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Shavon Arline

Shavon Arline, New Jersey native has over 8 years of public health experience in the areas of health disparities, federal and state government health program management. A public health advocate and former track and field athlete, Ms. Arline earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology and Masters of Public Health degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a well known public speaker and has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Caribbean. In January 2009 she received the Young and Powerful Excellence in Leadership Award and co-authored a book entitled the Queens Legacy a journey of the trials and triumph of phenomenal women released in April 2009. She serves on the national program planning and development committee of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. as co-chair of the physical and mental health subcommittee and chair of the healthcare committee of the Washington DC Branch of the NAACP.

Session: Be the best Professional You (November 21: 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.)
This session will focus on strategies to maintain you as a whole person. Participants will be encouraged to explore options for mental, physical and spiritual well being in order to be the best "professional you". Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss key strategies to improve an individual's health and to improve personal productivity.

Peggie L. Atkins, RP

Parliamentary Law: Member of the National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP), the Virginia State Association of Parliamentarians (VSAP), and the Parliamentary Law Club of Richmond, Virginia. Experience as a registered parliamentarian for over 30 years includes instruction, by-law consultation, and platform parliamentarian service to local and state organizations. Vocation: Recently retired Director of Foundation Relations at Union Presbyterian Seminary. Family: Husband, Jim, three children, and five grandchildren. Current special interests: Travel and reading.

Session: “Help! I Have to Chair the Meeting” (November 20: 3:00 p.m.)
An introduction to Basic Parliamentary Procedure

Pam Christopher

As a director on the Toastmasters International Board of Directors, Pamela Christopher is a “working ambassador” for the organization and represents it in a variety of capacities. She works with the Board to develop, support and modify the policies and procedures that guide the organization toward fulfilling its mission.

A resident of Union Grove, North Carolina, Christopher has been a Toastmaster for 12 years and has attained the Distinguished Toastmaster designation – the highest level of achievement in the organization. Her many leadership positions within Toastmasters have included division governor, lt. governor education and training, and district governor.

Christopher is a member of Northwestern Toastmasters, as well as Blue Moon Advanced Toastmasters, the Catawba Valley club and Crossroads of the Carolinas. She says, “I liked being a club officer. From there, I tried a few district leadership roles. The more I learned, the more I wanted to try other positions.” Christopher brings to her position a true passion for Toastmasters and many skills from her profession.

Retired from a 30-year career in education, where she was named Teacher of the Year in 1989, Christopher credits her Toastmasters training with advancing her career. After teaching in the elementary public school classroom for 26 years, she landed a new job as an Instructional Technology Coordinator. “My Toastmasters experience helped me prepare for the interview process as well as the new role in our school system.” She serves in leadership roles in her church and on the Iredell County Parks/Recreation Advisory Board and North Iredell Park Committee. She is also a requested speaker at various civic and social events in the state of North Carolina. Her personal interests include photography and technology.

Sessions: Key Note: “Tips for Happiness” (November 20: 6:30 p.m.)
What Happens in Toastmasters Should not Stay in Toastmasters (November 21: 8:00 a.m.)
How to Get 20 Members for Charter Strength (November 21: 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.)

Dwayne Clemmons

Dwayne Clemmons is the founder of DMC Ministries. Dwayne is a highly sought after motivational and inspirational speaker who combines a sense of humor with a unique ability to take complex concepts and break them down into easily understood pieces. He is an internationally published author who has published three books entitled, “Exploits, Jesus Rides in an Ambulance”, “Utterances From the Throne Room”, and “DWJD, Do What Jesus Did!”

He is a veteran Toastmaster and owner of Write Now, Inc., a publishing company which has the mission to help people learn the self publishing process, connect them with resources, and facilitate people telling their story. He also owns Clemmons Enterprises, Inc. and is a business consultant. He specializes in helping people start their own businesses by assisting in corporation creation, business plan development, and marketing strategies.

Session: “It’s time to tell your story” (November 20: 2:00 p.m.)
Self publishing Made Easy

Tod Cohen

Tod Cohen was born in New Jersey and has lived and worked in Charlottesville, Virginia, since 1989. He has a background in photojournalism, and has documented weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, and family events across the region. In addition to his growing photography practice, he also has created images for a series of children’s books on Jewish traditions with Kar-Ben Publishing, and owns a photography franchise documenting students and youth sports (TSS Photography).

Session: Photo Tips and Tricks for Impact (November 20: 2:00 p.m.)
Make your club newsletters, websites POP!

Pie Dumas

In 2005, Pie Dumas published her “recovery” autobiography Pieces of Pie – Surviving Love. Writing and sharing her story served as a convincing catalyst to put the past to rest and motivates her each day to serve others with compassion and humility.

As a life coach and Toastmaster, she inspires others to live with hope, authenticity and belief in self, while supporting them in choosing a more conscious, fulfilling life. Her colorful life has included filmmaking, accounting and pursuing a singing career. Pie is currently writing an inspirational book on positive prison programs, featuring interviews with inmate-participants who are learning to face themselves and make healthier life-choices. These gutsy men and women are becoming agents of change for themselves and each other – the positive benefits also spill over into our communities lifting our own hopeless spirits.

Session: Effectively Communicating Difficult Topics (November 21: 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.)
What you need to know and how to effectively communicate the message on urgent issues such as: Keeping your children safe & domestic violence, prostate cancer survival, & losing a job. Each present will share their story, and what you need to know. Pie Dumas will provide some life coaching tips for an enhanced life.

Carl Gordon

Black American Character actor who has appeared on stage in more than 30 productions including the role of Charles Dutton’s father in the sitcom, “Roc”. A Richmond native, Carl has appeared in “ The River Niger”, Ain’t Suppose to die a Natural Death”, “Do Lord Remember Me”, August Wilson’s “ The Piano Lesson”.

Session: Imagery Makes A Presentation (November 21: 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.)
Make your words & actions produce the images to sell your story

Robert Jones

Get that work out you missed driving to the conference! Join Rob for an exercise session to tone the body and prepare you to strengthen the mind.

Session: Work Out Time – Fit Body and Mind (November 20: 2:00 p.m.)
Physical Fitness is essential to our good health

Clovia Lawrence, a seasoned broadcast journalist who is best known in the Richmond Metropolitan area as “Miss Community”. With more than 20 years experience and a real passion for tackling tough topics and issues that affect the lives of people from every walk of life, Ms. Lawrence is the product of the Richmond Public School system and a graduate of Virginia Union University. Covering the Central Virginia market, she has a proven track record as a news reporter, announcer and community affairs director working at more than a dozen radio stations and virtually every format, Ms. Lawrence has produced top ratings.

Currently the news director for Radio One Richmond's 4 stations and Executive Director of the Nationally Syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show. She is also the Community Affairs Director for three of the networks' stations and she hosts the market's number one public affairs show, “Community Conversations” which covers a wide range of topics including health, education, crime, politics and wealth. She keeps her listeners in the know by informing them of the “State of the City” with monthly interviews featuring former Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder.

Ms. Lawrence, who has a loyal following of more than 100,000 listeners is a diligent community servant who dedicates much of her time making public appearances, hosting events, moderating forums, raising public awareness and participating in community fund-raisers. In her role as Community Affairs Director, she provides voter education and mobilizes citizens to take part in the political process through her “Rolling Rallies”. Organizing a Restoration of Rights forum for the past three years, Ms. Lawrence has also made it a priority to educate ex-felons on the process necessary to regain their voting rights via her “Rolling for Freedom” initiative.

Ms. Lawrence's accomplishments have propelled her to the National reporting scene, covering the Michael Vick Federal court case and the Jena 6 march and trial. She has made the commitment to not only educate, but to elevate the African-American Community and is probably at her best when there is a need for calling citizens to action. Ms. Lawrence used her community connections and was the driver in a 12- hour Radio-thon to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims as well as a successful 12-hour Radio-thon benefiting the prevention of domestic violence. She spearheaded the fund-raising of almost 100-thousand dollars to assist residents of a Richmond neighborhood flooded by tropical storm Ernesto. Ms. Lawrence is also a strong advocate for youth and recently organized a campaign raising money to send more than 220 children to camp for the entire summer of 2008 and 2009.

Ms. Lawrence is everywhere making a difference in many lives, but her number one career goal is being the very best mother to her two year old daughter Kenya Sarai. Other accomplishments include being a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Board Member of Prevent Child Abuse Virginia and the recipient of numerous community service and activism awards including the : Legends in the Community Award from the Urban League of Greater Richmond; BET/Southwest Airlines Every Day Local Heroes Award; Community Service Award of the Year from Las Amigas, Inc., Top Media Personality of the Year from Special Olympics Virginia, Community Service of the Year Award from Richmond City Council under Mayor Doug Wilder’s leadership.

Recipient: Communications & Leadership Award (November 21: 12:00 p.m.)

Jessica Ledbetter

Jessica Ledbetter has been doing web development for over 10 years. She has expertise in search engine optimization, social networking, web usability, weblog applications, content management systems, programming languages, and branding. She is currently the Webmaster for District 66 and VP of Education for Oyster Point Speakers.

Session: Must Preregister: Club Website Creation (November 21: 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.)
Spend an hour with a webmaster from across the district (Wayne Cannon, John Porterfield, Alan Tuten, Carol Wieseman, Stephan Lackey) to design your club website.

Rudy Moralez

Rudy has been in Toastmasters since March 1995. In his time and travel, he has been a member of clubs in Districts 55, 33, 66, and 28. He has been given presentations at several District Conferences and on a Region VIII Conference.

As a club officer, he has served every role except Treasurer. He has been a Select-Distinguished Area Governor and twice a President's Select Division Governor. District 28 selected him as the Division Governor of the Year for 2001-02. In District 33, he was the Division E Sparkplug of the Year for 1997-98.

Rudy is presently serving as the Club President of the Suffolk Complex Toastmasters, now in their second year of existence. For his home club, the Cyd Thorp Poquoson Toastmasters, he serves as the VPPR.

Session: Public Relations outside of the Print Media (November 21: 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.)
Facebook & other Social networks help market your club.

Rich Moormann

Rich is a Toastmasters veteran of over 10 years who has served in many club and district offices, most recently as President of Atlantic Speakers in Norfolk, VA. His has a reputation for high quality evaluations and contest judging driven by his professional work in Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) and Interpersonal Communication skills.

As managing partner of The Capitalized Leadership Institute, he provides strategic leadership development services for individuals, organizations and businesses. He facilitates a proven process which provides CEO/VP level, results-driven mentorship and training to emerging organizations. Rich is currently serving as the Director of Communications and Development of SimIS Inc, an emerging 8(a) technology small business in the defense industry.

Session: Leaders versus Leadership (November 21: 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.)
In this session you will learn: key skills required to lead in a volunteer organization, the necessity of effective personal leadership, and key tips to your personal development and developing leaders within your organization.

Wade Randolph

Wade Randolph is an award winning speaker and president of Randolph Unlimited, an Accelerated Technology company that specializes in sales, communication skills, motivation, and human dynamics. He is a board certified trainer of neuro linguistics programming (the study of excellence in behavior) and hypnosis. Wade is a realtor by trade.

Session: Recession Proof Yourself (Novembere 21: 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.)
Get some tips from this panel of finance experts from across the district

Charlie Statzer

Charlie Statzer is an Engineer Technical Leader 5 System Modeling and has been at GE for 16 1/2 years. He received his BS / BMO from Bluefield College. He is from Floyd, Virginia and his favorite sport is Hockey. Other favorites: movie is Blazing Saddles or Dancing with Wolves, band is Simon and Garfunkel, pet is cat, pastime is gardening. After he retires, he hopes to teach adult education and ministry. In past 6 years, he's been physically in all 47 continental states and all providences of Canada. He saw all 5 great lakes and North Bay in 6 days.

Session: How do you think out of the box when they won’t let you out of the box???? (November 21: 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.)

Clara Toro

How it all began... Salsa4Life was officially named in September 2008. This dance company consists of Clara, Giovanni, Giuliana and Angelina. Together they teach salsa dancing New York Style. As a team they teach throughout the surrounding areas of Richmond. They also dance other Latin dances such as bachata, merengue & cha cha.

Clara Toro, an Accountant / Financial Analyst, of Puerto Rican descent was born and raised in Bronx, New York. Clara always loved to dance as a young child; she remembers listening to Salsa music all her life. Clara has taught her son Giovanni and daughter Giuliana how to dance Salsa. They both assist Clara in teaching lessons when available. It is truly a family affair.

Salsa4Life choreographed a performance with VCU Salsa Group for the VCU Intercultural Festival at Monroe Park. Claribel has learned from the best Tito & Tamara - Puerto Rico Stracey Diaz – Luvin the Mambo- NY; Al and Karla Espinoza- CA; Eddie the Salsa Freak- CA.Shaka Brown.

Session: Salsa4Life (November 20: 3:00 p.m.)
Dance Lessons-Get some exercise & have some fun

Craig Valentine, MBA - 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking

As a motivational speaker, Craig Valentine has spoken in the United States, Taiwan, Canada, Jamaica, Qatar (Doha), England, Bahamas, Hong Kong, and China giving as many as 160 presentations per year. He is the 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking for Toastmasters International, winning out of more than 25,000 contestants in 14 countries.

Craig Valentine is the President of The Communication Factory, LLC, which is an award-winning company that produces helps organizations embrace change. He is also the Co-Founder of the World Champion’s Edge program, which helps up-and-coming speakers turn their presentations into huge profits. Valentine is the author of the groundbreaking book, The Nuts and Bolts of Public Speaking, Co-Author of the book, World Class Speaking, and contributing author for the book Guerrilla Marketing on the Front Lines. He has an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and he is certified as a Co-Active Coach and a Guerrilla Marketing Coach. He is the co-leader of the Guerrilla Marketing Coach Certification Program and he is a recognized expert in the Master Business Building Club.

Sessions: Speaker’s Boot Camp – Keep Your Audience on the Edge of their Seat (November 20: Part I - 2:00 p.m. and Part II - 3:00 p.m.)
Become the professional Speaker, or simply the best speaker you can be
The 4 R’s of Leadership (November 21: 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.)

Mary White

Mary White is a charter member of the City of Norfolk Toastmasters Club 6822. She has served in every club executive office except Treasurer. She also served twice as Area 11 Governor and two terms as District Secretary.

Mary has been in application development for over 30 years; serving in the private sector as well as government contracting for the navy and army. For the past 25 years she has been employed by the City of Norfolk, Virginia.

Her most recent initiative is Process Automation Team Supervisor assigned to the implementation of the City’s Business Process Management (BPM) automation strategy. Finally, Mary assists the City in training employees and summer interns in Franklin Covey’s 7 Habits for Highly Effective People as well as Blanchard Situational Leadership.

This Norfolk native is a wife and mother of four, ages eleven to 23. In her “spare” time, Mary is an instructor for various non-profit organizations on the topics of team building, facilitation skills, public speaking, and biblical doctrine.

Session: “Evaluate To Great” (November 20: 2:00 p.m.)
Evaluation tips to encourage your members