Events

Mindy Williamson is the Director of Marketing for the Iowa State Fair. The 2015 Iowa State Fair was her first as Marketing Director, but Mindy has been a Fair lover and attendee for many years.  Most recently, she worked for the advertising agency, Amperage, specializing in non-profit and governmental clients. For about 9 years prior to that, Mindy worked for the Iowa Corn Growers Association as the Communications and Public Relations Director, managing public relations, media, and internal/external communications. Some of her most successful events included the Iowa Corn Indy race and the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

Mindy has her certification in volunteer management and has nearly completed her accreditation in public relations. She has a BS in Biological Pre-Medical Illustration from Iowa State University with a specialization in botany. Mindy and her husband, Kevin, live on an acreage in Madison County and have two kids, Taelor and Trent, a few crops, show pigs and a dog named, Otis.

Note:  This meeting is free to DMAM members and their families as described above.  Visiting Rotarians are welcome to attend but must purchase their own tickets and breakfast at the Cattlemen's Beef Quarters.

Jeff Chelesvig is President & CEO of Des Moines Performing Arts, an organization he has led for more than two decades. Under Jeff’s leadership Des Moines Performing Arts, which owns and operates the Des Moines Civic Center, has grown to present seven series including the Willis Broadway Series. He is a member of the Broadway League’s Board of Governors where he serves on the Executive Committee and Intra-Industry committee.  Additionally, Jeff serves as President of the Independent Presenters Network.  In 2005 Jeff was honored with the League’s Samuel J. L'Hommedieu Award for Outstanding Achievement in Presenter Management.

In 2014, Joe Gonzalez retired from the DM Police Department.  Shortly after, he became Executive Director of Latino Resources, Inc., the non-profit organization running the annual Iowa Latino Heritage Festival.   This year’s festival takes place Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29 in Downtown’s Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park.          

Joe graduated from DMACC in 1971 and soon after was hired as a Des Moines Police Cadet.  Promotion to  Police Officer came in 1975.  Joe’s next promotion was to the rank of Sergeant in 2004 and he leads the Community Outreach and Protective Services Division. 

In 2010 he was again promoted; this time to the rank of Lieutenant, commanding the Neighborhood Based Service Delivery Unit. This unit had officers working with the neighborhood associations in the city. He also oversaw the Mobile Crisis Unit responding to calls on individuals that were having mental health crises. In addition, he oversaw the Police Activities League and ran a boxing club for youth. 

Joe’s a 2007-2008 graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute and was honored with the Community and Visioning award in 2012.

He has been recognized by the 

• U. S. Attorney’s Office 
• Domestic Abuse Coordinating Council 
• Iowa Organization of Victim Assistance, and 
• United Latinas for a New Dawn for his work in assisting victims of domestic violence 

In 2003 the Des Moines Rotary Club selected him as the Police Officer of the Year. 

Upon his retirement in 2014 Chief Judy Bradshaw honored him with the meritorious service award in recognition of his distinguished career. Joe is the highest-ranking Latino in the history of the Des Moines Police Department.

He currently serves on the Proteus and Police Activities boards and is a past board member of the Variety Club, Chrysalis Foundation, Polk County Housing Trust Fund, and Broadlawns Hospital. 

Joe is also currently involved with the Inclusion and Diversity Council and the Equity and Inclusion Committee. He has been a mentor for the Community Connect Program for 4 years.

When asked what strong community involvement means to him, Joe responds “this means all community members are involved and engaged in civic activity to make the community better, to help it thrive, and to be inclusive. It’s something that is done in everyday life as we make our decisions and as we work, live, and play in our community.” 

On June 27^th, 2008, Commissioner Eugene T. Meyer appointed John Quinn Director of the Division of Criminal Investigation.

Director Quinn began his career with DPS in 1983 after completing the 11^thBasic Academy.  He was first assigned as a Special Agent for the DCI working general criminal investigations.  After 20 years investigating more than 100 homicides and numerous other crimes against person or property, Quinn was promoted to Special Agent In Charge, supervising all field operations, investigations and personnel for DCI's Zone 1. Then in 2003, Quinn was promoted to Assistant Director of DCI in Charge of Field Operations. In his duties as Assistant Director Quinn managed all general criminal investigations, DCI's Cyber Crime Unit and the Missing Persons Information Clearinghouse.

In his years of service to DPS, Quinn has been a DPS recruiter, head drill instructor for the DPS Academy, and coordinated DCI firearms training when the division switched from revolvers to semi-automatic pistol in 1993 and 1994. Quinn was also one of DPS' greatest resources in training officers state-wide on the basic techniques of interviewing and interrogation.

Quinn is a 1982 graduate of Iowa State University. In his journey toward self-improvement, he also completed Drake University's Certified Public Management Program in 2006 and Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command in 2007. Quinn is also a 2007 Leadership Iowa Graduate. 

In March of 2014, John was hired the Waukee Chief of Police.

This meeting is designated as a DMAM Rotary Founders Day.  This means that our Club will meet at the Iowa State Capitol, and not at Wakonda. 

DMAM members travel well, and we're expecting a good turnout!

Speaker Bio

Robert Mwanga- 2016 World Food Prize Laureate

Dr. Robert Mwanga, 2016 World Food Prize laureate, has over 30 years of experience working with research and development teams. In Uganda, he led collaborative multiple-trait improvement of sweetpotato, breeding for increased provitamin A-rich orange-fleshed cultivars to alleviate vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) under the Vitamin A for Africa (VITAA) initiative, Sweetpotato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA) project of the International Potato Center (CIP), and HarvestPlus. His work led to the release of 28 sweetpotato cultivars some of which have been widely promoted to combat VAD; using modern methods has improved the efficiency of sweetpotato breeding in SSA.

Monte Shaw, 
Executive Director

IOWA RENEWABLE FUELS ASSOCIATION

Mr. Shaw is in his 20^th year of working on behalf of the biofuels industry, having joined the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) as Executive Director in 2005 following nearly six years as Director of Communications for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) in Washington, DC.

Working with a team of three others to pursue IRFA’s mission of fostering the development and growth of the renewable fuels industry, Mr. Shaw is responsible for the management, policy and political agenda, and trade efforts of IRFA.

Mr. Shaw began his career by working for the campaigns and official offices of numerous candidates and elected officials, including Steve Forbes, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole, U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, U.S. Senator Bob Dole, and U.S. Rep. Jim Lightfoot.

Mr. Shaw was raised on a corn and soybean farm just outside of the southwest Iowa town of Shenandoah. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. He currently resides in West Des Moines with his wife Tina, daughter Eden, son Max, and two rescue dogs.

Gary Rasmussen earned a master’s degree in Psychology from Walden University and is currently a doctoral candidate to earn his Ph.D. in Forensic Psychology. 

Gary worked in law enforcement for 18 years, serving as a Drug Task Force member, K-9 officer, Special Response Team (SRT) member and Chief of Police. 

In 2006, Gary changed career paths and began working in community mental health services. He has lead community and residential service programs, a drop-in recovery center, and Community Integration program. Gary served on the Mobile Crisis Response Team, Crisis Incident Stress Management team, and designed and implemented the Therapeutic Alternatives to Incarceration program in Story County, Iowa. 

Gary served on NAMI Greater Des Moines’ Board of Directors for four years and joined the organization’s staff in 2018.

We'll be back at Waonda December 6th.  Enjoy the holiday!

Jay Byers is CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The Partnership is the regional economic and community development organization serving Central Iowa with 24 Affiliate Chambers of Commerce and a network of more than 6,600 regional members.

Byers is a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE), graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute of Organization Management (IOM), graduate of the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute (OUED!) and graduate of Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives' (ACCE) Ford Foundation Regionalism and Sustainable Develpment Fellowship.

Prior to his current role, Byers served as the Partnership's Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Policy.  Before joining The Partnership, he worked as District Director for Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell and as an attorney at the Ice Miller Law Firm in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Byers is a graduate of Simpson Colege and the University of Iowa College of Law.  He resides in Des Moines with his wife, Katie, and two daughters, Sophie and Charlotte.

Executive with 30 year history working at the intersection of healthcare and large employers. Active business strategist, investor and advisor with focus on health economies and acquisitions for private and public sector. Developed multiple patented practices for streamlining insurance operations and management. CEO of Regenexx, a global best-practices provider specializing in interventional orthopedics. Architect of the Regenexx Corporate Program saving corporations millions in healthcare design. Advocate and business speaker on the unprecedented healthcare crisis, consulting with company decision makers on major strategy shifts to mitigate healthcare trajectory, leading real-time savings and employee wellbeing through innovation.

 

The DMAM Santa Program is a club tradition where we "recognize" members for being naughty or nice during the year.  It's a spirited fun and light hearted program, conceived by some of Santa's elves who've been keeping a sharp eye on Rotarians.

Please know that program content is not geared toward children. For this reason, it is best to leave the young ones at home!

Enjoy the Holidays!

Wakonda Club is closed the first two weeks of January, so we're taking the opportunity to meet at Capitol School Elementary School to learn more about their programs that help children and the community they serve.  The school is located at 320 E 16th Street in Des Moines.  The meeting begins at 7 AM and dismisses at 8 AM.

We hope all members attend this meeting!

This Founders Day allows members to choose to attend a meeting at one of these two locations:

• KCCI News 8 - Hosted by Erin Moynihan, 888 9th Street, Des Moines
• The Des Moines Playhouse - Hosted by David Kilpatrick, 831 42nd Street, Des Moines

Members need to email bevmclinden.dmamrotary@yahoo.com regarding the location they wish to attend, or sign up at a meeting prior to the January 10th Founders Day.  This helps each host to adequately plan food quantities.

Thanks for taking time to respond!

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