Speakers

Join us for Rotary on Tap Thursday, May 2 replacing our regular Wednesday morning meeting.

In 2022, Hennepin County voters overwhelmingly selected Sheriff Dawanna Witt to be the next Hennepin County Sheriff. She campaigned on her years of experience and a platform of safer communities, improved law enforcement recruitment and retention, reform, collaboration, and transparency. Sheriff Witt serves seasonally as a Minnesota State Fair Police Officer and has served on advisory panels, including the State of Minnesota Legislative Task Force on Child Protection and the State of Minnesota Task Force on Law Enforcement Education Reform. She is a committee member of the Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA) Nomination and Award Committee, which recognizes outstanding employees and units from MCSA member Sheriff’s Offices. She also works as an adjunct professor at Inver Hills Community College, teaching Juvenile Justice and American Corrections.

I knew nothing about reproductive health, fertility, and infertility — until it became my life. I kept hearing and seeing on TV women who were expecting at age 40+ and thought when I’d be ready to become a parent it would be fast and easy. But that wasn’t what happened. In this talk I will discuss physical, emotional, financial, legal, and ethical considerations of IVF and what I went through since 2019. It is a story of determination, grief, hope, anger, and endeavour. I hope this talk will help raise awareness about the prevalence and impact of infertility on individuals and break the stigma surrounding the topic.

Join me as I unravel the complexities of this journey, sharing the raw experiences that ultimately led me to embrace the profound gift of motherhood.