Breakout Session Speakers
James and Molly Herrington
Jim and Molly are an active Rotarian with the Bismarck Rotary Club. Jim served as President from 2021-23 and Molly served as President in 2017-18 and currently as Secretary. Jim currently serves as District 5580’s Learning Facilitator and Molly has led Visioning for District 5580 and currently serves as Grant committee chair.
Outside of Rotary, Jim is a Senior Software Engineer and Technical Architect for JLL, and Molly serves the state of North Dakota as Chief People Officer. They both enjoy their community and experiencing new adventures with their two sons.
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Kyle Haugen​
Kyle has been a member of the Rotary Club of Prior Lake, MN since 2003 and has served in several roles in the club and beyond, including club president (2009-10), District 5960 Governor (2017-18, and was the youngest governor in the world that year), and District Rotary Foundation Team Leader (2019-21). He recently completed a three-year term as Rotary Public Image Coordinator for Zones 25B and 29 and is now the Rotary Three-Year Goals and Plans Co-Lead. Since 2012, Along with serving in these roles, he has traveled internationally to participate in relief efforts in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, to India as part of a polio immunization drive, and to Uganda and Rwanda to develop and broaden Rotary relationships with refugees, and in the summer of 2023 went back to Uganda to reconnect with refugees and traveled to Kenya to visit water projects there.
During the 2021-22 Rotary year, Kyle was one of eight recipients of Rotary’s International Service Award for a Polio Free World, recognizing his significant active personal service toward the goal of polio eradication.
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Gretchen Nollman​
Gretchen is part of District 6000 and a member of the Rotary Club of HOPE (Homeless Outreach Prevention and Education). She has been a Rotarian for 9 years and is currently the Lead Learning Facilitator for NCPETS.
Her favorite quote is "Be the change you wish to see in the world" Gandhi
Cynthia Adams
Born and raised on a farm near Toronto, SD, Cynthia initially served in the U.S. Navy for nearly 23 years, acquiring leadership and technical experience in a scientific intelligence community focused in undersea passive acoustic analysis training. Upon military retirement, she was employed with Booz Allen Hamilton as an Instructional Systems Designer and Program Manager for 18 years, working in the Defense and Federal industries. With just over two years as a Rotarian, she currently serves as President of the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary in Spirit Lake, IA and is a member of the NCPETS Training Team. She has a personal passion for addressing and building an awareness of Mental Health, especially PTSD and Moral Injury. Cynthia has three children: Christopher King in Altamonte Springs, FL; Brittany Taylor in Williamsburg, VA; and Aren King in Spirit Lake, IA.
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Carole Bernhard
Carole Bernhard retired from the U.S Air Force in 2010 after serving 26 years. She and her husband Tim have two grown sons. Her interest in the arts led to her chairing the Kossuth County Stinson Prairie Arts Council for three years and she was an active participant in Backstage in Bancroft, acting and directing community theatre. A love of golf led Carole to obtain a coaching certificate, and she has coached the North Union High School girls’ golf team for 11 yrs. She enjoys cycling so much that she teaches indoor cycling classes. Additionally, she is the executive director for the Bancroft Chamber of Commerce. Carole joined District 5970 and the Bancroft Area Rotary in 2010. She served as Rotary Club President from 2011-2013 and from 2018-2020. Carole has served on the North Central PETS Education Team. She is the Immediate Past District Governor, District Membership Chair, and is serving on the Executive Team for the North Central President Elect Training Seminar.“I love that Rotary is both local and global.”
Michael Lovett
first became aware of Rotary 35 years ago, when his family was invited to host an exchange student. After ten years and four more exchange students, Mike joined Rotary. His home club is White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Mike currently serves as the Learner Facilitator for District 5960. Professionally he served as a public school administrator for more than 40 years, and currently works as adjunct faculty at two universities, preparing future generations of principals and superintendents.
Helen Beneke​
Helen is a part of District 5970 and a member of Pocahontas Area Rotary Club. She has been a Rotarian for 35 years. She is currently District 5970/s co-Chair for Learning/Training and a Learning Facilitator for NC-PETS. Favorite Quote: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said. They’ll forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
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Alexa Rundquist​
Alexa is a self-motivated driven leader with a history of working in the emergency preparedness and public health. She knows a lot of wonderfully useless Rotary trivia, endless tricks in ClubRunner, how to navigate Rotary International's website, and PETS is her favorite Rotary event. Rotary is a family affair for her; her favorite parts of Rotary are friendships, learning, and coffee.