October 2013

November 19, 2013 Speaker: Bill Geppert – The San Diego Foundation, SD Mayor Civic Leadership Group

Bill will update us on the implementation of The San Diego Foundation’s Regional Vision Initiative.

Bill brings his expertise and relationships developed while he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cox Communications to give back and make a difference.

With more than 30 years experience in the telecommunications industry, he brings vision and charismatic leadership to his role as chair of Our Greater San Diego Vision and member of the CCE Leadership Committee.

Bill has received numerous honors including the National Cable & Telecommunications Association National Leadership Award, 2012 AFP Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer, San Diego Business Journal’s Business Person of the Year, YMCA Civic Leader of the Year, and the Union of Pan Asian Government’s Courageous Leader of the Year Award.

He serves on the boards of The Campanile Foundation and Sharp Healthcare. He was the Immediate Past CEO and a former chair of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Bill received his BA from the University of South Florida and completed Stanford’s Executive Program.

October 15, 2013 Speaker: Gary H. London – San Diego’s Early Recovery & Implications On the Real Estate Market

Gary London is President of The London Group Realty Advisors, a diversified real estate strategic advisory, development management, investment, capital access and analysis firm whose clients include investors, developers, lenders and public agencies.

In practice as an analyst and strategic advisor for four decades, Mr. London is well known throughout the U.S. as a counsel to many of the nation’s largest investors, lenders and practitioners. He has a reputation as a prescient, forward thinker who translates opportunities (or problems) into profits.

Mr. London is an Instructor at The Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate, University of San Diego as well as a Professor at Arizona State University’s graduate program in real estate development (MRED). He had taught at the University of California, San Diego Extension for 24 years. Previously, he was West Region Director of Real Estate Consulting for Price Waterhouse and Executive Director of The Goodkin Group. He is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and received his Master’s degree from San Diego State University.

A “Distinguished Toastmaster” in Toastmasters International, Mr. London speaks regularly to industry and business organizations, frequently writes and is often quoted in the media, and is a columnist for the San Diego Business Journal. He is also featured in the San Diego UnionTribune’s weekly “EconoMeter” sharing his views on the great economic issues of our time.

He was featured on CBS Evening News “Eye On America” for his commentary on the real estate market, and has also testified before the House of Representatives Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs. In 1995 he was featured in the San Diego Business Journal’s “Who’s Who In San Diego”; and was honored as “Member Of The Year” in 1996 from the San Diego Land Economics Society (Lambda Alpha International).

October 29, 2013 Speaker: Jim Ponder, Turnkey Strategic Relations – The Power of Relationships

Jim Ponder will provide an enlightening and inspiring talk that will include tips and tools you can use to build, strengthen and maintain relationships leading to sustainable business growth. Attendees will enjoy some interactive activities that are fun and valuable.

Jim Ponder is the President and CEO of Turnkey Strategic Relations. Turnkey is a recognized leader in business development and enhancement. Turnkey routinely works with many of the top companies in the country in a variety of fields and industries.

A sampling of Turnkey clients includes Qualcomm, ViaSat, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Bergelectric, KPMG and Aflac.

Jim has over 28 years of experience in top management positions. He has been President of four companies and is a seasoned entrepreneur and businessman.

Jim has been a member of Rotary for 30 years, is Past President of his club (Escondido Sunrise), is the Chairman the RYLA district committee and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. Jim has served on state and national boards of trade and charitable organizations and is a member of the Boys and Girls Club Hall of fame.

October 22, 2013 Speaker: Dr. Babak Rahimi, UCSD – Iran: Managing the politics of change

Babak Rahimi, Ph.D. (European University Institute) is Associate Professor of Communication, Culture and Religion at the Department of Literature, University of California, San Diego.

He earned his PhD from the European University Institute, Florence, Italy, in October 2004. Rahimi has also studied at the University of Nottingham, where he obtained an M.A. in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (1997), and the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Anthropology, 2000-2001.

Rahimi’s research examines the relationship between culture, religion and politics. His book, Theater-State and Formation of the Early Modern Public Sphere in Iran: Studies on Safavid Muharram Rituals, 1590-1641 C.E. (Brill 2011), studies the relationship between ritual, public space and state power in early modern Iranian history.

His work has appeared in Thesis Eleven: Critical Theory and Historical Sociology, International Political Science Review, The Communication Review, the Journal of the International Society for Iranian Studies.

Rahimi has been an expert guest on various media programs like The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, BBC and CNN, in addition to NPR and On the Media.

Also, he has been a visiting scholar at the Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, Freie Universität Berlin, and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rahimi has also been the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Jean Monnet Fellowship at the European University Institute, and was a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC, 2005-2006.

His current research project is on the relationship between digital culture, politics and religion.

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