Category Archives: New Member

Marketing-Digital

As the Founder and CEO of Wayward Kind, a digital and marketing collective and certified B Corporation, Jules Taggart strives to bring greater visibility to the work of purpose driven organizations that are designing a more just future. She is a human-centered marketing strategist, fraction CMO and educator. She believes that even as we rely more heavily on digital platforms for storytelling, organizing and uprising, meaningful human connection is still the most effective tool for liberation. One of the ways she measures the impact of her work is by championing the work of organizations that are making significant contributions in race, class and gender equity.

Jules grew up in Minnesota, left for college then grad school in Missouri, followed by a move to San Diego with her now husband. They have two children and are active participants in all things San Diego. Many of us remember Jules as she was a member of San Diego Rotary for a over a year before both the pandemic and a personal tragedy altered her plans. She put her membership on hold for awhile, but is now ready to get back into action. She would like to spot opportunities to help and step in where needed, looking first at the DEI, City Heights Rotaract and Cesar Chavez Readers committees.

Jules thanks her sponsors David Oates and Denise Scatena.

Military Service – US Navy – Additional Active

Ryan Dunn is a Commander in the US Navy and is an aviator. He has served over 26 years as a Naval Officer and helicopter pilot, currently serving as the Director of Aviation Training at Afloat Training Group San Diego. He is a Naval Academy graduate as well as the University of San Diego where he earned a Master’s of Science in Global Leadership. His certificates include Master Training Specialist and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Ryan has spent all 27 years, with the exception of a short tour in England with NATO, stationed here, and deploying from San Diego.

Ryan has volunteered for many organizations such as the Ironman Discipleship Program at Rock Church, the Master’s Program as a youth basketball coach, a baseball coach for Carmel Valley Little League, a school volunteer for Carmel Del Mar Elementary, and, as a cafeteria worker for Saint Vincent de Paul Parish homeless shelter.  He would like to continue his volunteer outreach through the San Diego Rotary committees by joining the Four Way Speech Contest, Interact programs, Senior Services and Military Affairs.

He and his wife Christa have two children, Sophie and Alistair. The family is very active in all things outdoors, from running, swimming and golfing, to biking, hiking and weightlifting. Ryan credits his healthy culinary abilities by self-titling “Smoothie King.”

His sponsors are Julie Roland, Wendy Urushima-Conn and Rodger Dougherty

Associations – Jewish Family Services

Kea Spurrier is the Chief Advancement Officer of Jewish Family Services, a human service agency that serves more than 80,000 San Diegans annually—regardless of religion, ability, race or identity. Prior to that, she worked at San Diego Zoo Global, also in development. She is currently the Chapter President of the Association for Fundraising Professionals. Kea has done volunteer work with Words Alive!, Dreams for Change, Wild Coast, San Diego Foundation, La Jolla Elementary and La Jolla High School; and, she is excited to continue to serve her community in a volunteer capacity through San Diego Rotary.

Kea is a San Diego native and a graduate of University of California San Diego, where she received a scholarship from Rotary to attend; as well as alumna of University of San Diego, where she received her master’s in leadership and nonprofit management. She is the mother of two boys, and and is an extensive traveler and an avid road cyclist.

Kea thanks her sponsors Wendy Urushima-Conn, Valerie Attisha, and Patti Roscoe.

Associations – Alzheimer’s Association

Janet Hamada Kelley is the Executive Director of the Alzheimer’s Association of the San Diego and Imperial Chapter. She has worked in the voluntary health care space for ten years serving at several different organizations such as the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in both a local and national capacity. Prior to her nonprofit work she owned two businesses: a consulting firm and a clothing boutique.

She is passionate about supporting women of color in leadership positions. She is currently a fellow in the Asian Pacific American Women Leadership Institute and is a member of Compassion Circle.

Janet was born and raised in Orange County, but after attending University of California San Diego, she put roots down here. She and her husband Justin have a four-year-old daughter who she loves to plan parties for in her off-time. She is interested in pursuing service for the Senior Services Committee, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and Membership Development.

Her sponsors are David Oates, Trevor Blair and Allison Whitney.

Landscaping Services

Ray Aguilar is the Vice President of Aztec Landscaping Inc. Ray’s parents started Aztec Landscaping and have kept it family owned since 1970 with Ray, his brothers and cousins currently at the helm.

Ray is a former member of the La Mesa and Lemon Grove Rotaries. He joined a San Diego Rotary meeting this past year and was impressed by the energy of our Club, then applied to switch. As a Lemon Grove Rotarian, Ray helped execute a clean water project for an underserved area in Mexico, bringing clean water to an orphanage, as well as a community, in need. He realized then that the beliefs he was raised understanding—to give to those who have less, and to do what you can for those who need help—aligned with Rotary’s mission and vision.

The Cesar Chavez Readers and Storefront Committees are of interest to him as he likes to be present while being impactful. He has four children if you count Peggy, the family dog (don’t worry Ray, we do), and he hopes to married in the near future.

Ray’s Club 33 sponsors are Bob Russell and Craig Evanco.

Sustainability-Children’s Toys

Malte Niebelschuetz is the Founder and CEO of Shore Buddies, a sustainable and educational children’s brand with a focus on preventing plastic pollution in the world’s oceans by using recycled bottles as the material to make stuffed animals, while additionally teaching youth about the dangers of inaction. He is also the Founder of the $1 For the Ocean nonprofit organization whose network connects ocean minded businesses who commit financially to support ocean protection projects and nonprofit organizations with a $1 donation for every product or service purchased within the network.

Malte grew up in Germany, and, after getting his graduate degree from a school near Hamburg, he became the Chief Knowledge Officer for Germany’s largest defense contractor in Dusseldorf.  He found himself wanting more from a career and found an opportunity here in San Diego to make an difference in the world by starting these two companies whose missions are grounded in sustainability and education.  Eleven years later he is a green card recipient, and now a proud resident of San Diego, though he considers himself a global citizen.

In his free time he enjoys surfing, soccer, yoga, reading, writing, and cooking. His “real life super power is getting the best out of people.” Malte’s life purpose is to empower kids to improve the world and to disrupt the toy industry. Luckily, he now knows there is more to California than just the “Golden Gate Bridge, LA and David Hasselhoff!”

Malte’s sponsors are Phil Blair, Judy Thompson and Douglas Arbon.

Consultant-Information Technology

Rudy Michelon is the CEO for Skyriver IT, where he has been a partner since 2017. Skyriver is an outsourced information technology company. Rudy’s background in accounting and financial management helps his company’s clientele understand the financial implications of technology and managing risks. Their unique business-centric, rather than technology-centric, approach is aligned with their mission to ensure their clients stay focused on their businesses while knowing their environment is reliable and secure.

Rudy’s father came from Italy and his mother was born in Peru, making him the first person in his family to be born in the United States. As a child he lived in Los Angeles, then later Peru and Argentina, before coming back to the US to attend USC. He studied abroad in France, at the La Sorbonne University, where he learned fluent French after getting his degree in accounting. After starting his career he moved back to Argentina, he later worked for a company in India, and, several Fortune 500 companies from Michigan to San Francisco, before settling here in San Diego.

He has four grown children of his own, and his life partner has three. He recently moved to East Village and is excited to meet new people through Rotary. Some of the community service organizations he is currently involved in include the Knights of Columbus and United Way.

Rudy thanks his sponsors Judy Thompson, David Oates, and Nicole Deberg.

Senior Care Services-St. Paul’s

Michael McHale assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at St. Paul’s Senior Services on April 11, 2022 after more than 22 years of executive management and development experience in the senior care and hospice industries.

McHale began his career in senior living administration at St. Paul’s Nursing & Rehabilitation Center (McColl Health Center) in 1999, where he served as Associate Administrator and offered support during the initial phase of the Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) application process.

Before returning to St. Paul’s in 2022, McHale served as the President and CEO of TRU Community Care in Boulder, Colo., where he improved operational performance and expanded services including hospice, home health, palliative care, memory care and PACE.

Additionally, McHale has served as the President & CEO of Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care in Illinois; Chief Operating Officer (COO) and CEO of Hospice of the Chesapeake, Inc. in Maryland; Vice President of Business Development and Sales at The Washington Home and Community Hospices in Wash. D.C.; Corporate Director of Marketing and Access Services at Hospice of Michigan; and Director of Access Services at the San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care, Inc. Throughout his career, McHale has served on multiple Rotary Club boards and is published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management for his innovation in hospice tele-health services.

Michael is originally from the state of Wisconsin, and he and his spouse have four children, one daughter-in-law, a granddaughter, and interestingly, an Alpaca Farm.

Michael thanks his sponsors Cheryl Wilson, Mark Allan and Troy Wilson.

Social Service & Welfare – ECS                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Elizabeth Fitzsimons started her career in San Diego as a journalist at the San Diego Union Tribune. She then became Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at Rady’s Children’s Hospital, and later, Vice President of Leadership and Engagement at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce where she led LEAD San Diego. In April of 2021, Elizabeth began serving as Chief Executive Officer for Episcopal Community Services, where she works today. In this role she inspires children, empowers adults and transforms communities by providing vital, high-quality social services that focus on early childhood education and development, homelessness, mental health and substance use disorder.

Elizabeth recently completed two terms as Library Commissioner on the City of San Diego’s Board of Library Commissioners; she currently serves on the Board of Governors for the University Club Atop Symphony Towers. Previously she served on the Board of Directors for the Jacob’s and Cushman San Diego Food Bank, and on the Governance Committee for the San Diego Public Library Foundation.

She lives in Del Cerro with her husband, daughter and twin sons: though her oldest is leaving for her freshman year in college.

Elizabeth’s sponsors are Wendy Urushima-Conn, David Oates and Valerie Attisha.