Category: Past Speakers

Mrs.Gina Englund graduated from the University of South Alabama in 1986 with a B.A. in Early
Childhood Education. She has taught in both the public and private school systems for many
years, served on the Building Leadership Team, Accreditation Tram, and was honored as
Teacher of the Year in 1994 and 2006.
Mrs. Gina became very passionate about the reading struggles that the dyslexic children were
experiencing in the classroom. She obtained her Dyslexia Therapist degree and opened a
school specifically designed for helping dyslexic learners. Bright Beginnings Academy was
formed in 2013 with Mrs. Gina as the founder and director. In 2018, she was honored with the
Golden Apple Award and in 2019, she received the Teacher of the Year award from World
Strides.
Mrs. Gina has served on the AISA Accreditation Team for the past two years and currently
serves as the Vice President of the International Dyslexia Association – Alabama Branch.
Last year, at the request of the students, the school was renamed Bright Academy, home of the
Eagles. Mrs. Gina continues to serve in her role as Founder and Director while also beginning a
new venture of training experienced teachers to become Dyslexia Therapists

Born in Mobile, Garrett earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia where he was a pole-vaulter on the varsity track team. Garrett went on to complete his master’s degree in Fitness Management (M.S.S) at United States Sports Academy. While at the Academy, Garrett interned at the Siegfried health center at St. Johns Medical facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Cooper Institute in Dallas Texas.

After personal training for eight years in different facilities in Georgia, Oklahoma and Alabama, Garrett opened Personal Edge Fitness, in 2000. With the most qualified staff in the southeast, Personal Edge offers personal training in all facets of fitness and sport through in person, online, in home and corporate settings.  Garrett can be heard weekly as the Host of the “Personal Edge Fitness” podcast, dispelling myths about health, fitness, and wellness.

In 2010 Garrett re-entered the competitive athletic field in Sprint Triathlon. In August of that year Garrett, qualified for TEAM USA and his first World Championships in Beijing, China. In Beijing Garrett finished 15th in the world and was the top American finisher in his division. Since 2011 he has competed for Team USA in 10 world championships in Sprint Triathlon, Aquabike and Aquathlon. Garrett will compete in his 11th World Championships representing TEAM USA, in Australia, August 2024.

He is married to Stephanie Jane Eads from Jasper, Alabama. They are both very active with Save-a-Stray and their K-9 foster and adoption programs. They are the proud parents of five dogs and provide a temporary home to many fosters.

 

Carrington Hodge is a Chancellor’s Scholar and student at Vanderbilt University, where she plans to major in Medicine, Health, & Society, focusing in inequality, intersectionality, and health justice, with minors in Communications and Political Science. She is also a member of the Vanderbilt Dance Team and serves on the executive boards of the MOSAIC Student Recruitment Program and the Black Student Association. Carrington is also the founder of Unmasked: The Simone Project, an educational resource website that serves as a platform for neglected voices, which positioned her as the recipient of the 2022 Princeton Prize in Race Relations Certificate of Merit.

 

David Bagwell is a 78-year old retired lawyer who grew up in Montgomery where he attended the public schools.

He graduated from Vanderbilt fifty-six years ago in 1968, LAST time the Democratic National Convention blew up in Chicago.

He immediately got a one-year draft deferment to travel around the world to study international business in 35 countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

As soon as he got home he joined the Army National Guard and went to Army boot camp in Fort Polk, Louisiana in July and August. David says he is grateful that the Army taught him the two most useful skills a lawyer can have: how to type and how to bayonet people. His most fun unit was a two-man military history detachment.

David clerked for a famous federal judge, Judge Frank Johnson, an Eisenhower appointee, although the current chief justice foolishly says it does not matter who appointed a judge.

After that, David practiced law for half a century. He was in two rival big firms and a medium firm in Mobile, and for the last seventeen years practiced by himself in Fairhope, Alabama and was his own secretary. He says that this was the only time he liked all of his partners. David mostly handled admiralty and antitrust matters.

Between the ages of 35 and 40, David did a term as U.S. Magistrate for the Southern District of Alabama. He ran for Federal Judge three times and each time, lost by only three votes: the President and both Senators from Alabama.

David was president of this club 32 years ago in 1992, president of the bar association of Baldwin County, president of the school board of St. Ignatius Parish, and is active in his church and the community. He is an honorary member of the Point Clear Rotary Club now.

In retirement he says he “is in the seafood processing business”, meaning that he tries to catch fish in Mobile Bay and puts the carcasses in the five crab traps he maintains on his “wharf”, as Mobilians call a dock or pier. He says life is good.

Chris Blankenship is the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources (DCNR), appointed by Governor Kay Ivey in May of 2017. He has been with
ADCNR since 1994, when he joined the Department as a Conservation Enforcement Officer in
the Marine Resources Division.
Chris serves on many boards and commissions and is Chairman of the Forever Wild Land Trust
Board as well as Chairman of the Innovate Alabama Council on Outdoor Recreation. Chris also
previously served as a member of the Board of Control of the Employees Retirement System of
Alabama.
Having been integrally involved in the State’s response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill from
the beginning, Chris has a solid background for the oil spill recovery and restoration work he
handles as Governor Ivey’s appointed designee overseeing all the DWH funding allocated
directly to the State of Alabama.
He has been happily married to Allyson Blankenship for 32 years and has three adult children.
He is a native of Dauphin Island, Alabama, and currently resides in Montgomery, Alabama.

Karen Hong is the Chief Executive Officer for Continental Aerospace Technologies. ​

Karen served as the Global Chief Financial Officer for Continental since 2019 and brings 25+ years of experience in Finance, Accounting, Strategic Planning, Team Development, and world-class Manufacturing experience to the organization. During her time with Continental, she has managed the Finance, Accounting, and IT teams and played a significant role in Continental’s public listing. Before joining Continental, Karen held multiple executive positions in FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles). ​

Karen has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Detroit and an MBA from the University of Michigan

Mobile, AL – The Board of the Mobile Museum of Art announced that following a year-long, national search, they had selected Jon Carfagno, Executive Director at the Hickory Museum of Art (Hickory, NC) as the next Director of the Mobile Museum of Art. He replaces retiring Director, Deborah Velders, who is concluding her 10^th year at the Art Museum. Carfagno accepted the position in November 2022 and will assume the directorship effective February 14, 2023. Velders will remain at the MMofA until that time. Board Chairman (2017- 2022), Cory Adair notes of the appointment: “I am thrilled to welcome Jon Carfagno to the Mobile Museum of Art. Jon arrives with an impressive résumé and will be a great champion for art and culture in Mobile. I’m excited to see what Jon accomplishes at the museum.” Hayley Van Antwerp, who chaired the Board’s Search Committee adds: “The MMofA was fortunate to have a remarkable pool of candidates from across the nation apply for the Executive Director position, and the entire committee was impressed by Jon’s desire to more deeply connect the MMofA with our entire community . . . our region is in for a treat as Jon steps in as the leader of the MMofA.”

Mobile Museum of Art is a city and county-supported institution in the heart of Alabama’s fourth-largest city of 190,000 people. The facility was expanded in 2001 with a $15 million capital campaign and upgraded with another capital campaign for the Museum’s 50^th Anniversary in 2014. MMofA was re-accredited by the American Alliance of Museums in November of 2022, following a rigorous year-long effort by the staff and Board of Directors.

Carfagno joined the Hickory Museum of Art as Executive Director in April 2017, steering the museum’s growth and evolution with the HMA team, Board, and volunteers to implement the HMA’s strategic plans and helped the institution exceed its financial and programming goals. Jon holds a Master of Arts in Art History from the University of Massachusetts and completed Kendall College of Art and Design’s MBA Certificate Program in Design and Innovation Management. His familiarity and expertise in programmatic development, community engagement, and strategic thinking were instrumental in building partnerships and connecting new audiences with the Hickory Museum of Art. Prior to his directorship at the Hickory Museum of Art, he worked in significant positions at the Grand Rapids Art Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College. He served in multiple internships at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Worcester Art Museum, among other institutions.

Incoming Board Chair for 2023, F. Grey Redditt, Jr., adds: “We are indeed fortunate to have such a dynamic art professional as Jon take the helm of the Mobile Museum of Art. Jon has extensive experience in all aspects of museum operations – curatorial, educational, financial, and administrative – and will well complement the leadership the museum has enjoyed for the past ten years.  With Jon’s vision and energy, we look forward to the museum further engaging with the community and enriching the culture of our city.”