need. New Story has private donors covering the cost of R+D & overhead and the rest of the donations go 100% toward building homes for families.
Sam Ballmer has been working at New Story for two and a half years and was the 10th employee at the time he was hired. Sam has worked across many teams at New Story including Operations, Brand, and Growth and has a deep understanding of what makes New Story stand out as a company and as a home builder. He now manages brand partnerships and recruits and manages engaged donors for the Architect and Neighborhood programs.
Members and guests, please welcome Sam Ballmer!
Additional Resources
Learn more:
https://newstorycharity.org/about-us/#advisors - Our Advisors & Website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbgCu0aUobE - 3D Printed Housing Announcement Video
https://newstorycharity.org/webflow-plus-new-storys-architect-program/ - This article talks about the Architect's program which we are focused on recruiting donors for.
Upcoming Program Recording Schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
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Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done.
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