Bob Kully introduction to Rotary 11/17/2017
I am the luckiest man in the world. My wife Connie and I have four great children and they are married to four great spouses. All eight are responsible citizens in their respective communities of Greenwich CT, Washington DC, Denver CO and Seattle WA. All are parents and they have given us nine outstanding grandchildren. My first career was in the cold storage warehouse business. I sold that business to Millard Refrigerated Services and worked with Millard as Assistant to the President. When my contract was up, I did consulting work around that industry. I entered the financial industry in 1999. I am fully licensed in both investments and insurance, and I enjoy the challenges of dealing with a variety of issues every day. My business background gives me a perspective that most financial advisors have not experienced. My only challenge is to find smart people to solve problems. I do not pretend to know the answers to all of the questions that I receive.
My wife and I have always been active volunteers. After our PTA days we were given an Honorary State Life PTA membership.
I was on the Board of Counselors at UNMC and served a term as Chairman. I recently was on the Board of the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association after participating in the FBI training program. I have mentored in math at Boys Town for about eight years. I have been the Chairman of the Livingston Foundation for many years. The mission of the Livingston Foundation is to give away money in a way that our Board believes would be satisfactory to the Livingston family. I was honored in the Jewish community several years ago as Humanitarian of the Year. I currently serve on the Board of the Nebraska Coalition of Lifesaving Cures, which was formed to promote ongoing medical research. In the last year I have become involved with THE FORCE – a program started by Jess Pate, Caren Woodruff and Sally Kahre dealing with sex trafficking in Nebraska. The group has already had an impact. I understand that this club has included this issue as a project,
Five years ago I had the pleasure to speak to this club about the financial crisis. I shared my book list, which included the dozen books I had read at that time about the financial crisis. At the conclusion of my presentation a smart member of your club came up to ask me more questions. It was Nuzhat who came forward. Since that time Nuzhat and I have had the pleasure to meet regularly and visit in depth about many topics.
There is no one in our community who I respect more than Nuzhat. When Nuzhat told me she was going to be President of the Rotary club, it gave me a chance to resign from a Kiwanis Club. I knew if Nuzhat was involved, the organization was in good hands.
I look forward to getting to know all of you in the weeks ahead.
