FEATURED SPEAKERS and FACILITATORS
Larry A. Lunsford
Rotary Club of Kansas City Plaza, Missouri
President-nominee​​
​
Lunsford attended Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, on an academic scholarship, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. He first encountered Rotary when he received a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship to spend the 1981-82 academic year at the University of Newcastle in Australia.
A certified public accountant, Lunsford spent seven years working for Ernst & Young before joining a family-owned business, Bernstein-Rein Advertising, in 1990. He is currently executive vice president and chief financial officer for the Bernstein group of companies. He has held positions on the boards of the Kansas City Spirit Festival and the Variety Club as well as serving as director of a local bank and treasurer of the Epilepsy Foundation for the Heart of America. He has also served on Truman State University’s alumni and foundation boards and received the university’s Distinguished Service Award.
Lunsford joined the Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza in 1991 and has since served as district governor (2001-02), RI director (2013-15), and trustee of The Rotary Foundation (2021-25, vice chair 2024-25). He has been a member of RI committees, including the Executive Committee (chair 2014-15), Membership Growth Committee (chair 2016-18), and Nominating Committee for President of RI (chair 2023-24). He also has served on The Rotary Foundation’s Executive Committee (chair 2023-24), Finance Committee (chair 2022-23 and 2024-25), and Participant Experience Committee (chair 2023-24).
Lunsford has been awarded The Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award, The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service, and the RI Service Above Self Award. He and his wife, Jill Lunsford, have two children and one grandchild. They are Major Donors, Bequest Society members, multiple Paul Harris Fellows, Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation, and Sustaining Members.
Vicki Puliz
Trustee 2025-29
Rotary Club of Sparks
Nevada, USA
​
Vicki Puliz earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s in business administration from the University of Utah before becoming a partner in a commercial electrical contracting business in Nevada in 1984. She helped lead and expand the business until it merged with a publicly traded entity in 2003, and then she retired.
Puliz joined Rotary in 1992 as the first woman in her club. She has served Rotary as director, learning facilitator, and Rotary public image coordinator. She has been helped lead several presidents-elect and governors-elect training seminars. “I see Rotary as a leadership organization that provides service,” she says. “Leadership development is one of our key benefits to members.”
Puliz is also interested in leadership development for young people. It was when she witnessed more than a hundred Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) participants supporting one young woman who was struggling that her vision of the power of Rotary expanded. She has co-chaired RYLA events in her district, facilitated them in Benin, and co-created a district youth leadership program for 12- and 13-year-olds based on RYLA concepts. She also served on the inaugural Youth Advisory Council for Rotary International in 2022, which was composed of young leaders from all Rotary programs and reported directly to the RI Board of Directors.
Rotary’s peace initiatives are another passion for Puliz. She serves on the Rotary Peace Centers Committee and has participated in events at the peace centers in Bradford, England, and in Istanbul, Türkiye. She also completed Positive Peace Activator training offered through Rotary’s partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace. She helped form a community of practice on building social cohesion and combating polarization, skills that she has applied in work with adults and young people.
For Puliz, it is critical for each member to know why they are in Rotary. “If each Rotary member could tap into that purpose and share it with others, it would be so powerful for our organization.”
Puliz and her husband, Tim, who is also a Rotarian, live in Reno, Nevada. Their blended family includes seven children, 12 grandchildren, and three Rotary Youth Exchange daughters. They enjoy outdoor activities in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and general aviation. Both are active members of the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians.
They support The Rotary Foundation as Arch Klumph Society members and members of the Paul Harris Society, the Bequest Society, and the PolioPlus Society.
.jpg)
Thomas A. Gump
Edina Morningside Rotary
RI Director 2026-2028
Aide to Rotary International President 2024-2025
​
​
Tom Gump serves as Presidential Advisor to Rotary International’s 2025 Calgary International Convention Committee and the 2025 Presidential Peace Conference - Istanbul. He serves on the Boards of Directors for the Past District Governors & Friends Fellowship, EClub Fellowship, and Multi-District PETS Alliance, which he will Chair in 2025-26. He is currently working with Rotarians around the world to form The Rotary Fellowship of Artificial Intelligence. Tom has served as an International Assembly Learning Facilitator, General Chair of the Rotary Zones 25B and 29 Institute and as a President’s Representative to multiple districts.
​
Tom is an accomplished Rotarian with a long-standing commitment to growing Rotary membership, raising funds and participating in projects for The Rotary Foundation (TRF), promoting Rotary and inspiring leadership. Tom will Chair the 2025-26 Rotary International Membership Growth Committee. He is a former Rotary Coordinator for Zones 25B & 29. He founded, helped form and/or inspired more than a dozen new and creative clubs around the world, including the first clubs in the world to serve veterans and end human trafficking. He also formed a Rotary Community Corps for Refugees, which served hundreds of refugees in Minnesota, USA. He was named to The Gold Level of The Membership Society for New Member Sponsors for bringing in more than 50 members into his club. Zones 28 and 32 awarded him with its “Individual Membership Innovation Award.” As a speaker and writer, Tom now inspires others to grow Rotary membership, regularly speaking on the topic of membership at all levels of Rotary. His tips for attracting and retaining members and forming new clubs have been featured in various Rotary publications.
Tom also fundraises for TRF and its End Polio Now campaign. As District Governor (DG), he led his district to become only the third district in the world to ever have all of its clubs designated as 100% Paul Harris Fellow Clubs. Also, as DG, he led his district in raising over $642,000 for TRF’s End Polio Now campaign. He has led and/or partnered on 20 international, district and club grants totaling more than $4 million dollars. The TRF Trustees awarded Tom the Citation for Meritorious Service in recognition of his outstanding service to The Rotary Foundation, and its Regional Polio Free World Award.
He has promoted Rotary through serving as Zone Promotion Coordinator for both the Toronto and Honolulu Conventions and has served on various Rose Bowl Parade Float Committees.
The Rotary International Board of Directors awarded Tom its highest honor – the Service Above Self Award. Tom’s impressive contributions to Rotary and TRF make him a valuable member of these organizations and a source of inspiration for others.
Tom is a proud member of the Edina Morningside Rotary Club, his wife, Catherine, is a member of the Edina Noon Club and their son, Andrew, is the President of the Twin Harbors Rotaract Club (in formation). The Gump family have hosted seven fabulous Rotary Youth Exchange students over the years.
Andrea Krug Krauss
Action Plan Champion
Region 36
Andrea Krug Krauss has been a member of the Rotary Club of Russell, Kansas since 2004. She has served in a number of capacities within her club, including as Foundation Chairman and President (2009-2010). At the district level, Andrea has served as District Grants Sub-Committee Chairman, Assistant Governor, District 5670 Governor (2018-2019), Chairman of Heartland PETS, Co-Chairman of the District 5680 Merger Committee and Council on Legislation Representative. At the zone level, she serves as the Regional Action Plan Champion, has served in several facilitator roles at the Zones 25B/29 Institutes, including DGN Learning Facilitator, and is Co-Chairman of the 2026 Zones 25A/25B/29 Institute. Andrea also serves as a member of the Rotary International Strategic Planning Committee, International Assembly Learning Facilitator for 2023-2025, and as a 2024 RI President’s Representative. Andrea has traveled to Panama, Guatemala, Ecuador, and the Philippines on Rotary service trips, and is a member of the Paul Harris Society, a Major Donor, and a member of the Bequest Society. In addition, she was the 2019 co-recipient of the Rotary District 5680 Service Above Self Award for her work on the merger of Districts 5670 and 5690.
​
In her professional life, Andrea is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the position of Secretary/Treasurer of John O. Farmer, Inc., an energy production company. She graduated from Kansas State University with Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Agricultural Economics and a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Agricultural Economics. Andrea lives on her family’s farm southwest of Russell, along with her husband, Tom, who farms and ranches with her father. Andrea and Tom have one daughter, Katherine, who recently graduated with an MBA from Kansas State University as a 5th generation K-Stater.
Michael Angelo Caruso
International Keynoter | Speaker Sales Coaching
Michael Angelo Caruso teaches people how to be better speakers and presenters so they can help more people and amp up their careers.
He utilizes his unique background in the technology sector and a separate career in the entertainment business to deliver keynote speeches that feel like a combination of your best teacher and your favorite comedian.
Michael delivers about 70 presentations and keynote speeches a year. He has spoken on six continents and in 49 states.
Michael is known for getting extremely fast results with his clients. He can make anyone a better communicator and regularly demonstrates his effective communication strategies by helping audience members improve during his presentation.
Caruso is founder and President of Edison House, an international consulting firm specializing in corporate and personal improvement. Edison House clients include Hallmark, Bank of America, Verizon Wireless, Rayovac, Citgo, Nissan, and the United States Navy.
Michael has authored Work Hacks, the How to Grow Your Service Club book and Hmmm: Little Ideas With Big Results. He also has a highly-rated online speaker coaching system titled, Present Like a Pro. Michael is a two-time TEDx speaker.
Michael loves giving back. A lifetime Rotarian, his seminar fundraiser for Rotary Clubs has raised over a quarter of a million dollars for Rotary Clubs all over North America. Ask him about it after his keynote!
MAC enjoys exercise, movies, non-fiction books, and travel.
​
Richard Kyte
Endowed Professor of Ethics and Director
D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership
Viterbo University La Crosse, Wisconsin
Richard Kyte is the author of several books, including An Ethical Life: A Practical Guide to Ethical Reasoning and Ethical Business: Cultivating the Good in Organizational Culture. He is cohost of “The Ethical Life” podcast and writes a biweekly column appearing in 73 US newspapers. He is a long-time member of the Rotary Club of La Crosse. His latest book, Finding Your Third Place, is available from Fulcrum Publishing.