Category: Past Speakers

Born in Mobile, Garrett is a graduate of UMS Preparatory School where he was a 2014 athletic hall of fame inductee. Garrett earned a bachelors degree from the University of Georgia where he was a pole-vaulter on the varsity track team. Upon graduation Garrett went on to complete his Master’s Degree in Fitness Management (M.S.S) at United States Sports Academy. During his studies 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, Inc. in 2000. With the most qualified staff in the southeast, Personal Edge offers s personal training in all facets of fitness and sport including weight loss, rehabilitation, senior training, balance, and athletic development.  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 8 world championships in Sprint Triathlon, Aquabike and Aquathlon. Garrett has just qualified for his ninth time to represent TEAM USA, in November, at the Aquabike world championships in Abu Dhabi, UAE .

 

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.

 

I listen to people, especially strangers, and tell their stories to give them a voice. Stories are the human connections that help us find common ground. They break down the invisible walls that keep us from knowing each other and help us see life from a different point of view. I grew up in Yazoo City, Mississippi and am in love with Mobile, Alabama. The Delta and the Birthplace of Mardi Gras are my favorite places for pictures and stories, but I do this everywhere I go for my blog Our Southern Souls (that also became a book). The dream of writing began with The Southern Rambler and now I write investigative stories for Lagniappe and report for Alabama Public Radio. My series about domestic violence, “From Hell to Hope” won first place in feature writing in 2019 from the Alabama Press Association and my series about sex trafficking, “Sexual Slavery in South Alabama” won the 2020 William H. Johnson Print Journalism Award given by the Medical Association for the State of Alabama and the second place in feature writing for the Green Eyeshade Awards that recognizes excellence in journalism in the southeast. I started the Facebook groups “Faces of Mobile” and “A Day in the Life of Mobile” to show the beauty in the daily life and small moments of a city that is finally reaching it’s potential. People and their stories are where I find inspiration and hope that makes sense in a crazy world.

Born and raised in Mobile, Dr. Zarzour is a fellowship-trained hip and knee replacement surgeon and president of Gulf Orthopaedics.

He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, so he’s a Dawg, but also a double Jaguar with his medical school and residency training being completed here in Mobile at USA. He did his fellowship in joint replacement at Mississippi Sports Medicine in Jackson, MS. 

His goals are to increase his patient’s activity level while reducing hip & knee pain. He applies the latest literature-based techniques with respect to minimally invasive surgical approaches, peri-operative anesthesia, outpatient joint replacement and partial knee replacement while continuing to live by the lessons learned from his father- who many of you knew- Dr. Robert Zarzour, who taught him to focus on treating each patient like family.

Outside of orthopaedics, his involvement in the community is unparalleled. Dr. Z is co-founder of the Fuse Project, a local non-profit, dedicated to increasing opportunities for children across the Alabama Gulf Coast. It is not surprising that Becker’s Healthcare Ambulatory Surgery Center Review, listed Dr. Zarzour as one of 10 total joint physicians to know.

Dr. Robert Lightfoot serves as Executive/Medical Director. Dr. Lightfoot graduated summa cum laude from Auburn University. He graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Medicine with honors. After completing his internship and residency at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in 1986, Dr. Lightfoot joined his brother in Mobile, Alabama where he practiced as a general surgeon for 17 years at Providence Hospital. Victory Health Partners is entering into its 20^th year and has provided compassionate and comprehensive healthcare to over 30,000 adults who do not have health insurance throughout the Gulf Coast. Dr. Lightfoot has been married to his wife and the co-founder of Victory, Tami, for over 30 years. They are blessed to be the parents of six children and 14 grandchildren. They are active within their church, Church of His Presence.

 

Dr. Jeremiah Newell is the Chief Operating Officer of the Mobile Area Education Foundation (MAEF) and Founder/Superintendent of MAEF Public Charter Schools, a 5-year old charter management organization, which includes two public, tuition-free schools. Accel Day and Evening Academy, Alabama’s first public charter school, serves grades 9-12, and ACCEL Preparatory Academy currently serves grades 6 & 7 and will expand to 8th grade in the 2022-23 school year. ACCEL’s schools offer a next generation learning space, which includes innovative, personalized learning environments that meet students where they are and put them on a path to achieve their dreams after high school. These tuition-free, public schools currently serve 450 students and will grow to serve 850 students over the next three years.

 

Most recently, Jeremiah served as a Harvard Fellow at the Rhode Island Department of Education. In this capacity, he worked as chief of staff for the Division of Accelerating School Performance, which directed charter schools, low-performing schools, and federal programs.  In his previous experience, Jeremiah taught at the middle and high school levels, launched and led innovative secondary school models, and directed secondary school turnaround efforts in Mobile, Alabama.

 

Jeremiah received his B.S. in Secondary Education/Language Arts from the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, received graduate level training in Instructional Design and Development from the University of South Alabama, and earned a Doctorate of Education Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bio for Will Edmonds

 

In 1995 Will Edmonds was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar out of our Mobile Rotary Club, which is how he was later able to study in Belgium.  He graduated from the University of Mobile in 1997 with a double major in French and International business.  While in college, he studied in FRANCE, at the Institut de Tourraine, and in BELGIUM, at the Universite Catholique Centre des Langues.  In 2007, he completed a Master of Education with a concentration in French at the University of South Alabama.  In 2009, he achieved National Board Certification in World Languages, and successfully renewed that certification in 2018.  Will taught French 1, 2, 3, and IB 4 for 20 years at Davidson High School in Mobile.  He is now teaching French at Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies.

Bill Tobin, Rotary Relations Manager, ShelterBox USA
A member of the Rotary Club of El Dorado Hills California since 2004, Bill Tobin has served
in several club and district roles and is a major donor to The Rotary Foundation. In 2016-2017
Rotary District 5180 awarded Bill “Rotarian of the Year” for his active and dedicated service
to Rotary, and for his commitment to ShelterBox.
Since learning about ShelterBox in 2010, Bill has shared the project to over 400 Rotary Clubs,
organized fundraisers, and helped develop strategies for donor engagement and volunteer
training. For his volunteer efforts, Bill received the United States Presidential Volunteer Service
Award seven times.
After retiring from a 30 year career as a nuclear power plant inspector, Bill became certified in
Non-Profit management through the University of the Pacific and joined the fulltime staff at
ShelterBox as USA Rotary Relations Manager in January 2019.
Bill is married to Sherie for 38 years, she is an Assistant Governor in District 5180. They have
two sons and a daughter in law.
About ShelterBox:
ShelterBox was founded to provide emergency shelter to people affected by disasters and
humanitarian crises around the world. In April 2000, the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in
Cornwall, England adopted ShelterBox as its millennium project. Little did they know that it
would become the largest Rotary Club project in the world, with affiliates in countries across
the globe. Since 2000, ShelterBox staff and volunteers have helped to shelter over 2 million
people in more than 100 countries around the world