Speakers

Greg Edwards has been a serial tech entrepreneur in Cedar Rapids since 1998.

His last startup was an offsite backup and disaster recovery company called Axis Backup. Axis was sold to publicly traded J2 Global in 2015, enabling Greg to start WatchPoint, a deception technology cybersecurity business. Greg has a passion for working with privately owned businesses to secure their technology investment. WatchPoint works with clients globally and with prominent local companies like The Accel Group.

As Voter Outreach Coordinator for the Linn County Auditor’s office, Valerie presents educational and voter registration programs, and encourages colleges and community organizations to do the same.  She also runs the Satellite Voting program for the county, conducts accessibility surveys for election day polling locations, and recruits Election Day Poll Workers.  When she’s not in the field, Valerie processes voter registrations and cancellations, oversees early voting in the elections office, and manages the Linn County (IA) Election Services Facebook Page.   Her previous experience includes community outreach for the U.S. Census Bureau, bi-partisan political organizing for the Arab American Institute,  and campaign work for candidates and issues organizations. 

Her presentation will focus on recent changes in Iowa elections, including Voter ID,  the combination of School and City Elections,  increasing use of technology at polling places, and options for voters with disabilities. She will also present tips on helping others register to vote, and current needs for increasing the pool of Election Day Poll Workers. 

Sandi will share stories from her recent trip to Nepal for a wedding of her son.  She will share insights on the trip and some of the traditions that she was introduced to as related to getting married in Nepal.

Dr. Peters is a surgeon in Coralville,  the owner of Corridor Vein Center, and a member of the Iowa City Rotary. He’s also a former political candidate and now serves as the state coordinator for Better Angels. Better Angels is a national group which formed after the 2016 election with a mission to reduce political polarization by engaging Americans at the grassroots level. As one of Rotary’s primary goals is to promote peace, Chris believes the missions of Better Angels are perfectly aligned to help heal our badly divided nation.

 

In the May issue of “The Rotarian”, there was an article titled, “Putting Civility back into Civil Discourse“, featuring Better Angels. Iowa’s “First in the Nation” status provides a great opportunity to advance the Better Angels message in leading up to the Iowa caucus. I also believe that my fellow Rotarians are particularly well suited to promote that vision, given our commitment to “The Four-Way Test”. I would appreciate the opportunity to share a bit about Better Angels with your Rotary members. My talk is titled, “Restoring Civility in Civic Discourse: Embracing our Better Angels”