Keynote Speaker
Dan Rogers
Dan Rogers grew up in Lorain County in Ohio and at an early age experienced the ill effects of generational poverty. Because of his childhood experiences, he decided to pursue a lifelong goal of challenging the systems that create cycles of poverty.
Rogers studied psychology and theology at Mount Vernon College in Ohio, and after graduation went on to learn from and serve impoverished people groups globally. His travels and work experiences have included serving in the leper colonies of eastern India, the indigenous people of central Mexico and the extreme poor in the mountain regions of Jamaica.
In 2001, Rogers continued his passion to reverse the cycles of poverty by serving on staff at Cherry Street Mission Ministries located in Toledo. In July 2005, Cherry Street named Rogers its President and CEO.
He is the recipient of the 2009 Jefferson Award for Public Service and in 2014 received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Entrepreneurial and Business Excellence Hall of Fame, is a consultant to nonprofits, and a Leadership Coach.
Currently, Rogers is spearheading the development of Cherry Street’s Life Revitalization Center by facilitating social impact partnerships in order to establish a career and vocational school in central city Toledo. The Life Revitalization Center will aid in the reversal of poverty and end homelessness in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.
Dan and his wife, Crystal, have been married 39 years and are co-founders of a leadership and curriculum development ministry called Soma Ministries International, which works in India and Jamaica. They have five children, four daughters-in-law and 10 grandchildren.
Class Representative
Helen Dilworth
Helen Dilworth of Sylvania has been selected as the Owens Community College class representative and will address the graduates during the 51st annual Spring Commencement ceremony. She is graduating with an Associate of Arts degree in Social Work Concentration and with Cum Laude honors.
The Sylvania resident graduated high school in northern Kentucky in 1967 and even though Morehead State offered her a partial scholarship to study education, she was denied the opportunity to attend by her father because a woman under the age of 21 at that time needed her father or husband’s permission to sign a contract. Her father said no.
Dilworth enrolled at Owens in Fall Semester 2013 a few years after the death of her husband of 24 years, Robert. She quickly thrived. She was elected to the Phi Theta Kappa honors society, took part in the Honors Program and Honors Club and accepted a job in the Admissions office.
“My algebra teacher in high school told me that I shouldn’t go to college because I’d have no chance to succeed,” she said.
She earned the respect and praise of the Owens faculty.
“Her deep thinking and active involvement in our class quickly set her apart from other students,” said Pam Chibucos, Professor of Teacher Education. “She is an analytical and dogged researcher whose information enriched our class on many topics.”
“Helen currently has the record for Honors Option Contracts at 13 — only three are necessary. An Honors Option Contract allows students to work beyond the regular class work and to enhance their learning. Her energy is boundless and her work ethic is beyond anything l have ever seen,” said Dr. Russ Bodi, Professor of English.
After graduating high school, Dilworth scored 98 percent on the Civil Service Exam and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Cincinnati hired her as a secretary. Within a year, she was one of a handful of employees selected to go to Washington, D.C. and work at the newly formed Environmental Protection Agency, which collaborated with Keep America Beautiful and launched Earth Day. The national campaign was an immediate success, and Dilworth was in the middle of it, answering all of President Nixon’s correspondence and taking it to the White House for his signature.
“I met President Nixon and shook his hand. It was an interesting time. I did it for seven years.”
Dilworth was visiting Toledo in the mid-1980s when she met her future husband. They married and had a son, John. Helen read all of John’s textbooks during his school years to help quench her thirst for knowledge. John Dilworth is also an Owens graduate who went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo. He will earn a master’s degree from the University of Toledo May 6. Starting Fall Semester 2017, Helen Dilworth will enroll at the University of Toledo and begin work on a bachelor’s degree.
Past Speakers
- View past Keynote Speakers.
- View past Class Speakers.