Category: Past Speakers

Jeff Carter is the owner of C4 Builds LLC, a Mobile-based construction management and development firm focused on workforce housing, neighborhood revitalization, and public-private development partnerships. His work centers on creating practical housing solutions that support economic growth while strengthening communities across the Gulf Coast.

With experience spanning construction, governmental affairs, EMS leadership, and municipal innovation, Carter has worked across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to advance housing initiatives, redevelopment strategies, and community-focused investment. He is actively involved in affordable housing and mixed-income development efforts throughout the City of Mobile, including projects utilizing Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), CHDO partnerships, and other layered public financing tools to expand housing opportunities.

Carter is committed to bringing together public policy, private investment, and community partnerships to move complex housing initiatives from concept to construction.

Michael Berson is experienced in identifying, facilitating, and securing federal congressionally directed spending through the budget and appropriations process as well as both federal and state grant funding, specifically as such relates to economic development projects and client priorities. He represents hospital systems, non-profits, institutions of higher education and charter school clients, port, airport, and housing authorities, and other governmental entities including water and sewer authorities, utilities boards and industrial development boards.

Michael has developed and implemented federal policy and legislative funding and political strategies for defense, energy, telecommunications, higher education, and local government clients on Capitol Hill and within various governmental agencies. He formerly served as Director of Government Affairs and Associate General Counsel of the National Small Business Association in Washington, D.C. In this role, Michael oversaw all legislative activities including prioritization of issues, development of policy positions and formulation of strategies to advance small business interests before Congress and the White House. He focused on economic development, energy, environmental and regulatory affairs matters.

Michael clerked for The Honorable John R. Lockett, 13th Judicial Circuit in Mobile, working on all matters related to the Judge’s civil docket. While in law school, he was a board member of the Cordell Hull Speakers’ Forum, Dean’s List and Scholar of Merit Recipient.

Courtney Nix, CRNP, Owner

Courtney was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. After completing her RN degree at the University of Alabama, she moved back to Mobile and began working at Mobile Infirmary in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit.  She spent three years as a team leader before going back to school and earning her Masters degree. For the last 10 years, she has been blessed with the unique opportunity of working alongside her father, who is an MD, at his family practice in Saraland, AL. Courtney married her high school sweetheart, Morgan Nix, and together they have 3 boys, Mac (8), Lyles (5), and Lewis (5), and a pug named Ozzy. Together as a family, they enjoy time in the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and boating. Courtney has a true passion for exercise and enjoys all things related to a healthy lifestyle while educating and empowering others to do the same. As her children are growing, Courtney is thrilled to pursue a career that allows her to continue to care for others, as well as the needs of her own family.  She is excited to enhance the lives of those in her community by providing compassionate, dependable, and accessible care in the comfort of your home through homeRN.

Chris Stewart has been a broadcaster since 1988, and has been the Alabama’s men’s basketball play-by-play announcer for the Crimson Tide Sports Network since 2002.

In addition to that role, Stewart also serves as the play by play announcer  for CTSN’s radio coverage of Crimson Tide Football and as the television host of “The Kalen DeBoer Show” and “The Nate Oats Show”, along with hosting “Hey Coach” during the football and basketball seasons. 

 

Stewart also served as the radio play-by-play announcer for Bama Baseball, for 24 seasons.

 

A 1992 graduate of the University of Montevallo, Stewart was honored with the school’s 2009 Alumni Achievement Award, and was a 2021 inductee into the UM Athletics Hall of Fame.

 

On six occasions he has also been named “Alabama Sportscaster of the Year” by the National Sports Media Association.

Dr. Jeremy Pickens is the Nursery and Greenhouse Specialist and a Assistant Professor with Auburn University’s Department of Horticulture, based at the Ornamental Horticulture Research Center in his hometown of Mobile, Alabama. His applied research and Extension programs focus on reducing environmental stress in crops, improving fertilizer efficiency, and advancing pest management strategies for growers across the state.

 

Abe L. Harper Jr.
Harper Technologies, LLC
Abe Harper is the President and CEO of Harper Technologies, LLC – a “Concierge Culture” IT
Service Provider based in Mobile, AL. Harper Technologies specializes in Managed IT,
Infrastructure Services, and Data Services. “Today’s Company, Tomorrow’s Technology” is the
motto that the company lives by. As a continually growing MSP, Harper Technologies focuses
on creating durable solutions for a the “right now” needs with a Customer-Service-First
mindset.
In addition to Information Technology, he has a specific passion for community, innovation, and
Strategic Organizational Governance. He also serves as a Board Member or Director with
several public and private organizations throughout the region.
Aside from work and community service engagement, Abe also has a few hobbies and tries to
indulge when things are quiet. He enjoys fishing, turkey hunting, and travelling. He is also a
private pilot – holding ratings for High-Performance, Complex, Instrument, Multi-Engine, as well
as Sport-Sea Plane privileges.

Jeff Sessions is a distinguished attorney and politician who has spent over four decades in public service to the citizens of Alabama.  Senator Sessions was born and raised in Hybart, Alabama.  He is an Eagle Scout, graduate of Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama (1969), and earned his juris doctorate from the University of Alabama School of Law (1973).   Senator Sessions served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1973 to 1986, attaining the rank of captain. Senator Sessions was appointed by President Ronald Reagan as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama serving from 1981-1993 and further served as the Alabama Attorney General, the state’s chief legal officer, from 1995 – 1997.  Senator Sessions represented Alabama for 20 years as its U.S. Senator from 1997 to 2017, serving as a senior member of the Judiciary, Armed Services, and Budget Committees.  Most recently, Senator Sessions served as U.S. Attorney General (2017–2018).  While honored to have served the people of Alabama, he is most proud of his wife, Mary, their 3 children, and their 10 grandchildren.

 

Bio Statement for Cynthia D. Klemmer, Ph.D. (Cindy)

Dr. Klemmer has had a lifelong love of plants, gardening, and nature.

Dr. Klemmer earned a B.S. in Horticultural Sciences from Texas A&M University (Gig ‘em!), where she was lucky enough to do an internship at the Dallas Arboretum and another in Horticultural Therapy. These focuses on the ‘people’ side of horticulture shaped her career, leading her to focus on public horticulture. She continued her studies by earning her M.S. in Public Horticulture Administration from the Longwood Graduate Program at the University of Delaware. In her master’s studies, Dr. Klemmer’s research focused on the planning and creation of exhibits for youth and family audiences. After working at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Boston, where she served as ‘The Plantmobile Lady’, she returned to Texas A&M University, where she earned her Ph.D. in Horticultural Sciences with a focus on People-Plant Connections. Her research area focused on STEM/science achievement of students involved in school gardening programs.

Dr. Klemmer has been fortunate to work at a number of botanical gardens around the country over the past 35+ years: the Chicago Botanic Garden, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden (Charlotte, NC), Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and Bok Tower Gardens (both in Florida), and the San Antonio Botanic Garden. Most recently she served as the Public Gardens Manager for the City of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department, where she managed the Zilker Botanical Garden as well as the historic Mayfield Estate, and the City’s community gardens program comprised of 26 gardens around Austin. She was thrilled to come to Mobile where it actually rains, resulting in the lush and lovely plant palette that we enjoy here.

Dr. Klemmer has worked in the interface of plants and people throughout her career, and has a passion for creating nature-based programs, events, and exhibits that create engaging and meaningful experiences and cultivate a passion for nature in the community.

Greg Reed was appointed to serve as the first Secretary of Workforce by Governor Kay Ivey on February 1, 2025, after fourteen years of service in the Alabama Senate representing Senate District 5.

Greg Reed grew up in Walker County and graduated from Walker County public schools. He attended Walker College, which is now Bevill State Community College, before earning his bachelor’s degree at the University of Alabama. He married his high school sweetheart, Mitsy Harbison of Cordova and raised three sons in Jasper.

In 2010, first-time candidate Greg Reed was elected to the Alabama Senate. In 2014, he was re-elected, without opposition, by the voters of Senate District 5. At the start of the new legislative term in 2015, his Republican colleagues elected him Majority Leader of the Alabama Senate and continued to serve until 2021.

In 2021, the Alabama Senate unanimously elected Senator Greg Reed to serve as the President Pro Tempore of the Alabama State Senate where he served with distinction until his appointment from Governor Ivey.

Speaker Bio – Mike Sledge

Mike Sledge began his career in the hardware and industrial supply business as a teenager, working as a stock boy in a small, family-owned hardware store in the late 1980s. That early experience sparked a lifelong passion for the industry. He went on to build a successful career with a Fortune 500 industrial distribution company, managing locations across the Southeastern United States.

At age 39, Mike took a leap of faith and, alongside his wife Suzy, founded Coastal Industrial Supply in 2010. Today, their company supplies materials to companies and job sites across the country. A Baldwin County, Alabama resident since 2003, Mike is proud to work alongside his children, Jake and Maggie, who help run the family business. His youngest, Marley, is currently attending the University of Montevallo. Mike and Suzy are also the devoted owners of Woody, their lovable (and slightly dopey) golden retriever.

The Sledges split their time between Alabama and New Orleans, where they recently purchased a small shotgun home in the St. Roch neighborhood, allowing them to stay connected to a city they fell in love with decades ago.

Mike joined Rotary in 2017 and has been an active and dedicated member ever since. He has served as Club President and Assistant Governor and currently serves as District PolioPlus Chair and District RYLA Chair for Rotary District 6880 for the 2025–2026 Rotary year. His commitment to leadership development and global service reflects his deep belief in Rotary’s mission.

Outside of work and service, Mike enjoys restoring vintage automobiles, especially classic Volkswagens, and traveling in search of new adventures. In the summer of 2024, he spent 18 days riding a Royal Enfield motorcycle through the Himalayan Mountains of Northern India as part of the International Fellowship of Motorcycling Rotarians. Along the way, he survived harrowing roads, questionable food, unforgettable hospitality, and some of the most breathtaking scenery on Earth, all while raising funds for The Rotary Foundation.

A little-known fun fact: Mike has two cocktails named after him. If you find yourself at C’est Le Vin in Foley, Alabama, order a “Sledgehammer,” or at The Gemstone in Amory, Mississippi, try the “Mike Sledge.” They are entirely different, equally memorable, and guaranteed to be enjoyed.