Thursday, May 21

by Mary Kramer

7PM Presentation Begins
Listiak Auditorium
600 Elkenburg St, South Haven, Michigan 49090

The Series will open on Thursday, May 21, with Mary Kramer, Publisher of Crain’s business publications for Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and New York, and Chair of the Board of Trustees at Grand Valley State University. Kramer will offer her insights into the erosion of public trust in institutions, a topic of particular appeal in a presidential election year.

Mary Kramer, a seasoned journalist with more than 35 years of reporting, editing and publishing experience, joined Crain’s Detroit Business in 1989, In 1994, Kramer was named a Vice President of Crain Communications Inc. And in 2017, she was named Group Publisher, supervising Crain’s Cleveland Business, Crain’s Chicago Business and Crain’s New York Business in addition to Detroit.

Kramer is active in many Detroit-area business and civic organizations, including several that support at-risk girls and education. She is a trustee of the Skillman Foundation, a Detroit advocacy group for educational and economic opportunity for Detroit children; the Detroit Institute of Arts; and she chairs the Board of Trustees at Grand Valley State University. She was also the first woman to be elected President of the historic Detroit Athletic Club.

Thursday, June 4

by Alan Malory

7PM Presentation Begins
Listiak Auditorium
600 Elkenburg St, South Haven, Michigan 49090

On Thursday, June 4, motivational storyteller Alan Mallory will speak on “Reaching New Heights: Passion, Resilience and Agility in Climbing Your Own ‘Everest.” Mallory draws on his own experience in leading three members of his family to climb the world’s highest mountain.

Climbing Mount Everest is one of humanity’s greatest feats of physical, emotional and psychological endurance. In 2008 Alan Mallory and his family took on the challenge and became the first family of four to summit the world’s highest peak. It was a two-month journey filled with emotion, loyalty, adventure and terror.

Theirs is a story of staggering across ladders spanning seemingly bottomless crevasses, fighting exhausting bouts of altitude-related sickness, climbing through a blizzard in the dead of night, while nearly losing two family members. Theirs is a story of an exhilarating and unforgettably challenging climb. The Mallory expedition is an inspiring example of the importance of strong family values and maintaining a deep level of trust among team members. The story highlights many of the background experiences and adventures that prepared the Mallory’s to take on such a challenge, and explores the key traits that are essential for a safe and successful outcome to any team endeavor.

Thursday, Oct 17

by David Myers

6:45pm Social Gathering – 7:30pm Presentation Begins
Integrated Learning Center, South Haven High School
600 Elkenburg St
South Haven, MI 49090

In a confusing era of alternative facts, fake news and civic leaders imposing fictions on reality, Myers will present lively and engaging insights. He gives examples of popular and potent false beliefs and explains how they develop.

He will also examine possible biases–and successful remedies–within his own field of psychological science.

Myers has researched and written on the subject of “gullibility” and along with other researcher-educators, finds the spread of misinformation troubling. “We feel distressed when public understandings radically diverge from reality-when people believe, contrary to evidence, that crime is rising, that new immigrants are often criminals…and that climate change is a hoax.” He notes that some misinformation is deliberate but that such things as sheer repetition, confirmation bias, statistical illiteracy, and group polarization also feed gullibility.

A long-time Professor of Psychology at Hope College, Myers is a gifted communicator of psychological science for the general public. His articles have appeared in four dozen magazines ranging from Scientific American to Christian Century, and he has authored 17 books including general interest and textbooks. Myers has received fellowships and grants from the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Science Foundation and is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology.

He is one of the most important authors of psychology textbooks while his scientific writings, supported by National Science Foundation grants and fellowships, have appeared in three-dozen academic periodicals.

His professional accomplishments have been recognized with several awards including an “Honored Scientist” award from the Federation of Associations in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences, by the Award for Distinguished Service on Behalf of Personality-Social Psychology, and by three honorary doctorates.

The presentation “Smart Thinking In A Post Truth Age” by David Myers was well attended. Here’s some photos from the event.

Watch the Video – Smart Thinking In A Post Truth Age by David Myers

Video by Richard Brunvand

SERIES LOOKS FORWARD TO 2020

Thursday, September 19

by Jennifer Granholm

7:30pm Presentation Begins (No Social Gathering)
Listiak Auditorium, South Haven High School
500 LaGrange Street
South Haven, MI 49090

As part of the 2019 Speaker Series of South Haven, former Governor Jennifer Granholm will speak on Top Trends Affecting Michigan. The program will begin at 7:30 pm. Due to the anticipated high number of attendees, the usual reception preceding the talk will not be held.

Admission is $10 with students, educators, and clergy admitted free. Tickets will be available at the door.

Tickets can be purchased online. Click here.

Since leaving office in 2011 Jennifer Granholm has been involved in numerous projects such job growth in clean energy, information technology, sustainability, climate change, and the development of public policy. Paired with her eight years experience as Governor and four as Attorney General, Granholm’s perspective will pose a compelling look at Michigan’s future.

She currently serves on the faculty at UC Berkeley teaching courses in law and public policy, and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society, and the California Institute on Energy and the Environment. She is chair of the American Jobs Project, a multi-university research initiative focused on state-based policies to create jobs in clean energy, and does research in the subjects of artificial intelligence, employment and automation. She also serves as a Senior Contributor to CNN.

Granholm is also the Managing Partner for the Sustainability Group of Ridge-Lane, LLC, is the CEO of Granholm Mulhern Associates, and serves on several boards of companies and nonprofits. A senior contributor to CNN, she is also the co-author of the political bestseller, A Governor’s Story: The Fight for Jobs and America’s Economic Future.

Governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2011, Granholm pioneered clean energy innovation, economic development, and led the state through the national crisis in the turn-around of the American automotive and manufacturing sectors. During her terms, the state attracted almost 4,000 companies and Site Selection magazine repeatedly named Michigan as one of the top three states in the nation for business locations or expansions. Under her leadership, Michigan was twice recognized by The Pew Center on the States as one of the best-managed states in the nation.

LOOKING AHEAD

Watch the Video – Top Trends Affecting Michigan, Jennifer Granholm

Video by Richard Brunvand

Thursday, May 9

by Peter Annin

6:45pm Social Gathering – 7:30pm Presentation Begins
Integrated Learning Center, South Haven High School
600 Elkenburg St
South Haven, MI 49090

“The Great Lakes Compact: A Decade of Lessons Learned” in the SHS Integrated Learning Center May 9.

Acknowledged as the preeminent journalist writing about the Great Lakes, Peter Annin will be presenting at the Speaker Series for a second time. He was the very first presenter when the series was launched in April 2015. This time he’ll review the successes and challenges to the Great Lakes Compact agreement.

A pre-presentation reception will be held at 6:45 p.m. Two entrances will be open to the school: the north entrance with the statue of the ram, and the south entrance to accommodate folks in the south parking lot.

Annin is looking forward to his return noting that he has “fond memories of my first visit to South Haven in 2015 as the inaugural presenter in the series, a program that has clearly flourished since then. During that same time, the Great Lakes water diversion controversy has continued to make headlines. This should make for a very engaging evening on May 9.”

The Great Lakes Water Compact, a model international and interstate agreement intended to preserve the integrity of the Great Lakes is continually challenged, especially in South West Wisconsin. Of particular note has been the Foxconn diversion project that highlights the dilemma of environmental concerns versus job creation.

Annin writes about water tensions in and around the Great Lakes Basin. In 2017 while researching a new edition of his book The Great Lakes Water Wars, he discovered that in 2010 the state of Wisconsin had granted approval for an additional 7.5 million gallons of water per day to the city of Pleasant Prairie without public hearings. No one noticed and the approval is now being challenged as a violation of the spirit of the compact if not its actual language.

Annin is the Director of the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation. Before coming to Northland College in 2015, Peter served as a reporter at Newsweek, the Associate Director of the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources, and the Managing Director of the University of Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative. He holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin in Journalism and Columbia University in International Affairs.

His updated edition of The Great Lakes Water Wars was published in the fall of 2018. The original edition is acknowledged as the definite work on the Great Lakes on diversion projects designed to withdraw water from the Great Lakes Basin and was awarded the Great Lakes Book Award for 2007.

LOOKING AHEAD

The presentation “The Great Lakes Compact: A Decade of Lessons Learned” by Peter Annin was well attended. Here’s some photos from the event.

Thursday, April 11

by Ryan Kilpatrick

6:45pm Social Gathering – 7:30pm Presentation Begins
Integrated Learning Center, South Haven High School
600 Elkenburg St
South Haven, MI 49090

Ryan Kilpatrick, now executive director at Housing Next of Grand Rapids, will speak on Affordable Housing: Obstacles and Solutions in Lake Shore Communities in the SHS Integrated Learning Center April 11.

He worked from 2009 to 2014 in Douglas before becoming a community assistance team member for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. covering Region 4, which includes Allegan and Ottawa counties.

Ryan Kilpatrick explored the many ways in which 50 years of federal, state, and local policy decisions have contributed to the shortage. He then focuses on a variety of local and regional solutions including such factors as transportation, community design, connectivity, and quality of life.

His presentation will be the first at the Integrated Learning Center in South Haven High School, 600 Elkenburg Street. The center is located on the east side of the building. Those unfamiliar with the high school should use the main entrance with the statue of the Ram in front

“The Series grew to an average of 170 attendees in 2018 with two programs exceeding 200” explains Series Chairman Mark Odland. “We simply outgrew the available space at Lake Michigan College. We are grateful to the staff there for hosting our events during the first four years of the Speaker Series programming.”

The talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be preceded by a reception with the speaker at 6:45 in the school cafeteria.

“Lakeshore communities and South Haven in particular have a huge stake in defining and developing affordable housing” comments Odland. “We believe Kilpatrick’s presentation will have a special appeal to impacted residents, employees, public officials, real estate folks, and others in the business community affected by housing and transportation issues.”

Kilpatrick, a polished speaker, is responsible for day-to-day management and strategic direction of Ottawa Country Housing Next. The project focuses on housing, economic development, land use, and transportation policy. Bridging the private and public sector, he is responsible for streamlining the development process to build more resilient communities.

He draws on a rich background including Community Assistance Specialist with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Director of Community and Economic Development for the City of Douglas. Throughout his career he has had impressive hands-on experience in a wide variety of planning issues and projects such as: transportation planning, sustainable land use, development rights and finance, preservation and green infrastructure, tax abatement programs, brownfield redevelopment, as well as community engagement and visioning processes.

Kilpatrick earned a Masters Degree in Design from Kendall College of Art and Design with an emphasis on social innovation and community development. Working with other professionals from a variety of fields he co-created a new program at Kendall that focuses on the design process for solving systemic problems with in-depth exploration of social enterprise, design-thinking and models of innovation.

LOOKING AHEAD

The presentation “Affordable Housing” by Ryan Kilpatrick was well attended. Here’s some photos from the event.