Guest Speakers Biographies
2024 October 15 Guest Speaker: Albert Hernandez
 

District Governor Albert Hernandez is no stranger to hardwork and perseverance. Having grown up in a low income community, number five of eleven brothers and sisters, and in a single parent household he had to take on many responsibilities at an early age. Having attended Camp RYLA in 2002 as a high school junior he shares that he will always remember that weekend as the moment he realized he had something inside him to help others in need. He was blown away that 40 Rotarians would volunteer their weekend to help students find their leadership potential. The following year he returned to RYLA as a counselor and wanted to give students the same experience he was fortunate enough to receive.


In 2005, at the age of 19, Albert was invited to join the Rotary family. He became a proud member of the Rotary Club of Burbank Noon where he remains active. Albert spent the next few years volunteering for various positions in the Club from Youth Service Chair to President of the Club's Foundation. He helped organize several projects that he is proud of including the Rotary Reads program, Shop with a Cop, co-chair the Club's Centennial Celebration and the installation of the Rotary Clock Tower in beautiful Downtown Burbank. Albert became Club President in 2018, a year he says he will always cherish.


Albert works full-time as the Chief Executive Officer of Home Again Los Angeles an organization he has dedicated the last nine years of his life in building. Home Again Los Angeles is non-profit homeless service agency committed to helping homeless families with children move into shelter and work towards securing permanent housing. Albert lives in Santa Clarita with his wife Elizabeth and their 1 year old daughter Madison. Albert's hobbies include volunteering alongside his daughter, traveling, trying new restaurants, and Dodgers baseball. Albert may be our District's youngest District Governor, something he wants to bring to light as a way to encourage others who are working full time with a young family to consider working towards giving our District new leaders we can all learn from.

2024 September 17 Guest Speaker:  Brooke Elder
 
Brooke Elder is a Captain in a Metro Denver Fire Protection District.  She has been in the fire service for 15 years and a Paramedic for 14 years. 
 
In  her words:
"I graduated from Colorado State University with a Biology degree and worked in breast cancer and endocrinology research for six years. I decided to pursue a career in the fire service after an incredible crew helped my family in an emergency.  I wanted to provide that kind of kindness, support and service to others. I love my job. I love the eclectic nature of it, my amazing, fun and caring coworkers, the physical aspects and providing care and service to citizens."
2024 August 20 Guest Speaker: Olivia Strohman
 
Olivia is a 6th grade teacher in the Hueneme Elementary School District. She runs two clubs after school: Harry Potter Club and PRISM Club (LGBTQ+ Club). In her free time she is an active member of Ventura Rotaract. She has been president of the club three times, and is currently the club’s International Chair.
2024 July 16 Guest Speaker:  Dr. Mike Saag
Dr. Saag is Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Microbiology and Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During his fellowship in Infectious Diseases, Dr. Saag conceived the concept of a comprehensive HIV outpatient (1917) clinic dedicated to the provision of comprehensive patient care in conjunction with the conduct of high-quality clinic trials, basic science, and clinical outcomes research. Over the last 35 years, the clinic has treated more than 12,000 patients and has become recognized as one of the best sites for clinical research and care in the United States. Dr. Saag has published over 750 articles in peer reviewed journals, including the first description of the quasispecies nature of HIV (Nature, 1988), the first use of viral load in clinical practice (Science, 1993), the first description of the rapid dynamics of viral replication (Nature, 1995), the first guidelines for use of viral load in practice (Nature Medicine, 1996), the first proof of concept of fusion inhibition as a therapeutic option (Nature Medicine, 1998), and directed the ‘first-in- patient’ studies of 7 of the 25 antiretroviral drugs currently on the market. Dr. Saag has received the Myrtle Wreath Award from Hadassah, was listed as one of the top ten cited HIV researchers by Science (1996), and received multiple Argus Awards for Best Lectures to the 1st year medical students at UAB. In 2014, Dr. Saag was named the Castle-Connolly National Physician of the Year Award for Clinical Excellence and was inducted into the Alabama Healthcare Hall of Fame. He is Co-Editor of the Sanford Guide. During the COVID epidemic, Dr. Saag has appeared frequently on CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, and the Paul Finebaum Show and has published frequent OpEd features in the Washington Post. Dr. Saag published a memoir entitled, “Positive: One doctor’s encounters with death, life, and the US Healthcare System,” which is in its third printing.