Dr. Raymond Shields, President of the E-Club invites you to join us online Tuesday evening at 6:30pm Pacific time.
Agenda for On Line Meeting 2026-27
6:30 PM PDT
- Welcome from President and call to order
- Roll call and Introductions
- Current Announcements and News
- Program
- Comments and Questions
14 July 2026
Recap of Rotary International Convention in Taipei
21 July 2026
Catherine Cooley, Non-Violent Conversations & Empathy
Catherine Cooley is a communication coach, conflict mediator, speaker and founder of Peaceabl. https://www.peaceabl.com She works with individuals, as well as business owners, partners, managers and employees in the workplace that are frustrated by misunderstandings and power struggles that leave people discouraged and disconnected.
She specializes in creating clear, safe and candid conversations that untangle confusing communication and bring ease and understanding. She maps a clear path to meet the core needs of the organization and the individuals, applying Nonviolent or Compassionate Communication (NVC), a model used worldwide for conflict resolution, emotional self care, relationship transformation and community building.
Catherine co-developed second generation Active Peace Circles (APC), a Restorative Justice process to resolve and repair community conflicts, with Scott Brown, founder of Active Peace. She leads Council Circles for women and organizations; facilitates weekly support groups for a mental health and recovery agency, and facilitates workshops in prison for the Alternative to Violence Project.
Catherine is a certification candidate with the Center for Nonviolent Communication and is a member of Mediators Beyond Borders Intl.
She lives in Southern California and has a long time passion for peace and environmental sustainability. When she’s not helping Peaceabl clients, she loves bodyboarding at the beach, hiking in the mountains, reading, meditating, and spending time with friends in council circles, retreats and dance events.
If you are in conflict you can schedule a complimentary exploratory session with Catherine to see how she would approach it: Breakthrough Conversation – 50 min or https://peaceabl.as.me/bc
28 July 2026
Club Assembly
4 August 2026
Nancy Merritt, History of Department of Peacebuilding and Current Updates
Nancy Merritt is a current and founding member of the National Department of Peacebuilding Committee (DoP) and a member of the Peace Alliance Leadership Council. She is also a Board member of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace (GAMIP).
Nancy has been involved with peace and justice issues — including issues relating to the American Indian Movement and Tibet — for many years and has worked with the Peace Alliance/ Campaign for a Department of Peacebuilding since 2004. She has coordinated the work of the DoP groups with Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s (CA) office and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s office to introduce legislation and promote a cabinet-level Department of Peacebuilding. Nancy has also worked as part of the mighty California DoP team to secure endorsement by the CA Democratic Party (CDP) of DoP legislation, inclusion of peacebuilding ideals in CDP Platforms and passage of peacebuilding-related resolutions. She has also had the honor of working with New Mexico peacebuilders who have been working since 2003 for a New Mexico Office of Peace and with San Diego, CA peacebuilders and Kids for Peace.
Nancy was born in Colorado and immigrated to California after attending Northwestern University in Illinois and graduating from Colorado University in Boulder. She worked as a journalist, a street artist and an employment discrimination/ civil rights paralegal.
Nancy particularly focuses on learning to listen to the earth and on building a peaceful and just world for generations to come, including for her four sons, their partners and her three completely incredible grandchildren.
11 August 2026
RI Director, Marty Helman, Otto and Fran Walter Rotary Peace Center
Marty Helman spent her career as a writer for business executives and as a magazine editor at McGraw Hill and the American Management Association. Later, she served as president of the Otto and Fran Walter Foundation, a nonprofit that has helped build schools in developing nations, provided scholarships for at-risk youth, and supplied humanitarian aid to Holocaust survivors, among other initiatives. The Walter Foundation partnered with The Rotary Foundation to fund the Rotary Peace Center at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul, Türkiye, which opened in 2025.
Marty and her late spouse, Frank, joined the Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor in 2003. She has served Rotary as Rotary Foundation trustee and as chair of the Fund Development and Peace Major Gifts Initiative committees. She chaired a working group designed to increase corporate gifts to The Rotary Foundation, and she served on a task force with a goal to better align Foundation grant policies with 21st century needs. She was a member of the teams that selected the sites for the Rotary Peace Centers at Bahçeşehir University and at Symbiosis International University in Pune, India.
Marty is a popular speaker on the topics of the Rotary Peace Centers, The Rotary Foundation, and growth. She is a recipient of The Rotary Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award.
A keen fundraiser for The Rotary Foundation, Helman initiated an effort to support the Sakuji Tanaka Rotary Peace Fellowship, which raised US$1 million for the Rotary Peace Centers.
Marty is a member of the Arch Klumph Society, the Paul Harris Society, and PolioPlus Society. She and Frank were charter members of the Legacy Society of The Rotary Foundation.