Events

This event is being sponsored by Connecticut Council for Interreligious Understanding.

Go to www.ccfiu and register.

For more information please google Dr. Khyati Joshi and Connecticut Council for interreligious Understanding.

Randy Butler has worked in various forms of conflict resolution, conflict transformation, and peacebuilding throughout his career.  For 18 years, he practiced as a trial lawyer, first as an associate and then partner at the international law firm - Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P., and then as a partner at Cook, Butler & Doyle, LLP. Since being trained as a mediator in 1995, Randy has mediated over 1000 complex legal disputes involving major institutions in Houston TX and Fortune 500 companies.

Randy’s passion for conflict transformation and peace-building grew out of his training and experience in mediation.  That passion took himto Croatia in 2002, where he was invited to co-lead the ROM Leadership Development & PeaceGathering. Over the next ten years he returned annually to work with over 700 young leadersfrom all of the region's ethnic groups.

From 2007-2014, as CEO of The Institute for Sustainable Peace, he designed and led 15 Transformational Leadership Workshops for activists and leaders in the Sudanese/South Sudanese Diaspora and in Sudan, Darfur, and South Sudan. Since the outbreak, on Dec. 15, 2013, of the civil war in South Sudan, Randy has partnered with South Sudan Women United, the Global Partnership For Peace In South Sudan, and the Coalition of Advocates for South Sudan, to design multiple healing & reconciliation dialogues for members of the South Sudanese diaspora.

He has also led numerous civic engagement and interfaith dialogue projects with partners including the American Leadership Forum, the Mayor’s Office of the City of Houston, the Houston Health Department, Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, and the Shell Scenario Planning Group.  Since moving to Boulder CO in 2016, Randy has designed and facilitated workshops to provide dialogue skills to participants to bridge the deep divides in America in Boulder, CO, Cresskill - NJ, San Antonio, TX, and, with the Rotary Dist. 5450 Peace Committee, online for the Denver metro region.

He and his wife, Katherine, both native Houstonians, were married in August of 1973 and lived in Houston until 2016.  In the summer of 2016 they moved to Boulder CO where they live in close proximity to their two daughters, their husbands, and seven grandchildren.  In early 2019, Randy joined the Boulder Rotary Club and the Rotarian Action Group for Peace when he learned that Rotary International’s top priority after eradicating polio worldwide is peace building.  He currently serves as Chair of the Boulder Rotary Peace Building Committee and as a member of the Rotary Dist. 5450 Peace Committee.





Connor Martin serves as the Director of Grounds keeping and Fleet Maintenance for Goodwin University. He is also an East Hartford Town Councilor and serves as the East Hartford Rotary Scholarship Chairperson and board member. Connor is very passionate about his community and strives to be an example for the young folks of his town. He hopes through his efforts as Town Councilor will encourage other young individuals to step up, get involved and have a voice in their community.

Don Bell currently serves as Vice Chair of the East Hartford Town Council. Don was elected in November 2019 as part of the largest Council change in a generation. Don also serves as Assistant Director for Career Development at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Prior to this position, Don was the Director of the Black Talent Initiative at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. In this role, Don worked to increase diversity and inclusion among policymakers in Congress. Don worked in the United
 States Senate as a legal fellow to Senator Chris Murphy, judiciary staffer to Senator Richard Blumenthal, and associate counsel then counsel to the
 US Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. As a Senate staffer, Don was elected president of the Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus (SBLSC). During his term, he conducted a groundbreaking census of Black Senate staffers and led a movement to
 make Congress more representative of America.
 This work drew national attention to the pervasive lack of diversity among Congressional staffers and the urgent need to increase representation for all communities. Don’s work and commentaries have been recognized by the New York Times, Washington Post, USA
   Today, ABC News and other local and national outlets.
    Don is a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law and graduated from the University of Connecticut as an Honors Scholar. He currently serves as a Delegate to the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) House of Delegates, member of the CBA Diversity &
 Inclusion Committee, and member of the CBA Rule of Law Committee

   Ashley Holmer
Founding Executive Director, Red Sweater Project CEO, Red Rhino Tours
Red Sweater Project is a non-profit organization that collaborates with developing communities in rural Tanzania to create affordable, accessible, and innovative opportunities for secondary education where it currently doesn’t exist for the majority of children.
Providing world-class tours to East Africa’s vast renowned wildlife destinations, Red Rhino Tours, LLC operates to provide visitors with both a unique view into life in rural Tanzania and as a sustainable solution in support of the organization’s mission.
Despite recent economic growth in Tanzania, the country remains economically depressed as rural areas continue to suffer from a lack of access to sustainable income-generating opportunities. Only a small fraction of families are able to afford to send their children to public secondary school (U.S. middle and high school equivalent), with private school out of reach for all but the wealthiest families. Partnering with local leaders, Red Sweater Project adopts a holistic approach to addressing the diverse needs of at- risk children. In 2012, Red Sweater Project broke ground in Mungere Village on the community's first secondary school, which has grown in a few short years to support more than 200 students and families. The school offers basic health services with health-based education, access to safe water and sanitation, sustainably-designed infrastructure and an organic school garden.
Founded by Ashley Holmer in 2011, the organization and investing safari tour company have become a model for other international development programs seeking to create partnerships that honor tradition and local leadership, encourage sustainability, and recognize education as a crucial step in interrupting the cycle of generational poverty. Having lived and worked in Africa since 2005 and fluent in Swahili, Holmer speaks about life in the land of Serengeti, education in the developing world, the rights of women and girls, and how tribes like the vibrant Maasai and its staunch traditions are heading toward an unknown future.
Ms. Holmer holds a BA in Psychology from Willamette University. She is a recipient of the university’s Distinguished Alumni Citation and was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame for Women’s Soccer. Ashley has been featured on Voice of America, Zero to Travel, has garnered the support of the Portland Timbers Football Club of Major League Soccer (MLS), and has been featured in The Rotary Magazine.
     
Also see Page 17 Rotary Magazine March 2021 issue.

Chris Spear biked 3,000 miles coast to coast, to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute / Jimmy Fund, as part of the Pan Mass Challenge, the largest athletic fundraiser in the world.