2025 Land of Lincoln PETS Speakers
Ralph Zuke started his Rotary career in Fairview Heights, IL in 2008. Seeing an unfulfilled need on the Missouri side of the river, Ralph assisted with starting a satellite club to the Rotary Club of St. Louis (Club 11) in 2019. He did not, however, bring his membership to District 6060 until two years later when he joined the St. Louis Civilians Club full-time.
In the early part of his Rotary career, Ralph focused on clean water. He helped set up the first of three international grants in his first year, which provided 30K+ people with a clean, safe source of drinking water.
In 2017, as Ralph was gearing up to be Club President for the second, and third, time he shifted his focus to the Rotary goal of polio eradication. With a degree in health education from the University of Maryland, he understood the challenges and benefits of achieving such a feat.
Ralph has developed a unique way to combine his fundraising efforts with education. His Barcalounger Rickshaw bike rides have generated over $50k toward Polio eradication as well as newspaper, TV, and radio interviews, social media posts, and many, many invites to speak at Rotary clubs and events. In May 2025, Ralph will be dusting off his fundraising bicycle and pulling a new rickshaw to the Rotary International Conference in Calgary. Just after arriving home from Canada, he will start his year as Governor for District 6060.
When Ralph is not doing Rotary stuff, he works as a General Contractor with a focus on master finish carpentry. He specializes in historic restorations and renovations, as well as building heirloom quality furniture. His wife, Danielle, and adult children support his endeavors, even if they question his sanity.
A STORY OF HOPE AMIDST SADNESS
The story of Miquette’s childhood is like that of most children in Haiti, except that something rather unusual happened, making the rest of Miquette’s story very different.
In the fall of 2000, Miquette received a rare opportunity. As a part of Rotary International’s Youth Exchange program, Miquette was offered a year to attend Detroit Lakes High School in Minnesota. Having previously learned only limited English, the adjustment was a real challenge for Miquette. But she never quit, and after leaving the U.S. at the end of the year, she was determined to return and complete her high school education.
Miquette’s perseverance paid off. In May 2002, she received her high school diploma from Oak Grove Lutheran High School in North Dakota. Four years later, she received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Concordia College in Minnesota. She became the first person in her family to graduate high school or college.
From poverty to passionate philanthropy
In 2007, she founded Teach Haiti and returned to her home country to serve children whose stories are similar to hers. Since its inception, Teach Haiti has helped 100s of students. The program has two campuses, one in Port au Prince and one in her hometown, St. Michel. The two schools currently serve over 600 students and employ over 120 people.
Miquette was honored with the Sent Forth Award by Concordia College, her alma mater, in 2017. She also received the Living the Mission Award from her high school, Oak Grove in Fargo, ND, in 2000. She was the Rotarian of the Year in 2022.
She is currently focused on writing a book about her bibliography.
Miquette is married to Art McMahon; they have three children: Max (10), Rex(8), and Raquel (7) They currently live in Vermilion, Ohio.
Trustee, The Rotary Foundation 2021-2025
Born and raised in Macon, Missouri, Larry Lunsford serves as a Trustee of The Rotary Foundation for a four-year term 2021-2025. Larry served as Trustee Vice-Chair for the 2022-23 Rotary year.
A certified public accountant, Larry is EVP/CFO of Bernstein-Rein Advertising, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri. Larry and his wife Jill have two grown children, Trent and Cara. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri where he was very active in academic, athletic, and organizational leadership pursuits.
Larry’s passion for Rotary and his invitation into the family of Rotary began during his college years when in 1982 he was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Macon, Missouri and selected as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar to Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Larry joined the Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza, Missouri in 1991. He served as his club’s President in 1997-98, served as District Governor of District 6040 (Missouri) in 2001-02, and served as Rotary International Director in 2013-15.
As District Governor, Larry helped lead the “Missouri Rotarians for New York” statewide service project that raised over $100,000 in 2001 for those affected by the events of 9/11.
For the past 22 years, Larry has served as the Shoes Cheerleader for his District resulting in efforts which have collected nearly 395,000 pairs of new shoes through the Shoes for Orphan Souls project in partnership with Buckner International. The Shoes project has taken him to Russia, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic to deliver new shoes to orphan children in those countries.
Larry and Jill served as Aides to RI President Mark Daniel Maloney, and his wife Gay, for the 2019-2020 Rotary year.
In the 2020-2021 Rotary year, Larry served as Chair on the Rotary Peace Centers Committee of the Rotary Foundation, helping in the selection of the 20th class of Rotary Peace Fellows.
He is a past member and Chair of the RI Membership Committee. He served four years from 2018-2022 as a member of the Shaping Rotary’s Future Committee for Rotary International.
Larry and Jill support The Rotary Foundation as a Level 2 Major Donor, Benefactor, Charter Member and Level 4 Member of the Bequest Society, and a member of the District 6040 Paul Harris Society and District 6040 PolioPlus Society.
He has been awarded the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service in 2005 and the RI Service Above Self Award in 2011. Larry served as Chair for his District’s Centennial Legacy Dinner in 2017 which raised $3.3 million for the Rotary Foundation in outright gifts and commitments.
Larry enjoys blue and yellow M&Ms, all sports, travel, and collecting sports memorabilia, and waits patiently for the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl once again.
Mario Cesar Martins de Camargo, a member of the Rotary Club of Santo Andre, Brazil, has been selected as president of Rotary International for 2025-26. He Will be the fourth Brazilian to hold the office and the first since Paulo V.C. Costa in 1990-91
De Camargo was president of the printing company Grafica Bandeirantes and has been a consultant to the print industry in Brazil. He has also served as president and chair of several printing and graphics trade associations, including the Brazilian Association of Graphic Technology and the Brazilian Printing Industry Association. He has served on the board of Casa da Esperanca (House of Hope), a medical center in Santo Andre sponsored by his Rotary club that serves more than 200,000 patients every year.
De Camargo studied in the U.S. and Germany and holds degrees from Sao Bernardo do Campo Law School and the Getulio Vargas Foundation's Sao Paulo School of Business Administration. He attended a high school in Minnesota in 1974-75 through Rotary Youth Exchange, which inspired a lifelong commitment to the program.
A Rotarian since 1980, de Camargo served as his club's Youth Exchange officer in 1981, at age 24, and its president in 1992-93. He was governor of District 4420 (part of Brazil's Sao Paulo state) in 1999-2000, Rotary Foundation trustee in 2015-19, and Rotary International director in 2019-21. He has also served Rotary as an RI learning facilitator, committee member and chair, and task force member. De Camargo and his wife, Denise, also a Rotarian, are Major Donors and Benefactors of Tile Rotary Foundation.
Brian is a member of the Rotary Club of Covington, LA. He has served his club and district in many positions, including as District 6840 Governor in the 2014-2015 Rotary year. Brian was active with the Host Organizing Committee of the 2011 Rotary International Convention, where he served as the chair of the Technology Committee, and as a member the RI Promotions Committee for the 2019 Honolulu convention. He served Rotary Zone 31 as Assistant Regional Rotary Public Image Coordinator in the 2013-2014 year, as an Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator in the 2016-2019 years, and as End Polio Now Coordinator from 2019 to 2022. Brian served as a Training Leader at the International Assembly in both 2018 and 2019 and a Training Leader Support in 2021 and 2022. Brian is currently serving as the Chair Elect of the board of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Rotary Action Group and board member and past chair of the Past District Governors Fellowship. Brian is also serving as chair of the Joint Rotary International/Rotary Foundation Technology committee, reporting to the RI Board of Directors and The Rotary Foundation’s Trustees. Brian received Rotary’s Service Above Self award in the 2021-2022 Rotary year. Brian will be serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Rotary International in the 2025-2027 Rotary years from Zones 30 and 31.
Brian has been married to his wife, Lynn, for 31 years. They currently reside in Madisonville, Louisiana. They have two children, Keely and Patrick.
Brian was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. Brian worked as a CPA for several years before changing careers to become a computer programmer. In 1998 he and Lynn relocated to New Orleans, where Brian decided to merge his backgrounds and begin consulting with companies regarding business and financial systems. In 2000, he and three others formed AIM Technologies to provide information and business systems sales and consulting.