July 2012

July 31, 2012 Speaker: Richard G. Cline, Superior Court Judge

Judge Cline will speak on the topic of frivolous lawsuits.

July 24, 2012 Speaker: Sharon Lawrence, Ex-officio President/CEO, Voices For Children

Voices for Children (VFC) is a private, nonprofit organization that has served abused children in San Diego County foster care for 32 years by providing volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) to ensure the children’s needs are met in the courtroom, classroom, and in the community. As an organization, team members believe that every child in Juvenile Dependency Court proceedings should have a volunteer advocating for their best interests and providing vital information to judges. Voices provide the highest-level training and continuing education for volunteers as they annually review and monitor the case files of every child in foster care in San Diego County. All of the advocates understand the value of publicity and work diligently at increasing public awareness about the foster care system, while campaigning for legal policies and practices that enhance the quality of life for foster children.

Sharon, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Denver, trained as a litigator and spent nearly nine years at Lewis, D’Amato, Brisbois and Bisgaard. She has been deeply involved with VFC for over 15 years.

July 17, 2012 Speaker: Zoe Ghahremani, Author

After living and working in Chicago for two decades as a teacher at Northwestern University while practicing pediagtric dentistry, Zoe moved to California in 2000 to become a full time writer. One of her books, “Sky of Red Poppies” won 2nd place in this year’s San Diego Book Awards.

“My parents picked the name Zohreh for their seventh child and, with love and respect to their memory, I honored that for the first half of this life. On the second half, friends simplified my name to Zoe.

“While Zohreh is the Persian name of the brightest and longest lasting star of the night – Venus – Zoe in Greek simply means life. Had I been given a choice at birth, I think I would have favored my new name. Not only is it short, uncomplicated, and easy to remember, I think overall it suits me best. Indeed, while stardom is the furthest from me, life is what I am all about.

“The daughter of a tribal man from Khorasan, Rafi Khan Khazai, I became a Ghahremani when I married my husband of thirty years, Gary – whose name is also an abbreviation of his given name, Ghahreman. We have three children, Lilly is a lawyer and business executive, Susan – who prefers to be called Susie – is a great artist and Cyrus is a musician. They alone make life interesting and definitely worth living.

“Having abandoned the career of Children’s Dentistry, both in Practice and years of teaching at Northwestern University, it no longer matters if people call me Doctor G. or Dr. K. or doctor anything. I am simply Zoe: a writer, an artist, a gardener. No matter how short life may be, I intend to discover its width and celebrate all it has to offer.”

JULY 3, 2012 Speaker:Kate Adams, Incoming Rotary Club of La Jolla President

Meet Kate Adams, your new Rotary Club of La Jolla President
(2012-2013)

Kate Adams is a leader in the La Jolla real estate market. With more than 30 years of experience helping her clients find great success through real estate investment, Kate knows that there is more to real estate than buying and selling property. She focuses on listening to her clients’ individual needs and working hard to exceed their expectations. Kate’s commitment to top-notch service has given her a wealth of repeat and referral clientele and helped her become a top Realtor in the nation.

Before focusing her career on residential real estate, Kate was a professor of architecture for several years. Her educational background includes art, architecture and urban planning. Kate’s commitment to community involvement led her to become a City Commissioner of Arts and Culture for San Diego. She has remained active in the San Diego community throughout the years and continues to donate her time and money to many local charities and non-profit organizations.

Kate’s love of buildings and design lent itself to a passion for real estate. A resident of La Jolla for more than 30 years, she understands the San Diego community and enjoys matching clients with the perfect place to call home. More than simply a house, people are looking for a neighborhood and community that fits their lifestyle. Kate understands this desire and is skilled at listening to her clients’ needs and suggesting properties that accurately reflect the family, individual or investor.

Her many years of experience have also made Kate an expert on all aspects of the buying and selling process. She uses a comprehensive marketing plan to get ultimate exposure for her clients’ properties and to ensure a fast sale at top dollar. Her aggressive negotiation skills and attention to detail give her clients peace of mind that every aspect of their transaction will be taken care of from start to finish. More than anything, Kate is known for her professionalism, integrity and dedication to providing clients with unsurpassed service. Kate focuses on making every client a client for life. She states, “I love what I do, I love where I live, and that is where dreams do come true.”

Her accomplishments:

McNaught-Davis Knox Award 2009
#1 Individual Agent in Production for 2009
Chairman’s Circle Diamond Award– Top 1% in the nation out of 64,000 Prudential Agents
More than 30 years of experience helping Buyers and Sellers in San Diego
Lists and sells all properties from condominiums to luxury estates
Consistently in the Top 1% of Agents nationally
Recognized with numerous top sales awards throughout the years
Actively involved with San Diego civic and charitable organizations
SRES Designation, Senior Real Estate Specialist
Kate is a strong supporter of her grandson, Jack who was diagnosed with MPS II, also known as Hunter Syndrome. http://www.jacksrunformps.org/

Local Memberships:

A Director of Prudential’s Luxury Division, Specializing in Luxury Properties
Top Producers Member, La Jolla
Rotary Club of La Jolla
Village Garden Club of La Jolla
San Diego Architectural Foundation
San Diego Zoo, Board Member
Scripps Health Advisory Board Member

JUNE 26, 2012 Speaker:Alice M. Jacobs, Director, Ed.D, Educational physiologist, pioneer in senior learning

Brain Gain director Dr. Alice Jacobs is an educational physiologist and a pioneer in the field of senior learning having named and developed this new and burgeoning field known as “sapientology.” She is a published author, trainer, and educator who advocates for positive aging and lifelong learning. She has worked in both the private and public sectors.

Major career highlights include:

15 years in the corporate medical sector working for international companies Schering-Plough, Xomed – a subsidiary of Bristol Meyers Squibb and Syntex Labs. At the latter she was a recipient of the prestigious Chairman’s Recognition Award for her work in physician training and education within the HMO environment.
Other highlights include working with the Del Webb organization to establish Sun City University at Sun City Roseville, California and
consulting with Sierra College in Rocklin California to establish the Sierra Emeritus College.
In addition to holding membership in the American Society of Aging, she
serves on the Advisory Board of the Sierra Emeritus College and the State of California Department of Health and Human Services Wellness and Prevention Task Force.
Alice is also a member of the American Society of Training and Development, and the international professional society Phi Gamma Sigma.

The Brain Gain

Use it or lose it – do effortful mental activities protect against dementia? A National Institute of Mental Healthstudy shows that “the brain’s anatomy, neural networks, and cognitive abilities can all be strengthened and improved through your experiences and interactions with your environment.” To support that statement the New England Journal of Medicine reports that older people who engage in mentally challenging activitites significantly reduce their risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Along with those results are the data collected by the National Institutes of Health who add that participating in Mentally Stimulating Activities May Reduce Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Brain Gain™ offers brain wellness and memory training classes, workshops, seminars and keynote speeches to groups and individuals in a variety of settings both private and public. Services are provided for independent adults, assisted living residents, nursing home residents and private clients. Participants include the full range of individuals from cognitively normal to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to early and mid stage Alzheimer’s Disease/dementia clients. Workshops are tailored to fit group/individual needs and budget constraints.