Speakers

July 5, 2022 is President John Gessert's inaugural meeting.

John Gessert currently serves as a Vice President and Senior Trust Officer for Union Bank and Trust and Concerto Family Office by UBT. John has 29 years of experience working with high-net-worth individuals and their families. His professional responsibilities include trust administration and estate settlement, focusing on the successful transition of intergenerational wealth. John is an active community volunteer and musician. John has been a dedicated Rotarian for 13 years, as shown in his service to Rotary as Chair of the PGE and Finance committees and his service as a club Treasurer for four years and two years on the Board. John maintained seven years of perfect Rotary attendance. 

Governor Pete Ricketts was sworn in as Nebraska’s 40th Governor on January 8, 2015 and reelected to a second term in November 2018.

Over the past seven years, Governor Ricketts has worked with the Legislature to deliver $3 billion in direct property tax relief, dramatically reduce the rate of state spending growth, develop Nebraska's workforce, improve operations, cut red tape, and expand international markets for Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. Thanks in part to the Governor’s leadership, Nebraska won the Governor’s Cup for the most economic development projects per capita three years in a row from 2016 to 2018.

Born in Nebraska City and raised in Omaha, Ricketts is the son of an entrepreneur and a school teacher. Governor Ricketts and his wife, First Lady Susanne Shore, have been married for 24 years and live in Omaha. They have three children: Roscoe, Margot, and Eleanor.

Ricketts graduated from Westside High School before attending the University of Chicago where he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and an MBA in marketing and finance. After graduate school, Ricketts returned to Omaha and worked for Union Pacific before eventually becoming the President and COO of his family's business, Ameritrade. 

Prior to his election as governor, he worked to support Nebraska entrepreneurs and startup companies. Ricketts is the founder of Drakon, LLC that supports local entrepreneurs and startup companies. He is also a past board member of TD Ameritrade’s Board of Directors and the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

Governor Ricketts has taken on leadership roles in local and state associations and organizations. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of Jobs for America's Graduates, as a director of the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation, as a member of the Board of Advisors of Opportunity Education Foundation, on the board of the Mid-American Council of the Boy Scouts, as a member of the Archbishop’s Committee for Development, as a member of the Knights of Columbus, and as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. Governor Ricketts and his family attend St. Margaret Mary’s church.