Speakers

Every year we gather speaks from around the Rotary world and beyond to provide our future leaders with inspiration for the year ahead.

Steve Martin

Steve Martin

Making Rotary Irresistible

Steve was born in Liverpool UK and served as a police officer for 30 years in London and Liverpool. For the last 17 years of his career, he trained officers and dogs in the K9 unit and specialised in counter terrorist search dogs and search techniques.

During his service Steve was involved in an incident which became the most notable unsolved murder of a police officer in British police history. As a result of this tragic incident Steve was decorated by Her majesty the Queen.

Steve’s entry to Rotary was via the Group Study exchange programme when he was selected to travel to district 9570 Queensland Australia in 2001. This life changing Rotary programme kick started his career, and he very quickly became involved in district activities by taking a place on the district foundation committee. As the chair of GSE Steve went on to lead a team to the Amazon area of Brazil in 2015. A Polio Immunisation trip to India was a most humbling experience and a highlight of Steve’s Rotary career so far and provides him with that important ‘Rotary moment” story.

Steve was selected to be district Governor of dist. 1180 North Wales and Northwest England in the ‘year of Inspiration’ 2018/19 and was asked to become an assistant Rotary coordinator the following year. In 2020 he was appointed by Rotary International as a Rotary coordinator and is still currently in that role. He has facilitated at GETS and GENTS in 2021/22/23 and will be an international learning facilitator at the international assembly in Orlando in January 2024.

Steve has presented at several PETS sessions and is a regular speaker at District conferences around his career story as a police officer and how Rotary changed his life and helped in his recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Steve speaks passionately about the membership situation in Rotary today and his belief in improving the culture in our clubs and improving our club experience to making Rotary ‘Irresistible”

Patrick Longano

Patrick Longano

Creating IMPACT In Your Community

Patrick Longano holds the distinction of being the founder and creator of IMPACT, as well as the inventor of the Companion Club concept. Notably, he assumed the role of the inaugural President for the initial IMPACT club, IMPACT by the Rotary Club of the Foothills in North Carolina.
 
Demonstrating his commitment to the Rotary movement, Patrick also serves as the District 7670 Membership Chair and plays a crucial role as a Zone 33 Innovative Club Advocate. He has helped form or in is process of forming over 100 clubs in the US and worldwide including GBI, Europe and Beirut, Lebanon. His 4-step process to help walk clubs from conception to practice is now recognized as the go to resource to starting a Companion Club.
 
In addition to his significant contributions within the Rotary community, Patrick Longano is a multifaceted entrepreneur. He boasts ownership of several businesses, including Member Minder Pro, which stands as the parent company for DACdb. Patrick’s entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to enhancing organizations’ efficiency and effectiveness are evident through his involvement in these ventures. Patrick Longano’s achievements and roles within the Rotary network and the business realm underscore his leadership, innovation, and commitment to creating positive impact.
Jackie Martin

Jackie Martin

A Matter of Motivation

For more than 25 years Jackie has been helping others master the art of change by sharing the stages and skills of the Change Cycle™.  She put her expertise in change to the test most recently as she pivoted from live, in-person training to virtual events.  She’s mastered the craft of engagement and fun during her virtual learning and applies all the same methods she uses in person facilitating training on engagement, communication, leadership and change management, to organizations both nationally and internationally.   

As an Inner Circle Certified John Maxwell Leadership trainer, a certified Change Cycle™ expert, and an NLP Practitioner, Jackie focuses on helping individuals and managers find their “sweet spot”.  She also helps front line team members connect their daily actions to the bottom line so they know that their efforts matter.

Her enthusiastic facilitation style, as well as her use of real-life examples and humor make any learning fun! She believes that when people are enjoying themselves they engage more at work AND in training, they absorb more information, feel more confident to try new skills and are more likely to use those skills on the job.

Jackie is the Founder, and Lead Trainer for A Matter of Motivation LLC, a business training and development firm focused on helping individuals, managers, and entire organizations deal with change at work and at home.  She’s also the Founder of BMore Learning a non-profit life and workforce readiness program helping prepare students for life in the real world.