"Hacking the Refugee Crisis" by Teaching Programming to Refugees in Berlin
This Meeting’s Highlights
Program: "Hacking the Refugee Crisis" by Teaching Programming to Refugees in BerlinSpeaker: Anne Riechert, Rotary Peace Scholar (at 2017 Rotary International Assembly) & Co-Founder of Refugees on RailsMeeting for the week of January 23, 2017 to January 29, 2017
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; read it while on public transit, waiting in line for coffee, or even at the park! Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Message from President Mitty
Special Program + Club Elections
Are you a new visitor? Then I want to welcome you to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley's online meeting! Every week we curate inspiring and educational content in an online format like the one you're seeing here. As you continue reading, watching, and scrolling, our hope is that you'll leave feeling a little bit more inspired. As an online Rotary club, we have these asynchronous meetings online, but we also meet in-person in the Silicon Valley / San Francisco bay area for service projects and for social events. Keep reading on, and feel free to also join us for one of our in-person events if you can make it!This past week I was at the 2017 Rotary International Assembly in San Diego, California. Rotary International Assembly is the annual training event for incoming Rotary District Governors throughout the world. Governors-elect from all 538 districts in the world attended this mandatory training last week. As one of the week's speakers, I had the honor of meeting many amazing fellow speakers and leaders in Rotary. It is my distinct honor to have one of the most acclaimed speakers of International Assembly be our speaker this week.For our members and our returning guests who have been to one of our meetings, you know that our normal programs are pre-recorded speakers our club has recorded in advance. Our program this week is a little different. The recording itself is an official recording from Rotary International, filmed at the Rotary International Assembly last week. I felt that Anne's message was powerful enough to warrant a special program. Anne's message about her journey in Rotary, becoming a Peace Fellow, and her work training refugees in Berlin is inspiring. I hope you will all find her story as inspirational as I have.Members, I also want to remind each of you that club nominations and elections are in process. Nominations close this week, and elections open immediately afterward.
Yours in service,
Mitty Chang,
President
Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
president@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Photo of the Week
We know a good photo is worth a thousand words. We also think that photos can have the power to inspire and to awe. Every week we try to bring to you a photo that we think will do just that.
We won't get into the politics of the matter, but we would be remiss not to recognize the inspiration of the women's marches that happened this past week. The marches were to show solidarity, unity, and peace. You can learn more about the women's marches on their website.Special thanks to our club member and photo czar Keith Marsh for contributing this photo of San Francisco's city hall building lit up for the march. You can see more of Keith's photos of the march in San Francisco at his Flickr album.
Peace is what Rotary strives for. There is no greater inspiration than peacemakers.
Weekly Inspiration: The Man Behind the World’s Most Contentious Font
Every week we bring you videos of innovation, inspiration, and entrepreneurship. This week we are featuring a video from Great Big Story about one of the most contentious fonts, Comic Sans.
You remember Comic Sans. You know, that irreverent, off-kilter font that came pre-programmed on 90s versions of Microsoft Word? In fact, you probably have very strong feelings about that font. Here’s the story behind the most polarizing font ever made.
Amazing and risky! Do you have an extreme experience story to share with us in the comments? Let us know!
Laughing Out Loud (L.O.L.) with our Lady of LOLs
We believe that laughing a little every day keeps you healthier. Every week we try to share with you something that will make you smile! This section is curated by Rotarian Yvonne Kwan, our club’s “Lady of LOLs.”
January 24th is National Peanut Butter Day!
Want to hear some jokes about peanut butter? Nah, you'll just spread them around.
Coffee with a Rotarian: Shags & Brian Liddicoat
This new segment of our meeting is dedicated to featuring stories from members about other members! We pair our club members with other club members for one-on-one coffee sessions either digitally or online. It's an opportunity to get to know your fellow Rotarians better. After the coffee session, each of our members records a short video message about what they learned about their fellow Rotarian, and we feature those videos here.
This week's featured "Coffee with a Rotarian" video comes from member Shags Shagrin. Shags had a coffee session with member Brian Liddicoat, and we're excited to hear about what he's learned about Brian!
This is what Shags had to say about Brian:
The Coffee with a Rotarian project is chaired by member Tzviatko Chiderov. Thanks Tzviatko!
For Members: Updates - CLUB ELECTIONS
This segment of the meeting is dedicated to our club members. This section includes announcements and new initiatives. Guests, you are welcome to read this section or just skip it.
Members, Club Board Nominations Close & Elections Open this Week
Nominations for vacant positions on the club board of directors are now open and close this week (might be closed by the time you read this if you read the meetings later in the week)! Members, please submit your nominations using the nomination form here. Any paid member may nominate themself or nominate any other club member for any open position. Nominations will close on Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. After nominations are closed, elections will begin and will be open for one week until February 1, 2017 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
Below is a list of open positions for nominations:
President-nominee (1 vacancy)
Secretary (1 vacancy)
Treasurer (1 vacancy)
Director (1 vacancy)
Nomination form is available here. Remember, only members in good standing can nominate other members in good standing. You may nominate yourself! Election ballot will go out digitally by email to all members.
Reminders - Ongoing Initiatives:
Monthly photo challenge is ongoing!
Coffee with a Rotarian is still ongoing! New month, new pairs!
Service Blotter for January on-going below:
Members, want to get your service update into the next service blotter? Please share what you’ve been up to, as it allows us to get to know each other better in the process! Just click on the link below to let us know!
For Members Only: Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Our Events & Projects
We hold our meetings online, but we hold regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley every month! This section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of our events and service projects listed here.
Also be sure to join our Meetup Group for automatic calendar updates and to RSVP for our events! These are open to all guests as well!
https://www.meetup.com/siliconvalleyrotary/
Upcoming Events:
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
THIS WEEK - Rotary Wilderness Expedition to Castle Rock State Park, Sun. Jan. 29, 2017 from 10 AM to 2 PM
Location: Castle Rock State Park, 15000 Skyline Blvd, Los Gatos, CA! Join us for a short and relaxing 5-mile hike at Castle Rock State Park. There will be fairly low elevation gains but great views of small cliffs, waterfalls, and lush foliage. Bring your own bagged lunch, friends and family and we'll take some time enjoying the spoils of our recent rain. Please remember to dress in long pants and sleeves as there are some poison oak and moisture tends to make them a bit more potent. For Bay Area Residents coming from north of the park, please meet at Starbucks on 14410 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070 by no later than 9:30 AM to make it easier for us to find each other. For those of us coming from the Santa Cruz area, just take Hwy 9-North and turn right on CA-35 and look for the Castle Rock State Park sign. Please remember to bring $8 in cash for parking.
Sign up on our Meetup page here: https://www.meetup.com/siliconvalleyrotary/events/236874439/
Event chair: Andrew Taw
THIS WEEK - Project Jumpstart Awards Ceremony at Holy Names University this Sun. Jan. 29, 2017 from 5 PM to 6:30 PM
Location: Holy Names University,3500 Mountain Blvd, Oakland, CA. Our club has volunteered to participate in Project Jump Start, a Rotary District 5170 project. For this project, two low-income students have been chosen to receive laptops. We will be having an awards ceremony to meet these wonderful students and their families. The awards ceremony will take place in the Bay Vista Room on the Holy Names University Campus. There will be light drinks and snacks at this event. See you there!
Sign up on our Meetup page here: https://www.meetup.com/siliconvalleyrotary/events/237146889/
Event chair: Andrew Taw
Rotary Area 8 Talent Show (Cupertino), Sat. Feb. 4, 2017
Join Rotarians from through Cupertino and Sunnyvale for an area-wide social featuring talent from every club! Details to be announced.
Happy Dollars: Sponsor an Interactor to PWR
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!)
Last week's happy dollars went towards funding club projects! Here are messages from last week's happy dollars:
Thank you to member Rory Olsen for his $15 donation, to be donated to Rotary's PolioPlus! Rory had this to say:"Please apply my donation to Polio Plus. I just bought a 27in. iMac. Will unpack it soon. More later."
Thank you to member Brian Liddicoat for his generous $15 donation! Brian had this to say:"Just back from first skiing of the season with my kids. Great snow at Lake Tahoe. Huge snowpack for our water needs."
Thank you to member Monique Ziesenhenne for her generous $20 donation to Rotary's PolioPlus! Monique had this to say:"Polio Plus, please!"
Thank you to member Rushton Hurley for his generous $25 donation! Rushton had this to say:"It's a happy week coming up for me, as my book is coming out! So jazzed to be sharing these ideas that I hope will be helpful for loads of teachers and schools near and far. If you have a teacher in your life (or are one) for whom you need a gift, please consider grabbing a copy at this address: http://edtech.team/school_special. A portion of the proceeds will go toward the nonprofit I run, as well. The big focus at the moment is our project to create a collection of hundreds of videos to help those around the world learning English. Learn more at: http://nextvista.org/projects/elp/"
Thank you all for your donations last week! The money from the donations last week went towards funding club projects. Thank you!
This week's donations will go towards sponsoring an Interactor from KIPP San Jose Interact Club to their annual President's Winter Retreat for leadership training.
Meet Marilyn, an Interactor and future leader of the KIPP San Jose Interact Club!
All proceeds from this week's happy dollars will go towards sponsoring Marilyn's President's Winter Retreat (PWR) experience. Happy dollars is also a great opportunity to share with the group about something good that has happened to you.
So what are you happy about? Share with us below, and help support one of our future leaders!
Selected Six
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 six comments every week from last week’s meeting to be featured during this week’s meeting.
Here are six comments selected from last week's meeting about Design2Transform:
Member Mark Dohn had this to say:"Nelson, Thank you for sharing about Design2Learn. I feel your focus on youth and working with technology to improve their local communities is one of the most powerful methods for real and relevant learning. I work with a method known as Challenge Based Learning and it is very similar. LOVE the crazy Scots and their mountain bikes! Funny thing about perspective. I have no hesitations to go down a mountain road at 50-60mph. But to go down the side of a mountain in the snow at 40mph? That's crazy!"
Member Brett Sham (Sydney, Australia) had this to say:"Rushton, was great to e-meet you; hopefully I'll be able to come by SF / Silicon Valley after RICON this year and meet you in person. Looks like you guys had a great time packing the meals. Nelson, great presentation, lots of rich detail and great to see how're your bringing it to life and making the program so successful."
Member Rushton Hurley (California, USA) had this to say:"Great meeting , Mitty! Well, the video about the bikers certainly made an impression. Is it just me, or do you get the impression that there has to be a profound lack of hope for other possibilities to put yourself in that kind of danger willingly and regularly? Brett, thanks for the nice message - it was great meeting you, too! Richard, it's great to hear about the projects of the Parklands students. The one about the robot boat that picks up litter is something that needs to be a video story! Nelson, I enjoyed your presentation, and am impressed with the range of detail your team has explored to make things happen. I sent a tweet your way (I'm @rushtonh), and would be happy to stay in touch. For the photo challenge, here's a picture I took of a lively ocean after attending the meeting of the Rotary Club of Laguna Beach last week. The rain was on and off all day, and when on, it was really on - perhaps you can see it in the waves! I also like that in the upper right (hardly a speck in the picture), there's a bird that seems to be thumbing its nose to the strong winds that were happening. I posted this on Instagram, which is a really fun way to share the things you see. Let's get some good pictures out there at Sunday's Castle Rock shindig!"
Member Felmer Lenida (California, USA) had this to say:"Wonderful meeting! If anyone has the opportunity to work with Stop Hunger Now, I would take it! It was a great organization to work with. Working with them was a blast! Plus if gives you a great workout if you're loading the truck. Nelson, thank you for sharing the work you do. This hits close to home. Growing up in a lower income home, we didn't have the tools to learn the stuff you were teaching. Luckily my apartment complex offered an after school and summer course that taught us the basic skills of web development and how to build a PC."
Member Yvonne Kwan (California, USA) had this to say:"I was just flipping through the magazine earlier today (before I even read this comment), found your picture, and thought hey, we know that cool guy who took this photo!"
Member Tzviatko Chiderov (South Africa) had this to say:"Nelson, thanks again for taking the time to speak to our club. I really like how you put such great focus on involving communities and learning what the real issues are before proposing solutions. This is so critical for long term success and ensuring the sustainability of your work. I also like how you shared some success stories from your attendees beyond their participation in Design2Transform. Great work! Keep it up!"
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: "Hacking the Refugee Crisis" by Teaching Programming to Refugees in Berlin
Every week we bring to you a program on innovation, education, technology, and humanitarian service. This week our guest speaker is Rotary Peace Fellow Anne Riechert, Co-Founder of Refugees on Rails.
Anne Kjær Riechert is a 2006 graduate from the prestigious social innovation and change management education KaosPilot in Denmark. From 2006-2009 she worked as creative lead and corporate social responsibility consultant for the Copenhagen-based brand strategy company Stoic, where she amongst others developed and implemented Samsung Electronics award-winning CSR strategy for Scandinavia.In July 2010, Anne moved to Japan, when she was entrusted with the prestigious Rotary Peace Fellowship. In 2012 Anne was recognized by Berlingske Business Magazine as one of Denmark's 10 largest talents under 35 years, in the "Business Development" category.In 2012 Anne moved to Berlin to set up the Berlin Peace Innovation Lab in collaboration with Stanford University. The lab focuses on how technology is facilitating emerging and measurable social change toward global peace.In response to the refugee crises, Anne co-founded Refugees on Rails in the summer of 2015, to help integrate refugees into the European tech scene. The project later developed into a vocational training program teaching basic and advanced programming skills to asylum seekers to get them job ready. Since January 2016 Anne is managing director of the program, called “ReDI School of Digital Integration”.Anne was invited as a keynote speaker for this year's Rotary International Assembly last week in San Diego, California to share her message.
Members and guests, please join me in welcoming Anne!
Special thanks to the Rotary International team for filming this and providing it as available content to us!
Want to Connect with Anne?
We have asked Anne to periodically check back on this meeting page during the week of this program, January 23, 2017 through January 29, 2017, and respond to comments as necessary. Feel free to leave a comment and direct it to Anne.
Meeting Schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 to 45 minutes long and are subject to change without notice. (Sometimes speakers cancel on us!)
Upcoming Recordings:
Wednesday, January 25, 2017 at 7:15 PM PT - Recording of Crystal Huang, Founder of xPollinators
Friday, February 3, 2017 at 2 PM PT - Recording with Aaron Horowitz, Co-Founder and CEO of Sproutel (creators of Jerry the Bear)
Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 12 PM PT - Recording of Thuy Nguyen, President of Foothill College
If you would like to join us for any of the live recordings, please email president@siliconvalleyrotary.com with your request. Requests will be checked up until 5 minutes prior to the recording time. Please note the timezone is all California, USA time.
You’re Almost Done! One last thing: The Attendance Survey...
Thanks for reading and watching this week’s meeting. You have two last things to do before you’re done. First, we have a very short attendance survey below for you to fill out to record your attendance.
Visiting Rotarians, this is how you can get an email receipt to pass along to your club’s secretary as proof that you’ve attended our meeting if you need it for makeups.
Non-Rotarian Guests, we would love to see who is dropping by our meetings! This part is optional for you. If you think you may want to join our eClub at some point in the future, we would strongly recommend you fill out the attendance form as it will improve your chances of success for your membership application.
More importantly, for all members and guests — we strongly recommend and ask that you leave a comment below in our comments area below. Tell us how you enjoyed the program. Ask this week’s speaker any questions you might have. Or just stop by and say hello and tell us where you’re from!
