Friday morning, March 22
Michael Angelo Caruso
Michael Angelo Caruso teaches people how to be better speakers and presenters so they can help more people and amp up their careers.
He utilizes his unique background in the technology sector and a separate career in the entertainment business to deliver keynote speeches that feel like a combination of your best teacher and your favorite comedian.
Michael delivers about 70 presentations and keynote speeches a year. He has spoken on six continents and in 49 of the 50 states.
Michael is known for getting extremely fast results with his clients. He can make anyone a better communicator and regularly demonstrates his effective communication strategies by helping audience members improve during his presentation.
Caruso is founder and President of Edison House, an international consulting firm specializing in corporate and personal improvement. Edison House clients include Hallmark, Bank of America, Verizon Wireless, Rayovac, Citgo, Nissan and the United States Navy.
Michael has authored Work Hacks and the audiobook, Dear Michael Angelo — A Father’s Life Letters to His Son. He also has a highly rated online speaker coaching masterclass titled, Present Like a Pro.
Michael loves giving back. A lifetime Rotarian, Michael served as President of the Rotary Club of Troy Michigan (2013-14), Governor for District 6380 (2016-17), Public Image Coordinator for Zone 28 and 32 (2019-21), and is currently Lead Trainer for Great Lakes Rotary PETS.
His popular seminar fundraiser has raised over a quarter of a million dollars for Rotary Clubs all over North America.
Friday morning, March 22
Elizabeth Usovicz
Past Director, Rotary International 2021-2023
Elizabeth Usovicz has been a member of Rotary International for 26 years. She served on the Rotary International global Board of Directors from 2021-2023, also serving as Chair of the Board’s Executive Committee during that time. She currently chairs Rotary International’s Girls’ Empowerment Global Task Force, which has been a key initiative over the past three years, and will serve as Chair of Rotary International’s Operations Review Committee in 2024-2025.
Elizabeth is a recipient of the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. In 2014, she was recognized at the White House as a Rotary Women of Action honoree, and she is a 2011 and 2012 recipient of the United States President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Elizabeth’s personal tagline is “The Power of We is Within Us All”. Her passion in Rotary for more than 22 years is supporting orphans and at-risk children in Malawi, Africa. She has written ten Rotary Foundation grants in support of Malawi’s children, including leading a district-wide global grant to provide women and children under the age of five with malaria bed nets in 40 villages. As a result of this grant, child mortality in those villages dropped by 80% in just 6 months. She was recognized by the Kansas City Royals Baseball organization as a Buck O’Neill Legacy Seat honoree for her work in Malawi.
Professionally, Elizabeth is principal of her management consulting practice. Prior to founding Whitespace Consulting, Elizabeth developed her leadership skills at companies including Deloitte, Kellogg’s of Mexico and two venture capital-funded technology start-up companies. She also served as Associate Director of international programs at Bentley University, and taught at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She speaks Spanish and French, and spent nearly ten years working, living and doing business in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
She and her husband, Dean Mathewson, support the Rotary Foundation as members of the Paul Harris Society, Polio Plus Society, Major Donors, Bequest Society members and Benefactors.
Friday lunch, March 22
Beth Stubbs
Director, Rotary International 2023-2025
Beth Stubbs is a certified public accountant (CPA) who earned her degree at Plymouth State College. After working as a CPA at a Maryville firm, she set up her own private practice in 1994, focusing on consulting to small business owners on account management, finances, and exit strategies. She also worked as chief financial officer for her husband’s business, Trinity Benefit Advisors, for 14 years.
Stubbs is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Tennessee Society of Public Accountants. Stubbs, who first started frequenting Rotary club meetings at age eight with her father, joined the Rotary Club of Maryville in 1991. She served her district in several capacities including as chair of its finance, Foundation, and leadership development and education committees. Stubbs has attended 21 international conventions, traveled to New York City for UN Day for Rotary, served in a National Immunization Day in India, traveled to Mexico for club partnership projects, and attended various Zone meetings around the country.
During one zone meeting in New Orleans she attended with a Rotary friend – before either had yet served as club president – she learned about programs neither one of them had previously heard about, such as ambassadorial scholarships and Group Study Exchange. Inspired after the meeting, she and her friend worked together to help promote these activities in her district. “We saw there was a whole world to Rotary and we wanted to bring it to Maryville,” Stubbs says.
In addition to bagging and delivering food with her “small but mighty” Maryville Club to needy schoolchildren, Stubbs has worked with her District to raise $1.4 million for polio eradication through the sale of “purple pinky” donuts and other fundraisers. The satellite club she helped start in her district is still going strong. “I look forward to applying my skills as a CFO on the Board, and to working with clubs in my zones to build the knowledge base about Rotary and its possibilities,” Stubbs says.
She has served on the boards of local nonprofits including at Michael Dunn Center, which helps individuals with developmental disabilities and at Asbury Place, a regional retirement community organization.
She also served in officer positions in Toastmasters International and is active on several committees at her church. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and attending football and basketball games at the University of Tennessee.
She and her husband, Tony, support The Rotary Foundation as Arch Klumph Society members.
Beth will lead a panel during Friday lunch made up of PRID Elizabeth Usovicz, D6040 FC Marc Horner and RFC Paul Reinert
Friday dinner, March 22
Dr. Stephanie Urchick
2024-25 President of Rotary International
Stephanie Urchick is a member of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, USA. She will serve RI as president in 2024-25. She has been an RI director and Rotary Foundation trustee. She has served RI in numerous capacities, including as training leader, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, and RI president’s representative. In addition, Stephanie was a representative and member-at-large to three sessions of the Council on Legislation.
Stephanie has also served as chair of the Rotary Strategic Planning Committee and The Rotary Foundation’s Centennial Celebration Committee, as well as a member of various Rotary committees, including the Election Review Committee and Operational Review Committee.
A Rotary member since 1991, Stephanie has participated in a variety of international service projects, including National Immunization Days in India and Nigeria. In Vietnam, she worked with clubs to help build a primary school and travelled to the Dominican Republic to install water filters. A student of several Slavic languages, she has mentored new Rotary members in Ukraine and coordinated a Rotary Foundation grant for a mammography equipment and a biopsy unit for a hospital in Poland. In its commemorative book, the Rotary Club of Krakow, Poland, noted Stephanie as a key figure for helping the re-birth of Rotary in post-Communist Poland.
Currently, Stephanie is helping to partner clubs and districts in the U.S. with Rotary clubs in Albania, Kosovo, and Ukraine for humanitarian and educational services.
Stephanie’s professional background is in the higher education, consulting, and entertainment industries. She received her doctorate degree in Leadership Studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has been recognized and awarded by The Rotary Foundation and numerous community and international organizations.
Saturday lunch, March 23
Sigrid Solomon
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Sigrid Solomon was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Sigrid has 30 + years of higher education experience and now she serves as the VP, Chief Student Affairs Officer, and Dean of Students at Wilmington College. In her role at WC Sigrid governs the entire student body and manages a multifaceted staff of student affairs professionals whose responsibilities include but are not limited to health & wellness, judicial affairs, civic engagement, survivor advocacy.
Her passion and experience for community affairs have led to her becoming heavily involved in the local community. Sigrid is currently the chair of the District 6670 PDG Council and DEI Chair. Starting in July 2024, Sigrid will be Vice Chair of the Joint DEI Advisory Council Committee for RI. She also served as the Zones 30/31 DGE Lead Trainer 2023-2024. She served as one of the 2022 International Assembly Training Leaders in addition to Co-Chair Zones 30/31 Diversity Advisory Circle 2021-2024 and served as the Zones 30/31 DGN Lead Trainer 2022-2023. Sigrid was a member of the 2021-22 RI Director Nominating Committee for Zone 30. She also served as District Governor of Rotary District 6670 in 2019-2020, president of both the Clinton County Free Clinic Board and Wilmington Am Rotary Club as well as a leadership position with the Clinton County Leadership Institute. Her start in Rotary was in 2003 with the Abingdon Rotary Club in Abingdon, VA then later moved to Wilmington OH to join the Wilmington AM club in 2008. In January of 2024 she transitioned to the Wilmington noon Club.
Throughout this twenty-year Rotary journey, she has served in a variety of capacities at the local, district, and zone levels. Sigrid was recognized in 2016 as one of the Outstanding Women of Clinton County. Sigrid is also an independent diversity consultant and a frequent presenter at conferences on the topic of diversity leadership. She holds a BS in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, earned her M.Ed. from East Carolina University and is currently working on her Doctorate through Ashland University. She has two sons 34 and 26-year-old and a host of former foster children. Family and friends are extremely important to her.