Speakers

Marisa is the Executive Director of the Providence Preservation Society and joined PPS most recently from Rhode Island School of Design’s Center for Complexity, where she has served as Associate Director since 2022. Prior to her work at RISD, she was at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown University, where she taught courses on preservation and heritage practice and led the Center’s academic and public programs.

Marisa holds a PhD in the History of Art and Architecture from Yale University, an MA in History from the University of Chicago, and a BA from Princeton University. She is an active speaker and writer on preservation history and practice, American architecture, and public art with a longstanding commitment to Providence’s cultural landscapes, histories, and diverse communities. In addition to Brown, she has taught courses on community-centered art and design practices at RISD and on public writing at the Gloria McDonald Women’s Facility (Department of Corrections) through College Unbound.

John Torgan is the State Director of The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island. In this role he leads a staff of more than 30 to protect and restore lands, fresh water, and tidal waters of Rhode Island in collaboration with the worldwide organization and many local partners. TNC is also actively engaged in policy including climate change, in partnerships for conservation and restoration, and in urban forestry in RI and across the region. John has served as State Director since 2017. John also serves as Executive Sponsor of TNC’s Offshore Wind program. Prior to being State Director, John was TNC’s Director of Ocean and Coastal Conservation, a role he served in for 5 years. From 1993-2011, John worked for Save The Bay doing advocacy and education about protecting Narragansett Bay.

John is a lifelong Rhode Islander with a background in environmental science and coastal law, policy, and management. He lives in Providence with his wife and 2 kids and can often be found in the woods and waters off Rhode Island fishing and exploring!

Kevin M. Kertscher’s 30 year film and TV career includes work on numerous feature films and documentaries. He is the founding producer of Big Ocean & Indigo Studios, independent production companies based in Providence and New Bedford that have done work PBS, the Boston Red Sox, the John F. Kennedy Library, Wayfair, New Balance, and Brown University. In addition to film work, Big Ocean provides full branding services for clients, designing websites, logos, and a full array of digital content offerings.

Kertscher produced and directed the critically acclaimed PBS documentary, Race to the Moon in 2005 for the American Experience Series.  He was an editor on Ken Burns’ Thomas Jefferson and Baseball and has worked as an assistant director, cameraman, and editor on features, commercials, and music videos.  He is the author of the adventure travel book, Africa Solo, a Barnes and Noble "Great New Writers" selection. Kertscher is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds a master’s degree in Communications from Regent University, and a master’s in writing from Dartmouth College. More information can be found at BigOcean.com.

Archie Miller was named as the 21st head coach in Rhode Island history on March 18, 2022.

Miller came to Kingston with a storied pedigree in the Atlantic 10. He won two conference titles and had four NCAA Championship appearances in six seasons at Dayton. With a record of 206-121 over the course of 10 seasons as a head coach with the Flyers and Indiana, Miller averaged more than 20 wins per year and had six national postseason appearances before arriving in Rhode Island.

A native of Beaver Falls, Pa., Miller spent six seasons as head coach at Dayton, where he won Atlantic 10 Conference regular season championships in 2016 and 2017.

He comes from a family of coaches with his father, John.  In April, 2015, he joined his father and brother in the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame.  Other greats in the Beaver County Hall include Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Terry Francona, Pete and Press Maravich, Joe Namath, Babe Parilli and Norm Van Lier.

Miller earned his bachelor’s degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism from NC State in 2002.

Sean Edmund Rogers is Dean of the URI College of Business and the Alfred J. Verrecchia-Hasbro Inc. Leadership Chair in Business. He is also a Professor of Management. Prior to being named Dean, he served as URI’s Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Community, Equity, and Diversity.

President-elect Pete Brock will be leading the club assembly as we plan ahead for the new Rotary year that begins on July 1, 2024. Stephanie Urchick  the 2024-2025 Rotary International Theme is "The Magic of Rotary. "    

Presentation of grants to non-profits who serve the greater Providence Area community.

As the 2023-2024 Rotary Year comes to an end, we will reflect on the club's accomplishments and recognize members who have made a difference to make our club grow and serve our neighbors both in Providence and across the world.

Time and location to be determined