Rotary Club of Seattle

Join the Rotary Club of Seattle for our next Zoom only lunch meeting on Wednesday, October 22. Guests and those interested in membership, please email mary@seattlerotary.org for more details. Seattle Rotary Service Foundation Community Partners Panel Discussion Basic needs are the foundation for thriving communities. Without stable access to food, housing, and safe spaces for kids, it’s nearly impossible for families to build toward stability. On Wednesday, October 22nd, you’ll hear from SRSF's three legacy organizations who address these needs every day and what they are facing in this new and more challenging environment. Panelists: Julie Morris/Wellspring Family Service, David Bobanick/Harvest Against Hunger and Tim Batten-King/The Rotary Boys & Girls Club.  

Join the Rotary Club of Seattle for our next lunch meeting in downtown Seattle on Wednesday, October 15. If interested in attending, please email mary@seattlerotary.org Shannon Braddock, King County Executive Shannon Braddock has 15 years of local government experience and is the first woman to serve as King County Executive. She is committed to providing strong and steady leadership for the people of King County and delivering the essential services communities rely on, from roads, parks and trails to public transit, health, safety and more. Executive Braddock is nearing the end of her time in office and looks forward to this opportunity to connect with the Seattle Rotary community.

Congratulations are in order for club member P. Barton DeLacy, M.U.P., MAI, CRE! The peer-reviewed professional journal The Counselors of Real Estate recently awarded Barton with their Jared Schlaes Prize during their annual conference in Detroit. This recognition is given annually to the author of a published real estate article that exemplified clear writing to the broadest audience. Bravo, Barton!

Last week we kicked off our annual fundraising campaign with a surprise generous match gift from long-time member Carl Behnke! The Seattle Rotary Service Foundation will be leveraging this donation to "level up" member donations and even further increase our impact locally and internationally this Rotary year. Thank you to Carl and all members that generously donate to support our granting each year! You do not have to be a Rotary member to contribute to the good works of our organization; donate here: https://lnkd.in/gv963PC5

Join the Rotary Club of Seattle for our next lunch meeting in downtown Seattle on Wednesday, October 1. Guests and prospective members, please email mary@seattlerotary.org for more info. Gordon McHenry, United Way of King County We survived the Pandemic and yet the amount of hunger, housing instability, and homelessness is increasing.  Hear perspectives on the continuing challenge of ensuring all residents of King County are meeting their basic needs.  And why is it so difficult to reduce the amount of basic need in one of the most wealthy, compassionate, and generous regions of the US?

New Member Introduction of Andrew Doran by John A. Kilpatrick, Ph.D. Please join us as we welcome Andrew Doran, one of The Rotary Club of Seattle’s newest Rotarians, who was proposed by Past President Jonathan Bridge. Andrew is the Assistant Dean for Development and External Relations at the University of Washington School of Law. In that capacity, he provides leadership for the school’s fundraising development and external relationships. Andrew’s path to Seattle is a fairly circuitous one. He hails from upstate New York, near Rochester, but knew from an early age that he wanted to get away. He went to college in South Carolina, at Clemson University, and embarked on a very successful career in corporate marketing.  Andrew spent most of that career with Coca Cola, ending up as VP of Sales for the Western U.S. That job took him to Las Vegas, where he met his wife Heather on a blind date. She was from Idaho, but had gone to school at the University of Puget Sound, and like Andrew, she was in marketing with M.G.M. Las Vegas. Andrew and Heather will celebrate their 14th anniversary on October 1st, 2025. After Las Vegas, Coca Cola moved Andrew to Bellevue, then down to Irvine, California. In 2018, Andrew moved back to the Puget Sound, specifically Redmond, when Andrew joined Keurig to take over management of the important Keurig-Starbucks relationship.  Andrew and Heather have two children, a daughter, age 11, and a son, age three-and-a-half. Andrew and Heather were building their family when the COVID Pandemic hit, and it led to some very real introspection about where Andrew’s career was headed. He decided it was time to take his hard-earned business skills and put them to work in a more rewarding not-for-profit role, which led him to his current position at the University about a year and a half ago. He describes his new job as the Ambassador for the School of Law. I asked Andrew how the transition was working out, and he told me how much he has been able to leverage what he learned in business. He used words like ‘gratification’ and ‘fulfillment’ to describe the feeling he now gets helping people, particularly developing the resources for scholarships and financial aid for deserving students. Much of Andrew’s work is outreach to the school’s alumni. The U.W School of Law has about 9,000 living alums, and about 70% of them live in the State of Washington. As a result, Andrew’s travel schedule is no where near as onerous as it once was – he works from home about two days a week and is on campus about three days a week. In prior years, Andrew has been active as a Professional Mentor with American Corporate Partners, as a Mass Responder with the American Red Cross, and as Chair of the School Commission for the St. Louise School. Right now, however, Andrew’s non-work life surrounds playing with his kids and playing golf. Please join us in welcoming Andrew Doran.

Earlier this year, our inner club charitable arm, the Seattle Rotary Service Foundation, awarded its $75,000 Large Local Community Impact Grant to Uplift Northwest. Hear about how Rotary Club of Seattle member dollars have been used for good in our downtown Seattle community as we get closer to our October 1 campaign start date. To make a donation to the Seattle Rotary Service Foundation: https://lnkd.in/gxkQXvKV

Interested in learning more about the Rotary Club of Seattle? Join us for our next Zoom only meeting on Wednesday, September 24. If you are interested in attending, please email mary@seattlerotary.org for more information. Young Professionals Economics Panel Ready for a lively conversation on what it really takes to succeed in 2025? Join us as past president Dorothy Bullitt moderates a dynamic panel with Rotarians, Jenn Gladish, Garin Wedeking, and Stephen Morse, CPA, CFP® Morse—three young professionals with very different backstories and perspectives. They’ll swap honest stories about paying for college, buying a home, juggling childcare, and planning for the future—all while living in an economy that looks nothing like it did a generation ago. Get set for some candid talk, friendly banter, and maybe even a little debate as we tap into what’s changed—and what hasn’t—for those just starting out today. Whether you’re nostalgic for the interest rates of the ’70s or curious about what retirement means for Millennials, you won’t want to miss this chance to hear—and join—the conversation. Tune in, bring your questions, and let’s bridge the gap together!

Join the Rotary Club of Seattle for our next club lunch meeting in downtown Seattle on Wednesday, September 17. Our theme this month is economy and guests can find more information by emailing mary@seattlerotary.org. Markham McIntyre, Director of the Seattle Office of Economic Development and Jon Scholes, President & CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, club member Worker foot traffic continues to climb downtown. The average daily number of employees reached a post-pandemic high with more than 154,000 daily worker visits in July, the highest number since February 2020. This marks the second consecutive month reaching 66% of the volume comparable to 2019 levels. Join Jon Scholes and Markham McIntyre as they examine where we were a few years ago, where we are now and the progress that’s been made, and where we go from here when it comes to downtown recovery and public safety.

As we approach this year's fundraising period for our Rotary foundations, we thought it would be a good time to break down the differences between the Seattle Rotary Service Foundation (SRSF) and The Rotary Foundation (TRF). Peep our infographic below, use the links to donate! Donate to SRSF: https://lnkd.in/gxkQXvKV Donate to TRF: https://lnkd.in/d43u4-9