We heard very interesting tales from two of our members this morning. Kent Peterson provided a "Member Minute" which asks the individual to speak to first job/best job/worst job. As with most of us, Kent's first job and worst job occurred during high school. He first worked at a local dairy store in his home town of Quincy Illinois where he learned about customer service and taking responsibility. Worst job occurred the next summer when employed as an assistant for the local dog pound, picking up deceased animals found on the streets. His best jobs occurred during his career as a pharmacist. He spent time with the Iowa Pharmacy Association and later for the MN Department of Health where he was able to write the first rules for Minnesota's Clean Indoor Air.
Next we heard from our newest member, Jim DeMay. Jim provided what we used to call a "Classification Talk" in Rotary-speak, meaning a chance to tell us more about himself both from a career and personal standpoint. Jim is a "local kid" in terms of graduating from Mounds View High School but his career has spanned the globe. After earning bachelors and masters degrees in public policy from UW Madison and Hamline University, Jim launched his professional career by working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. This led to a stint with the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. From there he jumped across the ocean and began working to further democratization and voting rights in places like Ukraine, newly separated from Russia. He was able to observe the rise of Vladimir Putin and could see from the start that this was not going to lead to positive outcomes. Ultimately he and his family came back to the U.S. where he began a new career doing policy work for Citibank. The financial crisis of 2008 led to a lay-off and ultimately a move to Pfizer where he continued to leverage his public policy expertise. He ended up leading their Covid vaccination efforts in the midwest and is currently focusing on deployment policy for the anti-viral Paxlovid. Whew! Somehow during all this he found time to volunteer in local government, serving first under former Shoreview Mayor Dick Wadell and most recently as an elected member of the Board of the Mounds View School District. We are so fortunate that Jim has decided to join Rotary and bring his wealth of experience to our club as we go forward, finding ways to do good in the world through this organization!