Category Archives: Member News

Retired – Law Enforcement

David Bejarano was an honorary member of San Diego Rotary Club from 1999-2009 when he transferred his membership to the Chula Vista Rotary Club.

David was in law enforcement for over 35 years; 25 years with the San Diego Police Department, five of which he served as Chief of Police. After retiring the first time he, a week later, was appointed by then President Bush to be the US Marshall for the Southern District of California. After several years of US Marshal service, David retired again, only to soon become Chief of Police for Chula Vista for the following 8 years. He now does corporate security consulting.

Chief Bejarano has earned many well-deserved accolades including being recognized with both the Peacemaker and Diogenes Awards for demonstrating integrity and candor with the public and news media. In 2012 he became the Police Executive of the Year by the California Association of Tactical Officers, and was also listed as one of the nations “100 Most Influential Hispanics.”

David thanks his sponsors Michael Brunker, Bill Gore and Ray Uzeta.

Associations – Jewish Family Service

Dana is the chief operating officer for Jewish Family Service of San Diego, a nonprofit organization that provides a wide range of social services and assistance programs to individuals and families in our county. She is also the founder and president of Make Work Work for Moms, an initiative striving to make work work for moms by raising awareness via story telling to shift the narrative and policy change.

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Dana moved to the warmer weather of San Diego over 20 years ago. She has her BA from the University of Wisconsin, an MBA and an MSW from SDSU, and an LCSW from the Board of Behavioral Sciences. She currently serves on the Commission for the Status of Women of San Diego.

Dana has a twelve-year-old son, and they love everything that involves the outdoors.

She thanks her sponsors Marie Raftery, Divya Kakaiya and Wendy Urushima-Conn.

Law – Trust Administration

Daniel is the founder and owner of Weiner Law, an estate planning and probate law firm in San Diego. Prior to moving to San Diego 6 years ago, he worked at leading international firms in London, Washington DC and Hong Kong as a US and UK licensed attorney. During that time he provided legal council to renowned clients which included major investment banks and Fortune 500 companies.

Dan advised on Groundbreaking cryptocurrency transactions and his work in this area was published in a major international publication, International Financial Law Review.  He obtained his law degree from the University of Birmingham in the UK, and his master of laws degree (LLM) from Duke Law School.

Dan was born and raised in London and moved to the United States in 2017. He and his Texan wife have two young children: five-year-old Aiden and three-year-old Emma.

He thanks his sponsors Joe Farrage, Rick Brooks and Kim Benson.

Online Learning-Literacy

Austin Martin is the Founder and CEO of Rhymes With Reason, an online learning platform that helps young people learn words while building literacy in various areas such as English Language Arts, Entrepreneurship, Workforce Development and Civics via popular music.  His organization has worked with over 200 schools and afterschool programs across the United States to date, with a large presence in Detroit, MI, Philadelphia, PA, and Los Angeles, CA. Austin’s own educational trajectory is the inspiration behind his organization’s mission. His deep investment in hip-hop music and its illustrious vocabulary gave him the opportunity to excel as a reader, writer and communicator.

Born and raised here in San Diego, Austin went on to Brown University, and later got his Masters in Education from Harvard. He credits his parents and grandparents for inspiring him to be involved with facilitating marginalized communities as they worked in education and healthcare. He was listed as Forbes 2020 30 Under 30 in education, Echoing Green Black Male Achievement Fellow, International Literacy Association’s 30 Under 30 Global Nominee, and was the Harvard Social Impact Fellowship Fund Awardee.

Austin thanks his sponsors Michael Brunker, Jordan Harrison and Duke Sobek.

Associations-United Way of San Diego

Nancy Sasaki has been the President and CEO of United Way San Diego County since 2018. She has led a long tenure within the nonprofit industry as the former Executive Director of Alliance Healthcare Federation, a thirty year career with Planned Parenthood in Austin, TX, San Diego and Los Angeles, CA, and in Hawaii. She currently sits on the board of directors of the Regional Taskforce on Homelessness, the San Diego Workforce Partnership Policy Board, and 2-1-1- San Diego.

Nancy graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with her Masters in Education in Community Health. She has an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Cal State, San Marcos, was Business Woman of the Year in 2019 and 2022, named as one of 50 Making a Difference, and was the 2022 Asian Business Association Community Leader recipient.

She has a daughter and son-in-law who live in Austin, TX. You can find Nancy playing tennis regularly as well as beach volleyball.

Nancy thanks her sponsors Michael Brunker, Gil Johnson and Glenn Rossman.

Museum-Women’s Museum of California

Laura Mitchell, Executive Director of the Women’s Museum of California, has over thirty years of experience in academic, educational and cultural institutions. Before serving in her current role, Laura was the Executive Director of the Visions Museum of Textile Art, Director of Advancement for the Hong Kong Academy, as a consultant for Plan. Fund. Create. in Hong Kong and Washington DC, as President of the Luther Institute as well as a Historian and Project Coordinator at the National Museum of American History for the Smithsonian.

Whether living in DC, Hong Kong or San Diego, Laura has always been an active member of clubs and organizations that make community service their focal point. She has served on the board for the San Diego Museum Council, the Vesper Society, and Adventures in Preservation. She has also volunteered for, or been a member of, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the East Asia Regional Council of Schools.

Laura was born in Los Angeles, CA, and graduated from Pomona College with a BA in economics before earning her PhD. in American history from Yale. She loves music, art and classic film as well as green tea. She has two daughters and two dogs.

Laura thanks her sponsors Andrea da Rosa, Ray Simas and Corey Polant.

Retired-Orthopedic Surgery

Michael Hennessy is from a small town in Minnesota where he stayed through medical school at the University of Minnesota. He and his now wife of 49 years moved first to Boston, then to San Diego for Michael to serve two years at Camp Pendleton. After twenty years of practice here they moved to Great Falls, Montana. Michael and his wife, also a doctor, moved back to San Diego after opening a surgical center and then a hospital in Montana. They now are fully retired and live here full time.

Michael was one of the founding members of the Mercy Outreach Surgical Team. He has volunteered with many organizations including Hospital Ruanguba in Zaire, Habitat for Humanity, and has done volunteer surgery in Kenya, Guatemala, Mexico, and Congo.

Michael and his wife have three adult children.

Michael thanks his sponsors Mike Meaney, Doug Arbon and Lisa Miller.

Social Services-Promises2Kids

Tonya Torosian is the CEO of Promises2Kids, a 41-year-old nonprofit founded as the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation. This organization is dedicated to creating a brighter future for the more than 200,000 foster children it serves, and the communities where they live.

Tonya grew up in Maddison, Wisconsin, in a community service minded family where she learned the importance of social work. She went on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in Social Welfare, and later Arizona State, with a MSW in Administration. Her passion has been to support children who have been the victims of abuse and neglect.  She has spent the past 25 years in San Diego doing just that.

She and her wife adopted a son, who is now six-years-old, who would have most likely gone into foster care.

Tonya thanks her sponsors Mary Colacicco, Valerie Attisha and Chris Graham.

Retired – Certified Public Accounting

Originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, proud Cornhusker Tom Kerl began his career as a CPA in a large firm. He later moved to Orange County, CA and started his own firm, where he stayed for 30 years. He and his wife had 4 children, and now 16 grandchildren.

Tom is an animal advocate and has volunteered for both Next Step Service Dogs and Fast Friends Greyhound Rescue and Adoption. He and his new wife Judy enjoy transpacific sailing and the Opera.

Tom thanks his sponsors Ned Silver, Wendy Urushima-Conn and David Oates.

Sustainability – Electric Bikes

Ed Clancy is an Army Veteran who has worked across a broad spectrum of interests to increase active living/healthy lifestyle cultures in the San Diego community for the past twelve years. He is currently the Founder and President of Pedal Ahead, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides e-bikes to individuals in underserved communities through a loan-to-own program, which advances lifestyles and challenges socio-economic barriers. These e-bikes, over 525 distributed in San Diego county thus far, provide the missing links for those who need an affordable way to get to to and from work, as well as other daily transportation needs.

He has one child and has been a volunteer at Rotarians at Work Day in years past.

Ed thanks his sponsors Phil Blair, Wendy Urushima-Conn and Mel Katz.