Category Archives: Member News

Retired-Hand Surgeon 

Richard Perlman is a retired hand surgeon whose private practice primarily involved reconstructive surgery for problems with the hand and wrist. He was in practice here in San Diego from 1971 until his retirement in 2020. Richard was born in Brooklyn, NY and graduated first from Princeton University before pursuing his medical degrees from Columbia University and the Graduate School of Public Health. He joined the Navy in 1969 and served at the Naval Hospital here in San Diego and had the honor of taking care of people whose hands were injured in Vietnam.

While in practice, Richard became a faculty member at UCSD and also taught at SDSU, making him a proud Aztec.

Richard has two sons and seven granddaughters. He and his partner live in Mission Hills and enjoy spending time in the outdoors, playing bad golf, and getting lots of exercise.

Richard thanks his sponsors Larry Stirling, Linda Stirling and Richard Coutts.

Associations-SDCCE Foundation

Dr. Tami Foy is the CEO and Executive Director of San Diego College of Continuing Education Foundation. Tami is originally from Shaker Heights, a suburb of  Cleveland, OH, where she spent her formative years before moving to San Diego and attending Mira Mesa High School. She then continued to pursue higher degrees from National University, and soon received her Ph.D. in education from Claremont Graduate University.

Her career has been a rich tapestry of experiences across all levels of education in CA, including K-12 in the Compton Unified School District, to the community college system at the North Orange Community College District, to now supporting the San Diego College of Continuing Education.

Tami has a large family she shares with her spouse. Their blended family includes seven children and 15 grandchildren. When she isn’t at work she’s usually enjoying their company. She also loves to go to the beach and ride her Harley!

Tami thanks her sponsors Tina King, Laurie Coskey and Michael Brunker.

Defense – Artificial Intelligence

Jon Schwartz is the Senior Manager of Accounting for Shield AI, a defense contractor and software development and drone manufacturing organization whose mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems by creating AI pilots powering military assets such as aircraft, drones, ships, satellites and submarines.  Jon is CPA with thirty-one years of financial and accounting management. He has also taught graduate level intermediate accounting courses at San Diego State University.

He is a single father of six children, one of whom is currently a SeaBee in the Navy, stationed in Coronado, which makes the Military Affairs Committee a good fit. He is the step-son of our beloved Past President Bonnie Schwartz, and Jon would like to honor her by carrying on her legacy with Club 33, continuing the great work she did.

Jon thanks his sponsors Judy Thompson, Mia Harenski and Paul Nestor.

News Media-Newspapers                                                                                                                              

Latanya West was born in San Diego and grew up in Los Angeles. After graduating from UC Berkley, she worked first in the entertainment industry as a tele coordinator for the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and in corporate media relations at NBC Studios. She also taught school for 13 years in the Pasadena Unified School District, then she worked as a curriculum consultant for McGraw Hill Education Publishing. From the start of her career she has been a freelance writer and copy writer. She currently holds the Managing Editor title at The San Diego Voice and Viewpoint where she has worked for the past six-and-a-half years.

Latanya has always been service driven as she grew up watching her mother volunteer her time and talents as a community builder. (Her mother is also a Past President of the Los Angeles Watts Rotary Club.) Her year as an exchange student in Greece solidified her commitment to community service, and Latanya is excited to continue her service above self practices as a San Diego Rotary Club member.

She thanks her sponsors Michael Brunker, Laurie Coskey and Gil Johnson.

Biotechnology-Pharmaceuticals

Emily Schnetz-Murphy is a rare disease specialist for BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, a company whose focus is to discover and commercialize new small molecules to treat patients with rare diseases. As a field based Rare Disease Specialist, her role is to educate healthcare providers on appropriate treatment of patients with Hereditary Angioedema, a potentially life threatening swelling condition. She also helps healthcare providers navigate access to life saving medications for their patients, including removing obstacles to high cost treatment.

Emily graduated from Seattle Pacific University School of Business and Economics and and quickly honed her skills in hospital and pharmaceutical sales. A life in service has her been goal. She is the co-founder of Grace Care Medical Center in Kampala, Uganda, where she actively consults on all aspects of the clinic from operations, staffing, development, budget and accounting, as well as fundraising. The patients visiting this clinic get a wide range of care including pre-natal, laboratory services, vaccinations, minor surgeries and malaria testing. Emily would like to expand her community service to local causes as well, which was her impetus for joining our Rotary Club.

She and her husband Travis have two young girls and have lived in San Diego for ten years.

Emily thanks her sponsors Brad Sund, Roger Haines and Walter Lam.

Social Service and Welfare—San Diego Youth Services

Laura O’Sullivan is the Director of Philanthropy and Donor Engagement at San Diego Youth Services. She came to San Diego Youth Services in 2023 after previously serving on their board of directors from 2012-2018. Laura has been working in the San Diego philanthropy sector for more than 20 years. She began her career at Qualcomm in Corporate Giving leading grants, employee volunteerism, board service and CSR programs for ten years. She also served in development roles at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego and the Coronado Schools Foundation.

Laura grew up in Coronado and graduated from the University of California, Davis with a B.A in Communication and a B.A. in Organizational Studies. She met her husband, J.T., in UC Davis Spanish class and took a brief “retirement” to raise their three young children while their family moved around for J.T.’s NFL Career.

Laura is the proud mother of three active boys: Jack(14), Larkin(10), and Davis(8). She enjoys watching her children play sports, the beach and cheering for the Padres.

She thanks her sponsors Michael Brunker, Andrea da Rosa and Courtney Pendleton.

Gourmet Cookies

Maya Madsen is the founder and CEO of Maya’s Cookies, America’s #1 Black-Owned Gourmet Vegan Cookie Company. As a vegan with a sweet tooth she had not been able to find perfectly delicious, soft-baked gourmet vegan cookies, so she spent years crafting award-winning and crowd pleasing recipes. She started her gourmet cookie business in 2015 by selling her baked goods at farmers markets in the area and online. Her company was steadily growing year after year. Then, in the summer of 2020, the civil unrest sweeping the nation prompted a list of black-owned businesses to be shared world wide, and Maya’s Cookies made that list (because they are delicious).  Since that summer she has opened two brick-and-mortar stores while also maintaining her online sales, as well as selling on the Home Shopping Network.

Maya is committed to superior customer service and community engagement with a focus on youth and underserved communities. She is a career partner with Kitchens For Good, an organization whose apprenticeship program for those who have barriers to employment such as justice system involvement, a history of foster care, mental health or or substance abuse challenges, or unsheltered living, gives people a chance to become certified in the culinary arts. She is also a mentor at Promises to Kids, San Marcos Boys and Girls Clubs and serves on the boards of Fred Finch, Junior Achievement San Diego, and San Marcos Chamber of Commerce.

She ran 5 marathons while working as a personal fitness instructor and trainer for 30 years before exchanging her gym shoes for oven mitts. She and her husband Dustin have 3 sons, one who now works for Maya’s Cookies.

Maya thanks her sponsors Michael Brunker, Donna DeBerry and Valerie Attisha.

Retired – Cardiologist

David Ostrander is a retired cardiologist who practiced medicine at Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group for the majority of his career. He was born in Detroit, MI, attended Yale University as an undergraduate, NYU for medical school, and then did his residency at the University of Chicago before starting his fellowship at U.C.S.D. He and his wife Elizabeth have been married since 1981, and they share a daughter.

David has served as a junior faculty member at UCSD, a member of the SRS Board of Management, he directed a cardiac cath lab, and was Chief of Staff at Sharp Memorial among many other accolades. Now that he is retired, he would like to be a part of efforts to address the structural and cultural causes that lead to homelessness in our community. He feels a deep sense of calling to help, and is convinced we must engage with those whom we disagree in a process he refers to as “Charitable Discourse” to work together to heal our world.  During his self introduction he said that after 38 years of practice in the cardiology field, he would like to now give heart to those in need.

David thanks his sponsors RB Johnson, Judy Thompson and Tom Mosher.

Technology-Wireless Solutions

Michael Kemmer has lived all of his life in California, and half of that in San Diego. As long as he’s been here, he’s viewed Rotary as a part of his tie into the fabric of the community. He grew up under the tutelage of Rotarians first as an Interact student, and later as an SDSU Rotaract. During those years he took advantage of volunteer events both groups participated in, including Home building in Tijuana, Urban Angels & Traveling Stories. Since graduating from college, Michael has started volunteering at the American Red Cross, including delivering blood products during the pandemic to hospitals throughout San Diego County.

In his role as Enterprise Solutions Architect for Verizon, he designs and deploys IT infrastructure and application projects. His areas of expertise include solution/architecture design, cyber security and product management.

So as to not be confused with any other Michaels in the room, he prefers to go by “Kemmer.”

Kemmer thanks his sponsors Jordan Maharaj, Jordan Harrison and Duke Sobek.

Associations – Girl Scouts

Carol Dedrich is the Chief Executive Officer for Girl Scouts San Diego. Carol attributes the lessons she learned as a young Girl Scout with preparing her for leadership roles in school, the military, and throughout her career. Now, she is a champion of girls and women, committed to helping them overcome insecurities and building collaborations to expand their perspectives and skills. She began her career as a Patriot Missile Officer in the U.S. Army with an RA commission and is a veteran of Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

She transitioned to civilian life as a Director at United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, later moving to the John Wayne Cancer Institute as Vice President of Marketing and Development, and Vice President at the Fulfillment Fund. Before joining Girl Scouts San Diego in 2016, she spent seven years as Chief External Relations Officer for Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles.

At her leisure, Carol enjoys working on her private pilot’s license, being a scuba diving enthusiast, and traveling the world with her husband, Alex. Next on their bucket list: Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, Chuuk Lagoon, and a flying experience in Africa. They recently adopted her late sister’s tortoiseshell cat, Kenya, who loves making appearances during virtual meetings.

She thanks her sponsors Wendy Urushima-Conn, Emily Rex and David Oates.