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, September 24

by Patti Poppe

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

Patti Poppe was elected President and CEO of CMS Energy and its principal subsidiary, Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest utility. Consumers Energy provides electricity and natural gas to 6.7 million of Michigan’s 10 million Lower Peninsula residents.

Poppe held a variety of automotive management positions and served as power plant director at Detroit, Michigan based DTE Energy before returning to her hometown of Jackson to join Consumers Energy in 2011. She earned a master’s degree in management from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and received a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.

At a time of unprecedented change in the energy industry, Poppe has focused on connecting the company more closely with its customers and adapting lean operating system principles. She also has led the company’s commitment to a triple bottom line in service of people, the planet and prosperity.

Thursday, October 22

by Jim Butterfield

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

Jim Butterfield is a Professor of Political Science and Allied Faculty in Global and International Studies at Western Michigan University. He specializes in Russian history and the states of the former Soviet Union. He has done field research, given lectures, taught courses, and done consulting in Russia and nearby countries during more then forty visits. He is a Fulbright Scholar (twice in Russia, once in Vietnam) and has directed study abroad programs in Saratov, Russia, and in Istanbul, Turkey.

Butterfield, whose presentations are clear and accessible, will explore the various reasons Russia acts the way it does toward the US and the West, drawing on such significant factors as its culture, religious Orthodoxy, search for identity, and the breakup of the Soviet Union.