2024 Land of Lincoln PETS Speakers
Lisa Holder White earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990 from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. In 1993, Justice White earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign.
Assistant State’s Attorney for Macon County was the first legal position held by Justice White. She also previously worked as an Assistant Public Defender, litigating on behalf of those charged with criminal offenses and representing abused and neglected children. Immediately prior to being appointed to the bench, Justice White worked in private practice at the firm formerly known as Brinkoetter & White. Her private practice focused on the areas of family and criminal law.
In 2001, Justice White was sworn in as an Associate Judge, becoming the first Black Judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. During her term as an Associate Judge, she was instrumental in securing and implementing the Redeploy Illinois grant aimed at reducing the incarceration rate for non-violent juvenile offenders. In 2008, she was appointed to a Circuit Judge position by the Illinois Supreme Court. In 2010, she was elected to the position. In Macon County, Justice White served as Supervising Judge of the Criminal Law Division. Following an appointment by the Illinois Supreme Court, Justice White was sworn in on January 14, 2013, as the first Black Justice on the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District. In 2014, she was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District.
Justice White previously served on and chaired the Illinois Supreme Court Judicial Conference Committee on Education, now known as the Committee on Judicial Education. The Committee on Judicial Education is charged with planning and providing continuing judicial education for Illinois judges. She previously chaired the New Judge Seminar Workgroup where she led the group responsible for planning the annual seminar attended by all new Illinois state court judges. She has also served as faculty for the New Judge Seminar. Justice White frequently teaches at the bi-annual Education Conference, which provides all Illinois state court judges with mandatory continuing judicial education. She previously served as a peer reviewer for the Committee on Judicial Education criminal law benchbook. She also served on and chaired the board of the Illinois Judicial College. As a member of the Supreme Court of Illinois Judicial Conference, Justice White helped to develop the Illinois Judicial Branch Strategic Agenda unveiled in October 2019.
Justice White is a member of the Decatur Bar Association, the Sangamon County Bar Association, the Central Illinois Women’s Bar Association, and the Illinois Judges Association. She previously served on the board of the Decatur Public Schools Foundation, the Mid-Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross, Millikin University, the Illinois Judges Association, the Community Foundation of Macon County, and on the Illinois Supreme Court Access to Justice Appellate Court Committee, and the Juvenile Justice Leadership Council. She currently serves on the University of Illinois College of Law Leadership Project.
In April 2013, Justice White was named "Woman of the Year" at the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards, hosted by the Decatur YMCA and United Way of Decatur and Mid-Illinois. She has also been the recipient of a Lewis University Alumni Achievement Award, the Joe Slaw Civil Rights Award from the Decatur branch of the NAACP, the Illinois Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award, the University of Illinois College of Law Black Law Students Association's James Seaberry Award for Excellence, and the Illinois Judges Association Harold Sullivan Award.
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.
Stephanie A. Urchick, of the Rotary Club of McMurray, Pennsylvania, is the President of Rotary International for 2024-25, a decision that would make her only the second woman to hold that position.
With the world facing incredible challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, disasters driven by climate change, and conflict in many regions, Urchick says Rotary’s leaders can offer a vision and a plan for overcoming these challenges.
“Measures taken by Rotary leadership to survive and end critical challenges often make our organization stronger and more resilient for future events,” Urchick says. “This kind of essential leadership also creates new levels of cooperation, even among rivals, when Rotarians pull together as people of action to serve and solve a crisis.”
Making regionalization a priority is crucial, says Urchick.“Because Rotary operates in more than 200 countries and regions, it is vital to recognize that the organization has the potential to become more efficient and effective by understanding and reacting to how regional differences affect the way Rotarians work together to address providing service, promoting integrity, and advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace,” Urchick says.
Urchick is partner and chief operating officer of Doctors at Work LLC, a consulting and training company. She holds a doctorate in leadership studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is active on numerous community boards and committees, and has been honored by organizations including Zonta International and the Sons of the American Revolution.
A Rotary member since 1991, Urchick has traveled to Vietnam to help build a primary school and to the Dominican Republic to install water filters. She studies several Slavic languages, has mentored new Rotarians in Ukraine, and coordinated a Rotary Foundation grant project in Poland.
Urchick has served Rotary in many roles, including as a Director, Foundation Trustee, and Chair of the RI Strategic Planning Committee and the Foundation’s Centennial Celebration Committee. She currently serves on the Election Review Committee and the Operations Review Committee. She is a Rotary Foundation Major Donor and a member of the Bequest Society.
BETH STUBBS
Rotary International Director 2023-25
Beth Stubbs is the Rotary International Director Elect for Zones 30 and 31 service during 2023-25. A Rotarian since 1991, Beth is a member of the Rotary club of Maryville in Maryville, TN. She is currently serving as Leadership Development Co-Chair in District 6780. Beth is owner of Beth Stubbs, CPA in Knoxbille, Tennessee.
Lucinda has 25+ years of nonprofit management, strategic alliance, business. development, membership, and customer service experience. She oversees the programs and services that the Effingham County Chamber provides to their members and the community.
Lucinda earned her Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management and her Master of Business Administration in Organizational Leadership & Management from Concordia University Texas. She attained her Certified Association Executive designation through the American Society of Association Executives. She recently attained the Institute for Organization Management through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Lucinda received the Professional Excellence Award from the Texas Society of Association in 2011.
Lucinda is active in the community by serving as the treasurer of the Effingham Regional Career Foundation, a member on the Board of the Effingham Regional Growth Alliance, a member of the Effingham Area Alzheimer’s Awareness Dementia Friendly Community Action Committee, a member of Effingham Noon Rotary, and a member of Christ’s Church in Effingham.
Lucinda and her husband, Will, have two children and reside in Dieterich, Illinois.
SHEAHON ZENGERHaving served three decades of experience in academic and athletic administration, development, and coaching, Sheahon Zenger serves as the Interim President for the University of New Haven in New Haven Conn, a position he has held since July 2022. Earlier in his career, he held one of the highest-level athletics director positions in the nation at the University of Kansas. In April 2005, Zenger was named the Athletic Director at Illinois State University in Norma, Illinois. While at Illinois State, Zenger focused on athletes' academics increasing their grade point averages, resulting in more scholarship opportunities through donors and also contracted with Nike and multi-million dollar renovations to the athletic facilities.
Dr. Zenger brings to the University of New Haven presidency nearly 30 years of experience in administration, Since joining the University in 2019, Dr. Zenger has been an effective and well-respected leader who has played a key role in the strategic planning process and who has been adept at building relationships with internal stakeholders, decision makers, and donors.
Prior to his role as the university’s Interim President, and as the University of New Haven’s Director of Athletics and recreation, he led all fundraising, recruitment and hiring initiatives for Chargers athletics and recreation. During his tenure, he spearheaded the development of the Peterson Performance Center, a state-of-the-art 31,000 square foot facility that is entirely donor-funded, and he secured the principal gift for the complete renovation of Charger Gymnasium, which will be dedicated as the Jeffery P. Hazell Athletic Center.
He has led the University’s exploration of transitioning its athletics program to Division I and the launch of the University’s women’s rugby, men’s and women’s golf, and esports programs. Since his arrival, the number of student-athletes has increased 25 percent to more than 500.
Prior to joining the University of New Haven, Dr. Zenger spent his career in higher education in significant leadership roles, including as an assistant to the chancellor at Texas Christian University.
At the University of Kansas, where he worked for eight years as Director of Athletics leading one of the most successful Division I athletics program in the country, he had responsibility for 350 full- and part-time staff members and a budget that grew from $69 million to approximately $100 million, and he oversaw the construction of nine new buildings and stadiums. In addition, he served as Chair of the Big 12 Conference Directors of Athletics, while simultaneously serving as co-chair of the University of Kansas Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
Dr. Zenger has experience in both academic and athletic leadership throughout his career, and he has continually looked for opportunities to foster collaboration, including creating innovative leadership development and networking opportunities for students. Twice during his tenure at the University of Kansas, the athletics department set a record for the program’s highest cumulative GPA.
Through his career in education, Dr. Zenger is continuing a family legacy. Both of his parents were teachers who went on to earn their doctorates in educational administration. They taught for years at colleges in their home state of Kansas. Between them, they wrote eight books and dozens of journal articles about curriculum development and teaching.
Dr. Zenger earned a Ph.D. in educational policy and leadership at the University of Kansas. He earned both a master’s degree in journalism and mass communications and a bachelor’s degree in English/secondary education at Kansas State University.
Dr. Zenger’s wife, Pam, is an elementary school teacher in West Haven, Conn., and they have three children.