Forum Replies Created
Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 46 total)
Dr. Roald Hazelhoff, Founder and Executive Director of the Alabama Environmental Center and long-time professor at Birmingham Southern College.
YMBC Member and Candidate for the Democratic nomination for Public Service Commission, Place One, John Northrup.
March 16: YMBC Member and presumptive Democratic Nominee for Secretary of State Wayne Rogers.
March 2: YMBC Member and legendary trial lawyer Jack Drake to discuss his new book, “Be Not Afraid: A Southern Journey through Law, Liberty and Civil Rights.”
There will be no zoom or in-person meeting Feb 16th 2026 due to the President’s Day Holiday. See ya next week!
February 9: Jeff Traywick, Economic Development Advisor for Jefferson County will be with us next week to talk about a number of new and exciting projects across Jefferson County, including the re-development of the Powell Avenue Steam Plant.
<span style=”font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: ‘Aptos’,sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;”>Monday, May 6: David Fleming, Executive Director, REV Birmingham.</span>
More information to come.
Monday, April 29: IN PERSON, HARBERT CENTER: Dr. Keith Anderton, retired diplomat, U. S. Department of State. Thanks to member Frank McPhillips for recommending Keith. Keith is a Birmingham native, graduate of Princeton University (A.B. in Physics, 1982), with an M.A. in Astrophysics from Harvard University (1985), and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Harvard (1993). He has a professional working proficiency in both Chinese and Russian, a full professional proficiency in French, German, and Japanese, and a limited working proficiency in Thai (and, I assume, a full professional working proficiency in Southern). Keith’s last posting was as Political Advisor to the Commanding General, U. S. Army Forces Europe and Africa (when Russia invaded Ukraine). Before that, he was Counselor for Nuclear Affairs, U.S. Mission to International Organization in Vienna. Before that, Dr. Anderton was Political Counselor, U. S. Embassy Bangkok; Deputy Political Minister, U. S. Embassy, Beijing; and at the U. S. Department of State, Deputy Director, Nordics and Baltics; First Secretary, U. S. Mission to NATO; Foreign Policy Expert, Office of Russian Affairs, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs; Foreign Policy Expert, Office of Russian Affairs; Executive Assistant to the Ambassador, U. S. Embassy, Tokyo; Economic Officer, U. S. Embassy, Tokyo; and Oil and Natural Resources Officer, U. S. Embassy, Moscow. Keith can address it all: Ukraine, Russia, and China. Don’t miss this in-person meeting, and thanks, again, Frank!!
Monday, April 22: IN PERSON, HARBERT CENTER: Our own Jim Spearman, former Executive Director, Alabama Democratic Party, will talk about the party: history, present, and does it have a future. Jim is as knowledgeable about the party as anyone in the state with the exception of maybe half a dozen people. And they ain’t talking! Jim is a native of Lamar County, Alabama, and is president of his family’s commercial property management and development company. After graduating from Auburn University with a degree in health administration/political science, Jim worked for Ohio Senator John Glenn, before returning to Lamar County to join the family business. His business background includes the management of a multi-facility nursing home group and the management of a six-store Piggly Wiggly Supermarket group.
Over the years, Jim has served as chairman of the board of Citizens State Bank, a community bank in Vernon, Alabama, and executive director of Conservation Alabama. His political involvement is extensive: chairman of the Lamar County Democratic Executive Committee, Vice Chair for County Affairs of the Alabama Democratic Party, and Treasurer of the Alabama Democratic Party (that is no big deal; they once let me, and twice, let John Haley, do that!). Jim served as Executive Director of the Alabama Democratic Party from 2005 -2011. He has served on the board of directors of Birmingham Aids Outreach, Alabama Possible, the executive board of the Alabama Democratic Party, and he currently serves on Auburn University’s Graduate School Board. Don’t miss our own member tomorrow as he tells us everything we need to know about the Alabama Democratic Party!
Tomorrow, Monday, April 15: VIRTUAL ONLY. We will hear from Ryan Hankins, Executive Director, PARCA. We have heard from Ryan before, but not in a while. He will tell us about PARCA, its history, mission, and some of its current work and priorities. Ryan is PARCA’s Executive Director, and joined PARCA in 2015. He has a B.A. in religion and English literature, a Masters in Divinity, and a PhD. In Public Policy. He serves on advisory boards for graduate programs at both Auburn University and Samford University. He is past president of the Alabama Association of Free Clinics, and serves, or has served, on the boards of Alabama Counts! 2020 Census Committee, Alabama Association of Nonprofits, Medicaid Citizens Advisory Board, Birmingham-Jefferson Food Policy Council, and the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives on Nonprofit Management Executive Education program, Leadership Birmingham, Leadership Alabama, and is a former member of BBJ’s Top 40 Under 40. Ryan is well-plugged in to our community, and quite knowledgeable about its needs and priorities. Come hear Ryan talk about the important work PARCA does!
Keep those second quarter dues checks coming. You can now pay your dues on-line at the YMBC website: https://bhamymbc.org/membership-payments/.
We heard a candid but rather dreary assessment from St. Rep. Juandalynn Givan last Monday that the prognosis for passage by the House of the BSC loan bill was not good. Knowing that, the next day the BSC Board voted unanimously to close the college. I am sure many of you, as am I, are saddened by that news. Tomorrow, President Daniel Coleman can give us thirty minutes–from 12:00 until 12:30–to talk about what happened and what are the next steps to be taken by Southern to transfer students, place faculty and staff, pay off creditors, assess assets, and prepare for the college to change hands. Daniel has spoken to us before about the situation at BSC. Many of you will recall when we went to the campus for lunch in the fall of 2022 as we became the first group with which he publicly disclosed the college’s dire financial straits. He is accommodating us by making himself available for a half hour tomorrow, so get on early. We will start promptly at noon. There should be time for questions, then when Daniel has to hop off, we can continue our discussion.
Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 46 total)
Speaker to be announced. This will be a Zoom only meeting.