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POWERful Presentations
Tycia Foster
Tycia Foster, Phi Theta Kappa's 2006-07 International President and the first female African American to hold this position, is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa chapter at Tallahassee Community College in Florida. She received an associate degree in early childhood development in August 2005, is currently pursuing her associate arts degree and plans to seek a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood and Exceptional Student Education.
Foster has taught for some years at a private school in Tallahassee, and has been listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers. She plans a career in teaching and counseling "at risk" children, and dreams of opening a performing arts school to serve children ages 3-18. A former chapter president, Foster has represented Phi Theta Kappa at numerous meetings during her time in office, including the American Cancer Society's Relay Youth Summit, where Phi Theta Kappa was recognized as a top collegiate contributor to Relay For Life.
Sue Smith
Sue Smith, National Director of Education for Keep America Beautiful, Inc., will return to Phi Theta Kappa's Convention stage in 2007 to deliver the Service Keynote Address. Keep America Beautiful is Phi Theta Kappa's partner in the current International Service Program, Operation Green: Improving Our Communities. Smith introduced the environmental program at the 2006 International Convention in Seattle, and will be remembered as a speaker whose enthusiasm for service matched that of her Phi Theta Kappa audience.
"When citizens, business and government come together, things change. You can make a difference in your own communities - it's all about education and volunteerism," she said in her 2006 Convention address.
Smith has been involved with Keep America Beautiful for many years, directing a National Department of Education grant to create, publish and train web-based lessons for community improvement and a Toyota Foundation grant to train 500 science teachers and education leaders.
She is a Congressional appointee to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Environmental Education, and participated in the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. She served as an instructor on Environmental Education Issues for Dow Chemical and for a United Nations Global Forum for students, held at the White House. Smith has been a guest lecturer at Texas A & M and Fordham University in New York, and is a Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley.
Kevin Sharp
Country singer Kevin Sharp has scores of awards and honors, a platinum debut album and a new book - but he considers his greatest success to be overcoming cancer. A cancer survivor since 1991, Sharp will speak to Phi Theta Kappa's 2007 International Convention, motivating his audience to "continue the fight" against cancer that the Society initiated in 2002. Phi Theta Kappa has adopted Relay For Life as a civic engagement initiative and challenged chapters to raise $10 million by 2018.
Although his singing/songwriting career has flourished, the challenges he faced earlier in life have resulted in his new role as a speaker. Sharp has told numerous audiences of his struggles to overcome cancer and to realize his life's dream of becoming a singer. He has appeared on college campuses, been a keynote speaker for the American Cancer Society, and has delivered motivational speeches for audiences ranging from leading business professionals to military personnel.
Sharp also now serves as national spokesman for the Make- A-Wish Foundation, and is the only "wish child" who is now a "wish request" - many children now ask to meet the man who once shared their diagnosis, but survived. Sharp's book, Tragedy's Gift, tells how he found the courage to never give up on life or his dreams. He will sign copies of his book and copies of his newest CD following his Convention address in the Second General Session.
Al Gore
Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States and author of the environmental wakeup call An Inconvenient Truth, will provide the Keynote Address for Phi Theta Kappa's 2007 International Convention.Gore, known as one of the most powerful champions of environmental awareness in the world today, will discuss issues related to the Honors Study Topic, Gold, Gods, and Glory: The Global Dynamics of Power. As Vice President, Gore was also president of the United States Senate, a member of the Cabinet and a key member of the team that created America's longest period of sustained economic growth. He was the Democratic candidate for President in 2000.
A longtime crusader for responsible treatment of the environment, Gore has captured widespread global attention with An Inconvenient Truth, his groundbreaking book on global warming that has now become a major feature film. Gore's passionate message concerns not only the political and economic aspects of global warming, but also presents the gradual increase of earth's temperature due to human action as the most compelling moral issue of our time.
Mirta Ojito, an author, Pulitzer- Prize winner and Phi Theta Kappa's 2006 Distinguished Alumna, will serve as a panelist for a "Conversation" with Al Gore following his address. Ojtio and other Phi Theta Kappa alumni and friends will pose questions on current domestic and international issues to the former Vice President.
Rod Risley
Rod Risley, Executive Director of Phi Theta Kappa, will address the International Convention audience and provide updates on Society agendas, including programs to recognize outstanding member participation and to encourage and facilitate transfer to four-year colleges and universities.
Risley has served as Executive Director of Phi Theta Kappa since 1985. He was Phi Theta Kappa's National President in 1974-75 while a student at San Jacinto College in Texas. Under his leadership Phi Theta Kappa has experienced unparalleled growth, expanding from 550 chapters to more than 1,200, and inducting approximately 100,000 members annually.
Risley helped conceive and launch Phi Theta Kappa's nationally acclaimed Leadership Development Studies Program, the All-USA Academic Team for Community Colleges, and Guistwhite and Leaders of Promise scholarship programs. He has established close working relationships with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and the Coca-Cola Scholars and Coca-Cola foundations. He serves on many advisory boards in the higher education arena, including the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's Community College Transfer Initiative.
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