Columbus Rotaract Club

Fellowship Through Friendship.

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The premier young professional club of Central Ohio

The Professional Development Committee

Rotaract committees are the heart of our organization. Committee members meet outside the general monthly meetings to plan and implement projects and ideas that enable Rotaract to grow and contribute to the community. The Professional Development Committee is responsible for planning the speakers for the monthly professional development luncheon meetings and organizing special leadership events.

Every month Rotaract hosts an event that develops your professional development and leadership skills. Most months, we will host a prominent speaker for a luncheon meeting. Other months, we will participate in a special leadership development event. Past topics have included:

Skip Murray of Murray Associates, Business Performance Coaching - Non-verbal communication: It's not what you say, it's how you say it.
Junior Achievements Baron's of Business - Young professionals attend an after work social where panel speakers will give advice on starting their careers and participate in a Q&A session. Past panel speakers have included: Larry Hilsheimer, CFO of Nationwide, Jane Grote Abell, President and COO of Donatos, Charles Penzone, President and Founder of Charles Penzone Salons, and Cameron Mitchell, President and Founder of Cameron Mitchell's.
Ken Gile, Former President & COO Skybus - At Skybus, Ken combined his leadership skills with vast knowledge and experience in line operations, flight operations and maintenance - all things that make an airline run.
Steve Michalovich, Project Coordinator, Columbus Downtown Development Corporation. At this presentation, young professionals were updated with the status of current downtown projects and what new amenities to expect as the City moves towards its bicentennial in 2012.
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) Conference - This Columbus Rotary club sponsors this day-long leadership event each year in the spring. It is an interactive leadership workshop in which participants learn to expand leadership skills while getting to know other Young Professional Rotaract members, the OSU Rotaract chapter and high school students from the Fort Hayes Interact Club.
Debbie Penzone, President Charles Penzone, Inc. Debbie Penzone created the Career Advancement Program, which provides professionals with the tools and knowledge for professional and personal success. She was also recognized as one the 20 Most Remarkable Women in central Ohio and Forty Under 40 awarded by Business First and chosen as one of the 20 Most Intriguing Salon Owners by Salon Today Magazine.
Dr. Pam Popper, The Wellness Forum. Dr. Pam Popper is a naturopath, nutritionist and the Executive Director of The Wellness Forum, a chain of licensed health and wellness centers located throughout the U.S.
Mark Henson, Cheif Imagination Officer of Sparkspace. Mark spoke on the 5 secrets of service employed at Sparkspace that will help you, your team, and your entire organization learn how to S-E-R-V-E your customer better!
Jane Abell, President and COO of Donatos. Jane spoke about the past, present and future of Columbus's favorite pizza! A tour of the bakery and pizza were also provided!
Andrea Cambern, Channel 10 News. Andrea spoke about her Commit to Be Fit campaign and the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle.
Elizabeth Lessner, Betty’s Family of Restaurants. Elizabeth discussed how she opened four restaurants (Betty's Fine Food & Spirits, Surly Girl Saloon, Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails and Dirty Frank's Hotdog Palace) and the opportunities and challenges of running a small business.
Alex Fischer, president & CEO of The Columbus Partnership. Alex discussed how more than 600 Central Ohio business leaders have collaborated to create a bold initiative that will position Columbus to become the fastest growing economy in the country called Columbus 2010! Columbus2020! is a comprehensive economic development strategy for our region to grow 180,000 net new jobs, increase income by 40 percent and make Columbus a top 10 city in economic development in the nation. You won’t want to miss this lunch!
Janine Moon, Founder at CompassPoint Coaching & Workforce Change, and author of Career Ownership. Janine focuses on addressing making a change in the issues that are associated with today's workforce. She has served as a Career Coach through mentoring, growing, developing and coaching people - both individually and withing organization development initiatives. Janine works to help individuals understand how to react to the changing of the economy and globalization.

To join this committee or recommend a speaker please contact:

VP of Professional Development, Abram Reece at profdevelopment@columbusrotaract.org