Speakers

James Leonard is vice president of Field Operations for Hilscher-Clarke Electric, which traces its roots back to 1912.  James started with HC in 2010 as an electrical apprentice and moved to office work in 2018 as a member of the business development team.  His most recent promotion was in 2024 to regional field operations manager where his duties include overseeing construction of data centers.

James splits his time between Canton and Columbus and has two adult daughters.

Maria and Serena are foreign exchange students from Brazil and Italy, respectively.  They are finishing up their year as Rotary Exchange students a Louisville High School.  Maria is from Brazil and is on the Leopards tennis team.  Serea is 17 and has participated in bowling and track.

Becky DeHart is the Director of Education & Community Engagement at ArtsinStark. In this role, she oversees all in-school programming, including the nationally recognized SmARTs Program, working closely with partner schools to design curriculum and lead a dedicated team of teaching artists and volunteers. Becky has held leadership roles with Amp Strategy, the Canton Museum of Art, and Players Guild Theatre. A graduate of Otterbein University with a BFA in Musical Theatre, she started her professional career as Extras Casting Director for the COSBY show.

Michael Grossman is Professor of International Affairs and National Security at the University of Mount Union. He was born in Russia and lived in Israel. He has served as a faculty leader at the Washington Centre’s National Security Seminar and as instructor at the University of South Carolina Political Science Department. He earned his BA at George Washington University, an MA from Northeastern University, and a PhD from the University of South Carolina.

Michael has spoken to us previously about Ukraine and Gaza.  This time, his focus will be on Iran.