Events

Tuesday 02/03/26 Rotary meeting and luncheon

Betsy Brennan, CEO Downtown SD Partnership will give us an update on what is happening in downtown San Diego.

For more information about Betsy please look at this link: 

https://rotarycluboflajolla.org/Speakers/32a59687-fa44-4d1c-88e6-b04bc584e9d8

As President and CEO, Betsy Brennan leads the Downtown San Diego Partnership, a member-based organization whose mission is to promote an economically prosperous and culturally vibrant urban center. The Partnership proudly serves more than 400 member businesses, representing thousands of residents, employees, and Downtown property owners. Ms. Brennan and her staff are also responsible for administering the Clean & Safe Program, a $9-million property and business improvement district of the City of San Diego, which offers enhanced maintenance and safety services throughout 275 blocks in the heart of Downtown San Diego.

Ms. Brennan obtained her Juris Doctor, with a specialization in land use, at the University of San Diego (2003). During her time in law school, she participated in the University of San Diego’s Land Use Clinic and interned for a Commissioner of the Board of the Port of San Diego. After law school, Ms. Brennan served as Chief of Staff for the City of San Diego’s first-ever City Council President, Scott Peters, and was integral in the transition to a strong-mayor form of government, as well as in the establishment of the roles and policies for the San Diego City Council (2002-2008).

Ms. Brennan has a proven track record of leading civic engagement, grassroots community involvement, external relations, economic development, and innovative programs for institutions such as the Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina (Vice President of Development, 2016-2018), Tahoe Forest Health System in Lake Tahoe (Executive Director, Foundation, 2015-2016), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Chief of Staff to the President, 2011- 2015), and San Diego State University (Chief of Staff to the President, 2008-2011).

Ms. Brennan holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in International Politics and Spanish from the University of Richmond in Virginia (1998). She is a proud graduate of several regional and statewide leadership programs – including LEAD San Diego (Impact Class of 2006 and Influence Class of 2018) and Leadership CA (2011) – and has served on several local nonprofit boards of directors, including her current positions on the boards of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, University of San Diego School of Law Board of Visitors, and the Columbia Community Foundation.

Ms. Brennan is also a member of Lambda Alpha International, a highly honorary and selective group of professionals who have distinguished themselves in various disciplines that relate to the use and re-use of land. Ms. Brennan has received several noteworthy acknowledgements of her community commitment, including San Diego Business Journal’s “500 Most Influential Business Leaders” (2019), San Diego Magazine’s “50 People to Watch” (2008), San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” (2010), and San Luis Obispo Tribune’s “Top 20 Under 40” (2013). She especially appreciated receiving SDSU’s Associated Students Presidential Leadership Award for her collaborative style and dedication to working alongside students to better serve SDSU and for her excellence in service to the greater San Diego community (2011).

Ms. Brennan, her husband, Eli, and children are grateful to enjoy living in and discovering San Diego.

Tuesday 02/10/26 Rotary meeting and luncheon

Our speakers will be Fary Moini and Steve Brown 
They will share their story of securing the release of an American hostage in Iran.

We will be on the patio, so dress appropriately.

Fary Moini has been a member of the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club since 1999.  She is a dual citizen of Iran and the USA, with some family members residing in Iran. Accordingly, she visits Iran from time to time to stay in touch with her family.  In the spring of 2023, Fary made such a visit, but it resulted in a surprising turn of events. Club member Steve Brown became aware of the situation upon Fary’s scheduled return. 

Steve and Fary will share their respective stories about what transpired including what was involved with Fary’s return to the US, later than planned. Many people and countries were involved.

Professionally, Fary Moini received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Tehran and worked as the Director of Nursing, at the Iranian Medical Center in Dubai UAE, managing over 350 nurses and technicians across two hospitals, and overseeing clinical operations staffing training and quality of care standards   

She has a long history of International Service with Rotary, serving as a Rotary Foundation Volunteer 

 November 2002 to Present. Jalabad Afghanistan, Rotary Completed 26 humanitarian missions to Afghanistan.

Supporting education, women’s health, and community development initiatives.
Facilitated life-saving medical care by sending children with congenital heart disease to India and Israel for surgery.
Provided full-time care for one child during a three-month stay in Israel.

Diplomatic and Medical Coordination
Arranged and assisted a meeting between Afghan Ambassador H.E. Tahir Qadiry and the Chairman of Sanjeevani Pediatric Cardiac Center in India for further training of Afghan specialists (July 28, 2018).

Steve Brown was a partner in the law firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps from1972 until his retirement several years ago. A Rotarian since 1986, he has served the Rotary Foundation as trustee 2010-14 and vice chair in 2012-13. He has served as member of various committees at Rotary headquarters. Since 2002, he has been working as a volunteer on projects in Afghanistan through the current time. 

Tuesday 02/17/26 Rotary meeting and luncheon

Our speakers will be Darren Kew, Dean of USD's Kroc School of Peace Studies
Conflict Resolution and Democratic Development in Africa

Darren Kew (Ph.D. in International Relations, Tufts

University, 2002) is Dean of the Joan B. Kroc

School of Peace Studies, at the University of San Diegop, where he is also a

professor. He studies the relationship between

conflict resolution methods – particularly interfaith

and inter-ethnic peacebuilding – and democratic

development in Africa, Northern Ireland, and the

United States. Much of his work focuses on the role

of civil society groups in this development. He has

also been a consultant on peace and democracy

initiatives to the United Nations, USAID, US

Institute of Peace, the US State Department, and to

a number of NGOs, including the Carter Center. He

monitored the last seven Nigerian elections and the

2007 elections in Sierra Leone, and in 2023-24 cofacilitated

a working group of religious leaders

focusing on religion and peacebuilding in Belfast,

Northern Ireland. Professor Kew was asked by the

British and American governments to join an

influential international commission requested by

the Nigerian government in 2010, which contributed

to a major overhaul of its election system. He is

author of numerous works on Nigerian politics and

conflict resolution, including the book Civil Society,

Conflict Resolution, and Democracy in Nigeria

(Syracuse UP, 2016), and his articles have

appeared in International Negotiation, the Journal

of Democracy, and Current History, among others.

Scott Wahl was promoted to serve as the City ofSan Diego’s 36th Chief of Police on June 7, 2024.Chief Wahl oversees the police department for the eighth-largest city in the nation.

Chief Wahl is a fourth-generation San Diegan who grew up in the Clairemont community. He has adeep love for San Diego and the San Diego PoliceDepartment, which both he and his father, a 34-year veteran, have been proud to be a part of.

Chief Wahl’s vision for the San Diego Police Department is to build an inclusive organization that is reflective of the city we serve and worthy of our community’s trust and collaboration.

Chief Wahl has risen through the ranks since joining the San Diego Police Department on April 13, 1998. He has worked many of the department's patrol commands, investigations and specialized assignments such as legislative affairs, critical incident management, operational support, establishing a new division to address neighborhood quality of life issues, and managing large-scale events and conferences, among others.

Chief Wahl received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from San Diego State University in 1995 and his master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from National University in 2005. He has taught as an adjunct professor for the San Diego Regional Police Academy and Ashford University.

Chief Wahl has received numerous awards and commanding officer citations throughout his career.

In his spare time, Chief Wahl enjoys running, fishing, golfing and spending time with his wife and four kids.

Everyone seems to think that science and religion have been in conflict since Galileo, but historians have shown that to be largely mythical.  Moreover, common wisdom has it that contemporary religious people are in conflict with science.  But, is that true?  

John H. Evans is the Tata Chancellor’s Chair in Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, Associate Dean of Social Sciences and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at the University of California, San Diego.  He has been a visiting member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University and has held visiting professorial fellowships or honorary professorships at the Universities of Edinburgh, Muenster, Ben Gurion, and Queensland.  He is the author seven books and 65 articles and book chapters.  

He has focused his research on a number of overlapping areas, all of which concern the foundational humanistic questions behind scientific and technological development.  

He is an expert on the ethics of human gene editing, and more generally in the ethics of science and technology Following this research interest he co-directs the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC, San Diego. 

He is also a leader in the sociological study of the relationship between religion and science, an area in which he co-leads a small scholarly network and a 2.9 million dollar re-granting project. 

A number of his research projects are sociological studies of the public’s views of the foundational questions in technology such as “what is a human?” and “what is enhancement?”  He has a long time interest and expertise in explaining the forms of argument that are dominant in the field now called bioethics.