Greg Podd will be Rotary’s February 23 speaker.
Norm Noble
On Tuesday, February 2, Jay Tibshraeny, Mayor of Chandler, will be the guest speaker, sharing insights into the coming year. In 1994, Tibshraeny became mayor of Chandler. During his time tenure, he saw Chandler’s transition from a rural town to a bedroom community for Phoenix. He oversaw the construction of the Chandler Fashion Center. He was reelected mayor four times over the next eight years, the maximum number of times a mayor can be reelected in Chandler.
In 2002, Tibshraeny ran and won the newly created State Senate seat for the 21st District. In 2010, he stepped down and ran again for mayor of Chandler, running unopposed; winning over 99 percent of the votes. His current term will expire in 2019.
On February 9 the club will celebrate its annual Valentine’s Day Sweetheart Breakfast – an event looked forward to by the members and their sweethearts.
On February 23, Greg Podd, Rotary International Vice President, will be the speaker. Podd is a Certified Public Accountant and Personal Financial Specialist and has operated his own practice since 1979. He is a past president and owner of a metal fabrication firm for the telecommunication industry and an international health care software development firm.
A Rotarian since 1982, he is a member of the Evergreen Rotary Club of Evergreen, Colorado. Podd has served Rotary as Rotary International President’s Representative, Major Gifts Advisor, member of the Finance and Investment Committees, Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator, Regional Rotary International Membership Zone Coordinator, Council on Legislation Representative, training leader, Rotary Foundation Future Vision training leader, District Governor, and Assistant Chief Sergeant-at-Arms at the International Assembly.
During his professional tenure, he has written four professional continuing education courses and has been a keynote speaker at five national conferences. Greg has taught many courses as a guest professor at Arizona State University in the Master of Taxation program and has made presentations to over 20,000 Certified Public Accountants and Chartered Accountants from the United States and foreign countries.
Most notable, Greg has served as a Rotary Foundation Major Gifts Advisor where he established his District’s Million Dollar Dinner raising over $3,100,000 for the Rotary Foundation in one night.
During the Rotary year 2014–2015, in addition to his duties as a Rotary International Director, Greg chaired the Rotary Audit Committee, the Rotary Board Council on Legislation Advisory Committee, and the Service Above Self Award Selection Committee.
During the Rotary year 2015–2016, Greg will serve as the Vice President of Rotary International and a member of the Executive Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Council and Board Committee and the workgroup to examine Rotary’s current International convention model.
The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes meets for breakfast every Tuesday morning at 6:30 a.m. in the Oakwood Country Club Ballroom. The meetings start at 7:00 a.m. and end promptly at 8:00 a.m. The cost of breakfast is $12. To make reservations for any meeting, contact Rotarian Don Prestin at 480-802-0439.