Since many were on travel the audience was a bit light. We had Kevin Cahill give his 1-Minute Rotary talk and fielded some questions. Apparently someone picked him to be President during his first year and he just dived in. He encouraged members to be involved with District events where you meet wonderful people. One of the questions was, "how was DMSB club created?". Kevin said it was primarily because the Del Mar club was reaching 100 people and they wanted to keep it small. Hence many members that wanted a breakfast club joined together to form DMSB.
## "Embracing Diversity and Inclusion" by Taryell Simmons
Taryell Simmons is a Foodie, Entrepreneur, community activist, workforce consultant, and HR trainer recognized as one of the most prominent voices for diversity and inclusion in the workforce. He is the Co-Founder of EvoGrant, Workforce Development Specialist at SAGE business & Education and a Founding Member of the San Diego Tech Hub. For the past five years, Taryell has helped create and develop workforce programs like "CONNECT2Careers" to help young people in underserved communities get living wage jobs.
Taryell believes that successful careers come from being connected to one's strengths, abilities, skills, and passion. This is why he has dedicated his career to exposing people to opportunities that will help them figure out paths to combine their talents with a career they love. Taryell is a RISE Urban Leadership Institute graduate.
He talked about how older generation people deride the younger generation kids by saying "Back in the days ..." and that just irritates the younger kids always :-). When he worked in HR on the east coast the popular phrase was "snitches get stitches". However, on the west coast it is the opposite - "see something, say something".
He clarified that diversity and inclusion is not just the color of people but there are many other aspects, such as, culture. religion, etc. The new generation likes people to earn their respect and not force any values upon them.
Taryell along with 2 other co-founders created "Culture Cocina" where the mission is to create space for breaking bread while learning about the history of the community through art and food. They conduct tours of different areas of San Diego and mingle with different cultures.
Finally he mentioned a story about his childhood. He was smart but labeled as "ADD" (Attention Deficit Disorder) and so his teachers kept him away from many activities. However, there was an older white Jewish person that saw some potential in Taryell and helped him to go through college and he got his Masters degree. So, he keeps advising young kids and adults to never give up.
At the end, DMSB Club President Venky Venkatesh presented the speaker with the Joshua certificate that represents our club DMSB donating school supplies to schools in Malawi in the name of the speaker.
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