District 7780’s “Midyear Dinner” became “Leadership Opens Opportunities Forum” on January 25, 2021. This virtual event was open to all Rotarians in the District. Two speakers were highlighted:
Jesse Pettengill
Wallagrass, Maine
Carolyn Jones
East Anchorage, Alaska
Learn more and access the video:
The evening's speakers were Jesse Pettengill from Wallagrass, Maine in Aroostook County and Carolyn Jones from East Anchorage, Alaska.
Jesse is a restorative justice/practices facilitator and consultant with extensive experience in community education, public speaking, training, skills coaching, youth empowerment, motivational interviewing, trauma informed care, systems involved youth, and staff management. His presentation informed us about how our brains are programmed and we are not always aware we are being programmed. This programming can lead to Implicit Bias. Jesse explained the how and why of our immediate reflex responses which can lead to a fight or flight reaction. Jesse recommended an on-line study of implicit bias which includes a self-test. implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
Carolyn spoke of the history of institutional racism in the US. Her personal remembrances and her experiences as a person of color, carried the theme of DEI toward a possible plan for clubs.
Rotarian Carolyn has served as club president, Governor for District 5010 which includes Alaska, Yukon Territory, Canada and eastern Russia. Carolyn completed a four-year term in 2009 as Rotary’s first female Trustee on the Board of Directors of The Rotary Foundation.Carolyn has traveled to Russia 35 times in her service to Rotary – five of those trips as a Rotary Volunteer. Her story “The Children of Russia” was published in the July 2002 issue of the Rotarian and in Chicken Soup For The Volunteer's Soul.
Here is the link to the speakers on YouTube.
Extra information about our speakers:
Jesse Pettengill serves as the Program Director for Youth Advocate Programs in the State of Maine. Youth Advocate programs is an international agency that provides mentors and advocates to systems involved youth. Formerly, Jesse was the Program Supervisor for ACAP’s Youth Services and Substance Prevention programs and the Project Director of ACAP’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative project also with ACAP. Jesse has a bachelor’s degree from Harding University in Arkansas, a master’s degree summa cum laude from New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey, and eight years’ experience overseeing community programming with high-risk populations outside New York City. Previous to that, Jesse worked for five years with Health Talents International in Guatemala. He has familiarity with restorative practices and working with youth and families from diverse backgrounds, and in doing so with sensitivity and dignity. Jesse is a native of the St. John Valley, where he now coaches the Valley Mustangs football team, serves on their board of directors, and is the president of the board for Sly Brook Adventures which offers theater camp and wilderness camping to youth of Aroostook County.
A small-town girl from Tarrytown, New York, Carolyn Jones graduated from Stanford University with distinction and received her LL.B. from Yale Law School. She practiced law for 31 years; was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alaska Attorney General’s Office for 23 years, and a supervising attorney in the office during the last seven years before her retirement in 1998.
Carolyn joined the Rotary Club of Anchorage East in 1987. From 1997-1998, she was the governor of R.I. District 5010 – Alaska, USA; Yukon Territory, Canada and eastern Russia. Carolyn completed a four-year term in 2009 as Rotary’s first female Trustee on the Board of Directors of The Rotary Foundation. Carolyn’s past Rotary activities are too numerous to mention and so she won’t. All in all, she has received a lot of awards and recognitions in her lifetime for which she is honored and too embarrassed to enumerate.
Carolyn has traveled to Russia 35 times in her service to Rotary – five of those trips as a Rotary Volunteer. Her story “The Children of Russia” was published in the July 2002 issue of the Rotarian and in Chicken Soup For The Volunteer's Soul. Carolyn has 2 adult daughters, Nina and Carrie, but no grandchildren. She loves to fish for salmon; hike Alaska’s many trails; watch American football and baseball games; see the world; and count the stars in the bottom of her champagne glass.