Team Leader: John Kador
International service is my favorite part of being a Rotarian. Over the years, my wife and I have hosted five youth exchange students (from France, Poland, Brazil, Finland, and Australia) and two Group Study Exchange teams (Japan and Brazil). It is now my pleasure to be able to lead a GSE team from Pennsylvania, USA to The Philippines. I joined Rotary in the Chicago, Illinois area in 2000.
I was born in Budapest, Hungary. My family came to the U.S. when I was six years old. We settled in New York City. As an immigrant, I have always been interested in the immigrant experience. I’m the oldest of three very close brothers.
I have always been interested in literature and writing. I received a degree in English from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. I then earned a degree in public relations from The American University in Washington, D.C. I started my writing career as a science reporter for a daily newspaper. I then went on to jobs as a technical writer, advertising copywriter, and public relations writer. I started my business as an independent business writer in 1986.
I am the author of more than 10 business books on leadership, management, finance, and business ethics. In addition, I am a speechwriter and ghostwriter. (I assist CEOs and other top executives in writing their own books.) I also have monthly columns in three business magazines.
I am married to Anna Beth Payne, also a Rotarian. Anna Beth is a psychologist working in higher education, serving as director of the counseling center at Susquehanna University, a small (1,800 students) liberal arts college. We have two children. Daniel, 27, is a software engineer and programmer working in San Francisco. California. Rachel, 23, is just starting her career at an advertising agency in New York City. We also have a little dog, Finley, a five year-old Bichon. My hobbies include fencing, music, and theater.
Melissa Meade
My story is one of personal transformation from a small-town girl to a woman with a substantial international background. I grew up in a small, Pennsylvania anthracite coal region town called Frackville; my grandfather was working in the coalmines by the age of eight in the town of Shenandoah, a fact that I never have forgotten. My great-grandfather spoke nine languages and although I never met him, his legacy permeated my existence as I listened to my grandparents speaking Polish and considered how my mother lost her language through the educational practices of her time.
The linguistic legacy of my family and the changing demographics around my home inspired me to pursue my college degree in Spanish and English with a minor concentration in Women’s Studies at Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania. After I made that decision, I packed my bags and headed to Cuernavaca, Mexico where the richness of the Spanish language and the cultures of Mexico became my passion and allowed me to advance in my degree program.
I began graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where I returned to Mexico to teach and complete research for my thesis at the Instituto Tecnólogico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Querétaro. Later I moved to the Spanish Basque Country as my Rotary District’s Ambassadorial Scholar, an opportunity that attracted me because it permitted me to give back to the world while studying and researching at the University of the Basque Country, Donostia-San Sebastián.
My intellectual curiosity has led me to pursue a Ph.D. in Mass Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia. My goal is to be a university professor. Currently, I teach university students, conduct my own original research, assist scholars with their research, and I have made a film about my grandparents’ town. My academic research interests include intercultural communication; marginalized citizenships; issues of immigration; language and social interaction; and ethnographic research methods. I have given talks at conferences around the U.S. and the world.
I love to travel and meet new people. I have been to 16 different countries and to 20 of my country’s states. I speak Spanish fluently, I speak a little Basque, and I am also proficient in Italian. I hope to learn some Filipino! I enjoy writing, photography, film, Latin-dancing, singing, ice-skating, and yoga. I adore animals and have rescued several calico cats from the streets of Philadelphia.
Stacey Minarsky
I was born in Sayre, Pennsylvania, in the north part of the state near the border with New York. I was raised in a small town country area in Pennsylvania with my parents. I am an only child but grew up very close with my friends and extended family. I have one dog, Sheba, and two cats, Tigger and Oreo, at home.
After high school, I attended Bloomsburg University where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Imaging along with a certificate from Geisinger Medical Center, where I obtained my clinical education. I started to work as an x-ray technologist in orthopedics in 2006 and decided to continue my education part time in the evenings. In May 2011, I graduated with a Masters degree in Business Administration. I am still working in orthopedics with a great group of people, but hope to further my career in the medical business field in the future.
In my free time I enjoy spending my time outdoors. Growing up in a small community has brought me a great appreciation for the environment and all it has to offer. I enjoy hiking, four-wheeling (driving small, all-terrain motor vehicles with four large tires off paved roads), fishing, swimming, and just looking at the stars. During the winter months, I also enjoy cross-country skiing, ice skating, and ice fishing.
I have traveled to areas around the United States and have absolutely loved everything I have been able to see, including some well known places like Yellowstone National Park, Disney World, and Niagara Falls. I have also hiked areas of the Appalachian Trail, a marked hiking trail that is 2,184 miles (3,515 km) long. Of all the opportunities I have been given, I have never yet had the chance to travel outside the United States. Rotary has now given me that chance and I will be forever grateful to be given such an amazing opportunity, a chance to visit and make new friends in the Philippines.
My family would describe me as intensely curious and creative. I have always wondered about the “whats,” “whys,” and “hows,” and I have been creating things for as long as I can remember. My innate curiosity was the driving force behind my decision to join a GSE team.
I was born near Scranton, Pennsylvania, the oldest of two daughters. Both of my grandfathers were coal miners and my parents still live in the house in which I was raised. I formally indulged my curiosity and creativity at Princeton University, where I earned degrees in psychology and art. An interest in and compassion for the human experience prompted me to complete a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Duke University. Today I work as a Pediatric Psychologist at Geisinger Medical Center helping children and families as well as teaching residents. My professional passions are battling pediatric obesity and treating young abuse victims.
My non-work passion is fencing and I practice and compete regularly at the national level. I believe in the value of athletic pursuits at any age and my goal is to make the U.S. Veteran’s World Team at least once in the second half of my life. I also love running down country roads on the weekends and competing in local races.
I still continue to create things, and when I’m not at the hospital or fencing, I am most often in my art studio. I regularly show and sell my paintings around the Susquehanna Valley.
I believe in the notion of soul mates and feel lucky to have found mine. My husband, Richard, is unconditionally supportive of all my endeavors. We live in Danville, Pennsylvania surrounded by our pet cats, wonderful friends, and the beauty of the mountains.
