ROTARY LUNCHEON: Bonnie Joy Kaslan

Bonnie Joy Kaslan, Retired Honorary Consul General of the Turkish Republic and former Executive Vice President of Kaslan Associates, Inc. (a structural and geotechnical engineering firm), will speak to our Club about the role of citizen diplomacy, Rotary, and the evolution and contributions of the Turkish American community in the United States. 

Bonnie has served the Turkish American Community since 1978. She studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and was president of the Turkish American Association of California from 1983 to 1985. Bonnie served on the Board of Directors of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations as Western Region Vice President from 1982-1986. In 1982 she was named Woman of the Year for the Turkish American Community in California. Bonnie is past national chairman of the Assembly's Curriculum Committee on History and Social Science as well as past chairman and current member of the Board of Trustees. 

She has represented Turkish American interests at high level State Department meetings, addressed human relation commissions nationwide, worked on a one-to-one basis with innumerable congressional representatives and their staffs as well as delivered expert testimony before the Committee on Foreign Relations. Bonnie is the first non-Turkish woman worldwide to represent the Republic of Türkiye as Honorary Consul General developing and implementing educational and public relations programs as deemed necessary. She has appeared on radio and television nationwide as an educator, advocate, and facilitator for a better understanding of Türkiye and its people. She was a consultant to the Turkish Cultural Foundation and World Affairs Councils nationwide charged with overseeing the Teachers’ Study Tours to Türkiye. In addition to her advocacy for the betterment of Turkish American relations, Bonnie Joy is a former Board of Director of Soroptimist International of Oakland. She is a graduate of the Coro Foundation's Public Affairs Leadership program for women as well as a past member of the Board of Directors of American Women for International Understanding. 
 
Bonnie also has served on the Ethnic Advisory Commission for the State of California's Department of Rehabilitation and served as the President of the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce. She was one of the organizers of a “Spirit in Flight” retreat, dedicated to honoring flight attendants post September 11. She was a member of the Citizens Advisory Council of the Sonoma Police Department. She is currently the president of her homeowners’ association in Sonoma and a frequent presenter to the City Council of Sonoma on issues pertaining to affordable housing and aging in place for those living in manufactured housing communities.  

Register here for In Person or Zoom attendance.

For in-person attendees: We welcome all attendees! The in-person registration cost for all adults and children is $45. 

For attendance via Zoom: For those who wish to participate via Zoom, there is a $15 fee to attend.

Accessibility: Hotel Nikko San Francisco offers accessible entrances, accommodations, restaurants, meeting spaces, and facilities so that every guest enjoys a comfortable visit.

Parking: If you are driving to the Hotel Nikko for this meeting, please leave your car with the Hotel Nikko valet. Pick up a validation sticker available at our check-in table. The discounted parking is $25 for three hours.

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