PDG Scott Carr, MC

PDG Scott Carr, MC

by | Jan 4, 2026 | Keynote Speakers

Beginning July 1, Scott Carr is the new Governor of Rotary International District 5340. Carr took the oath of office days earlier at the Governors Dinner held at the San Diego La Jolla Marriott on Monday, June 26, 2017.
As District Governor, Carr is charged with leading nearly 65 Rotary Clubs within the 112-year-old international service organization. During the 2017-18 year, Carr has identified several areas of focus, including women leadership development, environmental sustainability, active and retired military, and youth.

“This is such an incredible honor, to be working together with such an amazing group of individuals,” noted Carr, a member of the San Diego Downtown (Breakfast) Rotary and resident of San Diego’s Mission Hills neighborhood. “Rotary is the engine for good, with over 3,100 local business leaders committed to giving back to the community. And over the coming months, we will be aiming a bright spotlight on a number of pressing issues facing our communities, including human trafficking, gender and racial diversity, and challenges facing kids growing up in today’s ‘always-on’ world.”

The District Governor’s role is to be the official representative of Rotary International. The Governor’s role is to support clubs and their Presidents within that district, providing strategy, guidance, and leadership development.

Carr had his first experience in Rotary as part of Rotaract. a Rotary-sponsored program designed for college students and young professionals looking to develop leadership skills and career connections while supporting the community. “Rotaract was connecting young professionals together long before social networks even existed, and continues to be an incredible resource in our community,” added Carr. Through Rotaract, he helped launch programs to support foster youth, as well as homeless and low-income seniors in downtown San Diego. It is also the place where he met his wife, Heather Rosing, a shareholder and Chief Financial Officer at the law firm of Klinedinst PC.

Rotary in the region dates back to 1911 with the founding of the 33rd Rotary club in the world, the San Diego Rotary Club. And while Rotary has a long tradition of service to the community, it faces new challenges and new opportunities. “The way we interact with one another has dramatically shifted, especially over the last decade,” noted Carr, “and Rotary needs to reinvent itself as the destination for career-minded professionals. The next generation of Rotary members have boundless energy and enthusiasm, and Rotary is adapting and evolving to meet the needs of tomorrow.”

The economic and social impact of Rotary here and across the globe is impressive. In addition to millions of hours volunteered annually, The Rotary Foundation supports humanitarian aid and relief around the globe, including projects dedicated to clean water, maternal health, and disease prevention. The Rotary Foundation has earned Charity Navigator’s highest four-star rating for stewardship and accountability.

Through its flagship End Polio program, Rotary has contributed more than $1.6 billion to eradicate polio, helping immunize more than 2.5 billion children against the crippling disease. As of July 1 2017, only 6 cases of wild polio virus (WPV) have been reported worldwide, a fraction of the cases reported in 2016. Through partnerships with the World Health Organization, concerned nations, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rotary’s goal of wiping out the polio virus for good is within reach. However, there must be zero reported cases for three years for the world to be declared “polio-free.”

In June of 2017, The Rotary Foundation and its partners pledged another $1.2 billion over the next three years for final polio eradication efforts. “On a global level, we are truly witnessing history in the making,” added Carr. “After smallpox, polio will be only the second disease that we have been able to completely remove from this planet. Over 112 million children have been saved from polio through the direct efforts of Rotary, and we cannot wait to be able to declare polio a disease of the past.”

Rotary is especially active in youth programs, including literacy programs, leadership development for high school students, a joint program with San Diego Youth Symphony called MusiCamp™, as well as youth exchange and study abroad programs. Supporting the local environment is another key focus for Rotary, with clubs committed to adding 5,000 new native trees to the Southern California region in the coming year before Earth Day in 2018.

“I truly feel a personal responsibility to give back to the community that has given me so much,” added Carr. “There is no shortage of need, and Rotary is the vehicle by which I can best give back, while working side-by-side with like-minded individuals who truly want to be a force for change in our world.”

RI President Elect Olayinka “Yinka” Hakeem Babalola

RI President Elect Olayinka “Yinka” Hakeem Babalola

by | Jan 2, 2026 | Keynote Speakers

General Session 1: Friday Lunch
Time: Friday 2/20/2026 – 12 am – 10:00 am
DGE: Benson Medina

 

Bablola was elected to serve as the President-elect of Rotary International on 28 August 2025, and he will assume the role of RI President on 1 July 2026, serving through 30 June 2027.

He holds a degree in engineering and spent more than 30 years in the oil and gas sector, including senior leadership roles at Shell PLC. He founded the Riviera Technical Services Ltd., an oil and gas infrastructure delivery firm, as well as Lead and Change Consulting, an executive coaching and organizational performance consultancy.

Babalola is a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Institute of Safety Professionals, and the Association of Change Management Practitioners. He also belongs to the Jericho Business Club, a civic organization in Ibadan that contributes to national policy dialogue. Following his professional retirement, he now devotes much of his time to his humanitarian interests and service to his community and the world through his membership of Rotary.

He started his Rotary journey as a Rotaractor in 1983. A Rotarian since 1993, Babalola is a member of the Rotary club of Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt District 9141, Nigeria.  He served on the Rotary International Board of Directors from 2018 through 2020 and as Vice President of Rotary International for the 2019-20 year.

Babalola has experience on several Rotary committees including the Joint Operations Review Committee, Fund Development Committee, Sao Paulo Convention Promotion Committee, Joint Partnerships Committee, RI Membership Growth Committee, RI Board Executive Committee, Elevate Rotaract Task Force, and Vice Chair of the End Polio Now Countdown to History Committee. He has served as Adviser to the Nigeria National PolioPlus Committee for many years, playing a leading role in The Rotary Foundation’s effort to eradicate polio in Nigeria and Africa, leading to the region’s eventual certification by the World Health Organization in 2021.

He previously served on the Peace Major Gift Initiative Committee, helping to launch the Africa Peace concert, which raised over $300,000 USD for the Rotary Peace Centers, and as End Polio Zone Coordinator, Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator and Endowment Major Gift Adviser. Through these roles, he led and inspired the effort that grew the Arch Klumph Society membership (donors who have contributed $250,000 USD) in Africa from four in 2013 to 30 in 2023. As District Governor, he raised over a million US dollars for the Rotary Foundation from an area normally considered as economically disadvantaged.

As International Assembly Learning Facilitator, Governor-elect Learning Seminar Leader, Regional Leaders Training Institute Facilitator, and Moderator for the 2024 Global Support and Global Philanthropy Seminars, he has helped prepare and inspire many future Rotary leaders.

Babalola is passionate about Growing Rotary. As club President in 2002-03, he won the Rotary International Global Quest Award for highest percentage net membership gain worldwide and was recognized onstage at the Brisbane Rotary Convention for this achievement. As District Governor, he grew membership by a net gain of over 650 members, emerging as one of the top three performing districts in the world and was recognized on stage at the Bangkok Rotary Convention.

As RI Director, he inspired the growth of Rotary in Africa from 19,000 to over 44,000 members. Under his watch, Districts of his paired zones became the fastest growing districts in their region.

Babalola served recently on the Board of Trustee of Shelterbox, a UK charity and Rotary’s partner on emergency shelter needs for those displaced by disasters and conflicts. He also served as the Director of the Safeblood Africa Project, a multi-district Rotary initiative to establish sustainable systems for safe blood donation in the region. He is a faculty member and the founding Registrar of the Nigerian Division of the Rotary Leadership Institute, a Rotary Positive Peace Activator, and an Alumnus of the Positive Peace Academy – a program of Rotary in partnership with the Institute of Economics and Peace.

Babalola has received the Service Above Self Award, the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service, and the Service Award for a Polio-Free World. He supports the Rotary Foundation through a named endowed fund and is a member of the Arch Klumph Society.

He has attended several Zone and international institutes and over 25 Rotary conventions.

 

Erin Gruwell

Erin Gruwell

by | Jan 2, 2026 | Keynote Speakers

General Session 2: Friday Dinner

Time: Friday 2/20/2026 – 6 :30 pm – 8:00 pm <br/>
DGE: D 5320 MONICA PETERS / D5340 JEB BAKKE

 

Erin Gruwell has earned an award-winning reputation for her steadfast commitment to the future of education. Her impact as a teacher attracted Hollywood’s attention, and in 2007, Paramount Pictures released Freedom Writers, starring two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank as Erin. The film is based on The Freedom Writers Diary, the New York Times Bestseller that chronicles Erin’s extraordinary journey with her 150 high school students who dubbed themselves the “Freedom Writers” in homage to the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement.

By fostering an educational philosophy that values and promotes diversity, Erin transformed her students’ lives. She encouraged them to re-think rigid beliefs about themselves and others, reconsider their own daily decisions, and ultimately, re-chart their future. With Erin’s support, they chose to forego teenage pregnancy, drugs, and violence in order to become aspiring college students, published authors, and catalysts for change.

Erin founded the Freedom Writers Foundation where she currently teaches educators around the world how to implement her innovative lesson plans into their own classrooms. Erin’s teaching methods from her time in Room 203 have been published in her powerful call to arms Teach With Your Heart, as well as The Freedom Writers Diary Teacher’s Guide. Erin and teachers she has trained known as “Freedom Writer Teachers” collaborated to write Teaching Hope, a book in which stories “from the front lines of education take [the reader] from the anticipation of the first day to the disillusionment, challenges, and triumphs of the school year.”

Erin and her students have appeared on numerous television shows, including Oprah, Prime Time Live with Connie Chung, Barbara Walters’ The View, and Good Morning America. Their story has earned them dozens of awards, most notably the Spirit of Anne Frank Award. Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writer Teachers also collaborated with Scholastic to create On the Record, an innovative reading and writing program. On the Record uses the Freedom Writers Methodology to improve students’ reading and writing skills, as well as the quality of their lives.

All 150 of the Freedom Writers went on to graduate in 1998 and their stories were published in a book called The Freedom Writers Diary, which became a New York Times Bestseller and was adapted into the feature film Freedom Writers starring Hilary Swank. Many of Gruwell’s students pursued higher education and now have successful careers. They created the Freedom Writers Foundation to help educators reproduce the success of Room 203 in classrooms around the world.

PRID and RI Foundation Trustee Vicki Puliz

PRID and RI Foundation Trustee Vicki Puliz

by | Jan 2, 2026 | Keynote Speakers

General Session 4: Saturday Lunch

Time: Saturday 2/21/2026 – 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
DGE: D5495 JOE SWEENEY – D5500 EMMA CARRILLO

 

Vicki Puliz earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s in business administration from the University of Utah before becoming a partner in a commercial electrical contracting business in Nevada in 1984. She helped lead and expand the business until it merged with a publicly traded entity in 2003, and then she retired.

Puliz joined Rotary in 1992 as the first woman in her club. She has served Rotary as director, learning facilitator, and Rotary public image coordinator. She has been helped lead several presidents-elect and governors-elect training seminars. “I see Rotary as a leadership organization that provides service,” she says. “Leadership development is one of our key benefits to members.”

Puliz is also interested in leadership development for young people. It was when she witnessed more than a hundred Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) participants supporting one young woman who was struggling that her vision of the power of Rotary expanded. She has co-chaired RYLA events in her district, facilitated them in Benin, and co-created a district youth leadership program for 12- and 13-year-olds based on RYLA concepts. She also served on the inaugural Youth Advisory Council for Rotary International in 2022, which was composed of young leaders from all Rotary programs and reported directly to the RI Board of Directors.

Rotary’s peace initiatives are another passion for Puliz. She serves on the Rotary Peace Centers Committee and has participated in events at the peace centers in Bradford, England, and in Istanbul, Türkiye. She also completed Positive Peace Activator training offered through Rotary’s partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace. She helped form a community of practice on building social cohesion and combating polarization, skills that she has applied in work with adults and young people.

For Puliz, it is critical for each member to know why they are in Rotary. “If each Rotary member could tap into that purpose and share it with others, it would be so powerful for our organization.”

Puliz and her husband, Tim, who is also a Rotarian, live in Reno, Nevada. Their blended family includes seven children, 12 grandchildren, and three Rotary Youth Exchange daughters. They enjoy outdoor activities in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and general aviation. Both are active members of the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians.

They support The Rotary Foundation as Arch Klumph Society members and members of the Paul Harris Society, the Bequest Society, and the PolioPlus Society.