Kathryn Schubert is Rotary District Governor for 2023-2024. Kathryn was raised in Nebraska. She graduated from Papillion LaVista High School and then went on to receive a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration in 1994 from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, with a focus in Commercial Banking and International Finance. Kathryn is a Certified Financial Planner® and a Wealth Management Advisor with Merrill Lynch. She started her career in Omaha upon graduation from UNO, and now works in both the Omaha and Lincoln communities. Together with her team, she provides sophisticated financial strategies and solutions for high net worth individuals and families all across America. In February 2022, Kathryn was named to the Forbes “America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State” list.

Kathryn is an active member of the Omaha Suburban Rotary Club in Omaha, Nebraska, and has been since 2009. She is a Paul Harris Fellow and a Patron of the Suburban Rotary Charitable Foundation. She is a past member of the board of Suburban Rotary and past President. She is also a past Trustee and past Chairman of the Suburban Rotary Charitable Foundation. She has served as Sergeant-at-Arms and has chaired both the Membership Development and Fundraising committees at Suburban Rotary. She is also a graduate of the Rotary Leadership Institute and has served as the Membership Chair and Chair of the DEI committee for District 5650. In 2021, Kathryn was nominated to be the District Governor for 5650 to serve in 2023-2024.

Kathryn lives in Lincoln with her husband, Craig, and 3 children: Zachary is 19 and will be a Sophomore at the University of Kansas studying Math and Physics; Annabeth is 17 and will be a Senior at Lincoln East High School; Isabelle is 14 and is going into her Freshman year at Lincoln East High School.. Together as a family, they spend a lot of time around the ice rink. Both her son and her youngest daughter play ice hockey. When they are not at a rink, they are either in a theater where Isabelle is active in dance or at a school where Annabeth is competing in Speech for the Lincoln East Speech team. They are also a musical family. Both Kathryn and Craig played instruments in the school band when they were young and now all three kids are in the school orchestra. Zachary plays the violin, Annabeth plays the cello and Isabelle plays the violin.

Recently, Maggie Stuckey-Ross introduced returning Rotarian Scott Ernstmeyer. Scott serves the Lincoln Lutheran School Association and the Lutheran Education Foundation as Executive Director and Chief Advancement Officer. He attended Lincoln Lutheran for junior high and is a graduate of Lincoln Northeast High School. Scott then attended Concordia University, NE where he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Education. During his college years Scott participated in basketball and campus leadership. Upon graduation, he accepted his first position at Lincoln Lutheran teaching religion, business, and physical education classes. He also served as the head cross-country coach and an assistant high school boy’s basketball coach. After five years as a teacher, he transitioned to the role of Principal. Five years later, Scott began a new role as Executive Director for the Lincoln Lutheran School Association. In the summer of 2023 Scott added the role of Chief Advancement Officer for the Lutheran Education Foundation to his ministry responsibilities. Scott recently completed service as a board member of the Association of Lutheran Secondary Schools, serving one year as its president. In 1997 Scott married Sara (Sype). They have three adult daughters – Kayla, Addi, and Jordan. They are actively involved in their church (Messiah Lutheran, Lincoln) as part of the worship team. Scott enjoys golfing in his freetime and is passionate about men’s discipleship. 

 

Scott Ernstmeyer with his Rotary sponsor Maggie Stuckey-Ross and President Jess Kinser

Recently Tammy Ward introduced new Rotarian Calen Swanson. Caleb Swanson is a vice president and senior project manager at Project Control. He has spent eleven years providing program management and owner’s representation to a variety of clients across a wide spectrum of capital improvement projects. He has a passion for building projects that positively impact the community at large and has had the privilege of working on projects such as the Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Centennial Mall revitalization project, the Woods Tennis Center, and multiple projects for Lincoln Fire & Rescue. Caleb also enjoys volunteering with Leadership Lincoln and with his local church as a board member of the finance council. He is a busy husband and dad to three daughters between ages 3 and 9, with the middle child starting kindergarten this fall. When dreaming about what he would do with free time, his thoughts usually focus around backpacking in Colorado or trying out that kayak they bought a few years ago that is somewhere in the garage.

 

Caleb Swanson with his Rotary sponsor Tammy Ward and President Jess Kinser

Barbara Bartle, the Immediate Past District Governor of Rotary 14, expressed her gratitude towards John Gessert, the Immediate Past President, for his exceptional leadership during the previous year. She presented him with a special Rotary President Plaque and welcomed him as the head of the Past Presidents Group. President Jess Kinser also handed over John's new Past President badge. We thank John for a wonderful year at Rotary!

 

Fresh from his European vacation, Immediate Past President (IPP) John Gessert thanked his leadership team and outgoing members of the Board of Directors for their dedication and service to Rotary. IPP John presented each one with a nice Plaque of Appreciation.

 

L to R: 2022-2023 DG Barbara Bartle, Secretary Chris Whitney, Director Molly Burns, Director Bob Everitt, Pres-Elect Jess Kinser, Sgt at Arms Todd Francisco, Director Christie Weston, Immediate Past President Christina Usher, Treasurer Ben Martens, & President John Gessert

IPP John Gessert presided over the Blue Badge Ceremony for Joel Michaelis sponsored by Bob Everitt, Jessica McMullen sponsored by Kiersten Hill, Sheila Dorsey Vinton sponsored by Fred Ohles, Nick Cusick sponsored by Angie Muhleisen, Josh Hanshaw sponsored by Tim Kenny - with President Jess Kinser. Congratulations, Rotarians!

 

Our Gathering Place Chair, Anna Hernoud, is looking for volunteers to serve meals at the Gathering Place on July 26 and July 27. Please send Anna an email if you can help at AnnaHernoud@gmail.com. Featured here are recent volunteers Kevin Wailes, Tammy Ward, Swedish RYE Ellinor Bengtsson, Lisa Lee, and Suzanne Sughroue.