Charlie served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Vanuatu from 2006 – 2008 as a business enterprise volunteer. He has been active in Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Colorado as a member of the Welcome Wagon Committee for the past six years. As a Rotarian he has served as the club president, international service chair and club foundation president for the Denver LoDo Rotary club. Charlie’s club has started a satellite group whose members all served as Peace Corps Volunteers. The group has doubled the size of the club and brought new energy. Within Rotary he has worked with other RPCV Rotarian to promote the signing of the partnership agreement between Peace Corps and Rotary International. Within that project he currently serves on multiple committees to help develop new leadership. In his neighborhood, Charlie serves on three committees being a co-lead on the Golden Triangle Creative District Improvement committee. Charlie retired from the Downtown Denver Partnership in 2018 where he worked in operations for the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District and the 14th St. General Improvement. In that role he was the subject matter expert for growing trees in a downtown urban setting and called the “wizard of watts” in working with 16th St. Mall vendors to ensure that their electrical needs could be met. And for fun Charlie plays guitar almost daily developing his fingerstyle guitar chops.

Ed Pettitt is a Ph.D. student in the Urban Planning and Environmental Policy program at Texas Southern University. His areas of research are: parks and greenspace equity, urban heat island effect, tactical urbanism, and global health and development planning. He received his B.S. degree in Human Biology, Health, and Society from Cornell University in 2006 and his M.P.H. degree in Healthcare Management with a concentration in Global Health from The University of Texas School of Public Health in 2016. Mr. Pettitt served as a Community Capacity Builder with the U.S. Peace Corps in Botswana and worked as a Senior Project Coordinator with Baylor College of Medicine Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital. He has also worked as a consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), John Snow International (JSI), and Family Health International (FHI). Locally, Mr. Pettitt has served as a technical advisor for The Trust for Public Lands’ Park-Smart Precinct 1 program, through which he helped develop a decision support tool on parks and social determinants of health; the City of Houston’s Complete Communities initiative, through which he chairs a work group on Parks and Neighborhood Character; the Health Equity Collective, through which he helped to develop a Community Voice strategy for community engagement; and Nature and Eclectic Outdoors’ Healthy Outdoor Communities project, through which he is currently helping to implement a grant from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to promote equitable access to urban greenspace as an intervention to mitigate health disparities. Mr. Pettitt is actively involved with the Third Ward neighborhood, a frontline environmental and climate justice community, where he has successfully spearheaded initiatives to build a tactical urbanism chess park, convert a city-owned illegal dumpsite into a pocket park, and install safety and wayfinding signage along a rails-to-trails conversion called the Columbia Tap Hike and Bike Trail. Mr. Pettitt serves on the U.S. Department of State IREX Community Solutions Program (CSP) Partner Advisory Board (PAB) and is a member of the Equity in a Clean Energy Economy (ECEE) Collaborative, Emancipation Economic Development Council (EEDC), Project Row Houses (PRH), and Third Ward is Home Civic Club. Mr. Pettitt is a member and director of the Rotary Club of Houston Skyline, Rotaract Chair for Rotary District 5890, and member of the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG), RPCVs for Environmental Action, and Partnering for Peace. He has been recognized as a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Fellow for Life.

RPCV DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (1974 – 1975); ROTARY CLUB OF CASA GRANDE DAYBREAK, AZ

Cal Mann is a Volunteer Leader for Peace Corps North Macedonia, a Rotarian, an industrial designer and a former Apple Creative.  His Peace Corps assignment is focused on developing effective relationships between Peace Corps North Macedonia and select partners including the Association of Rotary Clubs. In his 15 years with Rotary, he worked with high school youth on community service projects and youth leadership development.

Kim Dixon is an experienced professional in strategy, program development/mgmt and organizational change management for corporations and NGOs. After 25 years in corporate America and Internet startups, she felt honored to serve in the Peace Corps in the country of Georgia (2014-2016) as a community economic development volunteer. She returned to its capital, Tbilisi, to support strategic planning for its first Hospice and other NGOs, including the Eurasia Partnership Foundation.   Returning to the US she joined Midtown Raleigh Rotary club. Kim has served on several Boards including National Association of Women Business Owners, Ronald McDonald House, St. Raphael’s Church in Raleigh, NC, and Vail Racquet Club and Mountain Resort. She is currently the President Partnering for Peace: Friends of Peace Corps and Rotary. She enjoys NC, Colorado and Georgia (country of) hiking, swimming, skiing and spending time with her husband and three adult children.

Steve Werner is an international development consultant after a 25 year career working with large NGOs, such as CARE, Habitat for Humanity, Water For People, and the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. His major focus is capacity building, program development and evaluation, fundraising planning, and board development. He served in Peace Corps – Korea as a two-year volunteer from 1976 – 1978 and Peace Corps Response – Georgia from 2016 – 2017. He has served in Rotary, through the Rotary Club of Denver Southeast, since 1989 and still serves at the club, District and International levels as a Water and Sanitation specialist. He has served in Leadership San Antonio, the Kellogg National Leadership Program, and the Salzburg Seminar. He is a past board chair of the National Peace Corps Association. Steve along with other Denver area Rotarians helped to develop the partnership between Peace Corps and Rotary and he is the charter president of Partnering for Peace: Friends of Peace Corps and Rotary. He has three grown children and four grandchildren.

Terrance Stevenson is a peace, social impact, and sustainability professional. He is the Social Impact Partnerships Manager for Givewith, a technology platform that supports social impact organizations through business-to-business activities. He is also the founder of PeaceAtlas, a Seattle-based social impact consultancy that advises leaders and brands on peace-focused social impact solutions.

Terrance has held project management and advisory roles across the federal government, non-profit, and start-up spaces. His career has focused on creating innovative solutions that empower and enable businesses to address better violence, conflict, and other social barriers to peace. Leaning on his research background in sustainable peace practices, he has developed and improved impact and sustainability strategies for several socially-focused organizations around the world.
Terrance was a 2020 Rotary International Peace Fellow in the United Kingdom, where he completed research on the efficacy of conflict-sensitive, private-sector development in conflict-affected contexts. He has a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, a Master of Arts in International Peace and Conflict Resolution, and a Master of Science in Economics and Finance for Development. As a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Armenia, 2012-14), and a board member of the Seattle International District Rotary Club, he is a lifelong advocate for public service.

Alan Kusunoki was born and raised in Hawai’i. He is a retired architectural/structural engineer. Upon graduation from Columbia University, he joined the Peace Corps and served in Afghanistan, 1971-72, as a building engineer. He partnered with a United Nations engineer and a team of Afghan nationals to help write the first building code for Afghanistan, which was locally published near the end of his Peace Corps service. Returning to Omaha NE, he began a career with an international architecture and engineering firm, Leo A Daly. Within a year, he was transferred to Southeast Asia where he pursued his design and construction engineering career in Singapore and Hong Kong for the next nine years. He returned to the Los Angeles office to help design and monitor the renovation of several airline facilities at LAX for the 1984 Olympics. That led to design/construction work with several high-tech companies in Southern California. In 1991, he left Leo A Daly to join the Smithsonian Institution to manage the construction of a new radio telescope on Maunakea on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Nearly five years of planning finally led to starting construction in 1995. The telescope was finally commissioned in 2003. He remained with the Smithsonian to manage the telescope facilities until he retired in 2016. Since 1992, he has been active with Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) in Hawai’i. In 1993, he joined the Rotary Club of Hilo. The similarity in Rotary and Peace Corps goals, to “do good in the world”, was undeniable. He has served as the club’s community service, international service, and vocational service director, and club president, 2012-13. He’s also served as District 5000 Asst Governor, 2014-2017, and other District roles involving international service. He currently also serves as vice president of the RPCVs of Hawai’i.

Ellen G. Young – Partnering for Peace – Board Member

Ellen Young’s journey from her Midwestern US roots began with a student trip to France in High School. She graduated from Smith College with a dual degree in Economics and Political Science. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago (now Booth) Graduate School of Business. And, Ellenalso received a certificate in Non-Profit Management from North Park University in Chicago.

Ellen, now retired, was a Commercial Banker – working with multinational corporations at several international banks, including Continental Bank, Bank of America, First Chicago and Northern Trust, where she held positions as Vice President. She has held many volunteer leadership positions in local civic and non-profit organizations, including President of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce, Lake Forest Library Trustee, Vice President and President; The Lake Forest International Club, as President, Treasurer, Philanthropy and Program Chairs; Interim Executive Director of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Lake County, and other posts.

Ellen joined the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Noon Rotary Club in 1991, and has held numerous club positions, serving as Treasurer and other positions, including President. She also served as Treasurer, Foundation Board Member, End Polio Now (EPN) chair and President of the Lincolnshire Rotary Club. After joining the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Morning Rotary Club, she served on the board and as the Club President. In 2020, Ellen formed a new Passport Club, serving since its founding as its President.

Ellen’s Rotary leadership extends throughout her District6440, and beyond. At the District level she was Treasurer, a member of the Finance committee, the EPN Committee, District Foundation Chair and an Assistant Governor for 3 years. She was District 6440’s District Governor in 2014-2015. Currently, she is the Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator for Districts 6420, 6440 and 6450 in Zone 29, all in northern Illinois.

Ellen’s connection with the Peace Corps arose from her daughter Sarah Young’s service during 2007-2008 in the Dominican Republic (DR). Sarah’s work identified the need to address the lack of reading materials for pre-school age students. Ellen’s Lincolnshire Rotary Club partnered with the Pimentel Rotary Club in the DR to provide books and build a library in a local school through a small International Grant. Eventually, literacy projects were launched throughout the country with the support of the Chicagoland-Korean Rotary Club, with additional funding from a district in Korea.

Ellen is a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Paul Harris Society, the Polio Plus Society, and, with her husband Chris, Level 3 Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation.

Ellen joined Partnering for Peace in November, 2019 to help expand and nurture these types of projects between Rotary International and the Peace Corps.

Ruta served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the country of Georgia from 2010 to 2013 and has been a Rotarian and member of the Rustavi International since 2015. Her Peace Corps assignment was in Borjomi with the Media Center of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Ruta and her director, Marina Kupatadze, organized Georgian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani women to become active politically, have discussions and local talk shows on five small regional television stations. The Media Center received its first grant from NDI to encourage minority women to vote in 2012, with further funding from the British Embassy. The relationship with NDI is ongoing.

Ruta co-founded Together for Real Changes (TRC) with Nana Lomadze in 2013 to serve people with disabilities in the mountainous regions of Georgia. TRC has opened centers throughout the country, including Borjomi, Mestia, Sighnaghi, Ambrolauri, and Tsageri. Several US rotaries have supported this work and Ruta is establishing the Friends of Together for Real Changes in the US to further support this work.

Chantelle’s background is in public policy, community relations, and project management. Chantelle is a return US Peace Corps Volunteer (Paraguay), and a Rotary International Peace Fellow (University of Queensland, Australia). She has previously been involved with Mediators Beyond Borders International as chair of the Los Angeles Chapter; and as a graduate student, spent time with the United Nations Development Program in the South Pacific as part of her research. Chantelle is currently the co-chair of International Service for the Rotary e-Club of World Peace (District 5330).

PC Country and Years of Service: Paraguay 88-90/Guatemala 15-16

Rotary Club: Jacksonville-Oceanside District 6970, WASH Ambassador, International Service Chair

Occupation: Sr. Auditor (Retired) Municipal Utilities, Previously Controller Manufacturing Facility

Civic associations: Rotary D6970, PonteVedra Concert Hall, Atlantic Beach Musicians, National Peace Corps Association

Skills: Accounting,Budgeting,Auditing (CPA/CPIM) Procurement, Production Management, Compliance, GrantWriting, ProjectManagement, Logistics Coordination, Bilingual-English/Spanish/Musician(Accordionist)/PublicSpeaker.

In addition to PeaceCorps I have worked internationally with Rotary D4250 (Honduras & Guatemala), US AirForce Guam and Engineers without Borders, Honduras. JRR Tolkien said ’Not all who wander are lost’. I would say: one international project leads to another. Through all the projects, it becomes increasingly clear that we cannot do this alone. Peace Corps needs service organizations like Rotary, both need collaboration with NGO’s, governmental agencies, and community leaders. Working together we can help all people lead dignified, productive and healthy lives. I have been called Mom, Grandma, Maestra, Profesora, Contadora, Amiga and NonSic (MayanIxil for Goat Lady), by people who taught me all that matters. Rosemary Calhoon Takacs, CPA/CPIM, BBA/MS, RPCV, WASH Ambassador

Mike served in the Peace Corps in Malaysia from 1970-73 working with that country’s Tuberculosis Control. He worked primarily with the 16 indigenous tribes on the Malay Peninsula giving vaccinations, collecting sputum samples that would confirm or not the extent to which that disease was active in the various communities and helping establish a series of records for the medical center that served the communities.

Mike joined the Newberg noon Rotary club in 2001 having his daughter Amelia as his sponsor. He retired as senior vice-president of Caruso Produce Inc. in Jan. of 2005.

Mike is the founder of Rotary Peacebuilder Clubs, founded in 2011, in District 5100 and now established in over 500 Rotary Clubs around the world and growing.

Mike has also participated in the Rotary Foundation’s Major Matching Grant process and helped organize ten hands-on projects sponsored by the Rotary Club of Newberg in Guatemala.

He served as District Governor in District 5100 during the 2011-12 Rotary year and served for 11 years as the District Rotary Peace Fellowships Sub-Committee Chair and is chair of District 5100 Peacebuilder Clubs committee.

Mike is the recipient of the Rotary International Service Above Self award as well as Rotary’s Citation for Meritorious Service.

In addition to Guatemala, he has traveled on Rotary business and/or projects to Turkey, Israel, Palestine, Cyprus, and Lebanon.

Mike and his wife Amelia have lived in Dundee, Oregon for the past 48 years and have five children, three daughters and two sons and ten beautiful grandchildren.

Shannon’s trajectory of service continues to be largely inspired by her lived experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine from 2017 to 2020, as well as her ongoing remote volunteer work as a member of the Rotary District 2232 Ukraine, and Belarus, Rotararactor of Lviv, International, Partnering for Peace, as well as a member of the RPCV Alliance for Ukraine. During her service as a youth development volunteer, she helped foster a Peace Corps and Rotary project to develop youth with leadership skills, RYLA Ukraine, and implemented 3 USAID grants for her host community of Zolotonosha, Cherkas’ka Oblast, Ukraine. Despite the ongoing Russian Invasion, the RYLA Ukraine program lives on through the active leadership of locally based Ukrainian Rotarians.

Since the evacuation in March 2020, she has completed two graduate-level master’s degrees on two continents and received four graduate fellowships. When serving in Ukraine, Shannon was awarded the Rotary Peace Fellowship and Bill Huntley Fellowship to study for a master’s degree in Project management at the Rotary Peace Studies and International Development Center in England. She completed her master’s dissertation during the fall semester, which overlapped with her 2nd advanced standing master’s degree in clinical social work at the University of Michigan. She was awarded two fellowships at UofM: the Peace Corps Coverdell Fellowship for RPCVs and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies graduate fellowship. While at UofM, Shannon also completed her clinical internship at the UofM Counseling and Psychological Center, worked as the Peace Corps Prep Advisor for the UofM International Center, and as a Teacher’s Assistant for the UofM School of Nursing.

At the moment, Shannon is a clinical social worker providing psychotherapy services to primarily Medicaid members in her hometown community of Bad Axe, Michigan. In her free time, she renovates her mother’s house, volunteers remotely on Rotary and Peace Corps collaborations, gardens, enjoys reading, and, when possible, travels.