This Week's Program: Sonia Hantman
Join us Friday, May 15, 2026:
This week’s club program features our own Sonia Hantman, whose Rotary journey spans continents and communities. Sonia joined our club after moving to Atlanta from Sweden, where she was already an active Rotarian. As she prepares for her next chapter in Santa Barbara, California, Sonia will reflect on her life, her experiences in Rotary, and the exciting road ahead for her and her son Dennis as he continues his studies in graduate school.
JOIN ONLINE: Zoom Link - Click here Meeting ID: 874 0116 4307 Passcode: Service | One tap mobile: +13052241968
KeyWay Report
KeyWay Report on Berny De La Garza
On May 8th, Atlanta West End Rotary Member Carolina Ramos presented Mr. Berny De La Garza, president of HYPE, which is a division of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. HYPE – Hispanic Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs – is dedicated exclusively to serve as the main resource for Georgia’s aspiring future leaders. HYPE is a network of fellow millennials and links like-minded with young professionals from the metro-Atlanta area and surrounding counties.
Berny – whose background is in financial services having been a principal in a hedge fund firm – explained that HYPE connects, develops and empowers young professionals and entrepreneurs through community, economic and leadership opportunities. HYPE now has 130 members who pay $100 each to be HYPE members - 60% are entrepreneurs.
Carolina is herself a fine example of HYPE’s value: she noted when she came to Sandy Springs she knew no Latinos so she joined HYPE. Her role now is as a volunteer is to engage parents living in the Fair Oaks community in Marietta City. Carolina says parents are often out of touch and have difficulty connecting to the mainstream of life and employment in Marietta. Berny affirms adult parents in the US are disconnected from responsibilities … because in their home countries parents have trust in the community and do not need to be as concerned in knowing constantly the whereabouts of the children like they must in the US, plus there they have no language and lifestyle barriers – quite the opposite of their situations and roles in the US. So, Berny pursues a major focus through HYPE to be vigilant of circumstances and activities of Black and Brown boys, whom he considers to be seriously “at risk” in Georgia. He and HYPE volunteers build after-school programs that concentrate on learning the schools’ curricula, understanding customs and the language.
AWER President Seals stated that Technical Colleges could provide an array of benefits and support to HYPE youth, including for those in high schools through the Technical College Systems of Georgia’s dual enrollment programs. There they can receive excellent training and can position themselves for skilled jobs making $75,000 or more annually in their chosen areas of study and employment.
Nevertheless, taking advantage of other opportunities requires Black and Brown youth to be very careful. Berny grew up participating in the Boy Scouts and in his HYPE recruitment work he naturally sought to engage kids for Scout memberships … and 35 signed up. But none followed through to join because, he explained, they and their parents were fearful of deportation treats.
Clearly, Berny De La Garza shows tremendous dedication, commitment and awareness of many issues facing Latinos. He said HYPE needs donations to support programming work with youth, and because the entire HYPE staff are volunteers, donations to HYPE maximize benefit for positively impacting youth.
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Keyway Speaker Reporters:
Jared Evans, Chris Hempfling, Neil Shorthouse
RI Focus
May is Youth Service Month
Rotary designates May as Youth Service Month, highlighting the importance of investing in young people and creating opportunities for them to lead, learn, and serve. For Atlanta West End, this observance is a chance to connect club priorities with the needs and potential of youth in our community.
Youth Service Month can guide clubs in planning speakers, programs, and projects that engage young people directly or support organizations that serve youth. It also offers an opportunity to showcase Rotary’s ongoing commitment to developing the next generation of leaders and community-minded citizens.
By centering efforts on youth in May, Atlanta West End Rotary can strengthen community ties, encourage intergenerational collaboration, and demonstrate Rotary’s investment in a brighter future.
Calander, Agenda, Connections, & Four-Way Test
Never a Bad Time to Catch Up (ON DUES)!
District 6900 has updated to a new Stripe ACH payment process. The new method is more convenient and more secure. If you pay your dues via ACH (and you should!), go to YOUR PAGE on our club website (Click here) and use the Setup ACH button to relink your account. Should you encounter any problems, click the Contact Webmaster link in the page footer.
