Events

Patrick Butler is the Fire Chief and Harbor Master of the Redondo Beach Fire Department. Prior to his appointment in Redondo Beach, he served 31 years as an Assistant Chief with the Los Angeles Fire Department having oversight of 60 Fire Stations and protecting 2.3 million residents with an operating budget of $560M. During his distinguished career on the LAFD he held several key positions in the department and promoted through the ranks. His department experience included Chief of Special Operations, where he directed the day-to-day management of the department’s specialized resources, including the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team ~ California Task Force 1. He served as the Chief of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis; Commander of the Arson Counter Terrorism Unit, Internal Affairs Investigator, Commander of Fireboat No.2 in the Port of Los Angeles, Commander of Air Operations, and a Section Commander in the LAFD Homeland Security Division. Chief Butler also has extensive labor management experience and served as union president and vice president negotiating contracts and employee representation.  

During his career, he responded to thousands of emergencies, including the 1992 Civil Disturbance, 1993 Malibu Wildfires, 1994 Northridge Earthquake and some of California’s largest wildfires. He served as the incident commander on several large complex wildfires and holds multiple federal ICS qualifications. Chief Butler is considered one of the most experienced operational leaders in the region.  

His work in homeland security and public safety extends beyond the traditional boundaries. He served for over 22 years as a Deputy Sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reserves and retired as a detective.   

Chief Butler holds a doctorate degree in Policy, Planning and Development from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree in Security Studies and Homeland Defense from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, a bachelor’s degree in Management and graduate of the Army West Point Leadership Program. He is a Harvard Fellow, and studied as a Senior Executive Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Chief Butler is a general aviation pilot holding several ratings and a graduate of the USC Viterbi School of Aviation Safety & Security. 

Patrick is active in several academic and community organizations and serves on the board of the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute, the USC Sol Price Alumni Board, the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center as well as Vision to Learn, a non-profit that provides free eye exams and glasses to elementary school students in low-income communities across the country. He serves on the board of Los Bomberos de Los Angeles, the Latino Firefighters Association. He is most well known for his work in the community and preparing communities for wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural and manmade disasters.  

Born the son of a Mexican immigrant, Patrick speaks fluent Spanish and spent much of his youth growing up in his mother’s hometown of Veracruz, Mexico. Patrick enjoys mountain biking and ocean sports, such as surfing, swimming and sailing. He and his family live in Los Angeles and enjoy community activities.  

Dana joined Rotary in 2002 and is currently a member of Rotary Club Westlake Village.

Dana served as: Club International Chair, Grants & Foundation Chair, District International Service Director and District Governor 2021-22.

At the Rotary International Level:  Dana is Inter Country Committee (ICC) National Coordinator for USA, and was ICC General Secretary 2018-20. Dana has started the first ICC of USA with her country of origin Romania in 2003.

Dana is Major Donor level 2, Bequest Society level 2, Paul Harris Society and Benefactor.

Dana traveled extensively for various Rotary projects and worked on multiple grants to help especially children, including polio campaigns in Nigeria and India.  Dana attended 17 Rotary International Conventions.

In the last several years she was a presenter talking about Peace & Conflict Resolution & Prevention Projects and Initiatives at Rotary International Conventions, Zone Institutes and Peace Conferences.

Dana servers on the board of directors for several organizations as:  Mediators Beyond Borders International which is an approved Service Partner for Rotary International, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County, and advisory board of “Social Entrepreneurship & Change” Master Program of  Pepperdine University.

Dana was a partner in a high-tech company that was acquired by a public company. After completing her contract with the buyer, she has started a nonprofit  organization: “Children Skills for Life” whose mission is to help children build their future through education, and began working full time on humanitarian projects.

Dana’s  Classification is Software Engineering. She has a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications and a Master Degree in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University.

Mark Friedman is the Education Director for the LA Maritime Institute in San Pedro.

Mark has taught marine biology, Honors Marine Biology and Physio-Anatomy at Animo Leadership Charter high school, part of the Green Dot (GD) public schools for 14 years. The school is located in Lennox/Inglewood with similar demographics to many LA areas.  He has B.A. in History and Political Science, Tufts University, Medford, MA, as well as various teaching certificates from Loyola Marymount, UCLA, and El Camino College.

As a high school teacher, he established a marine biology program that includes: QuikSCience and National Ocean Science Bowl competitive teams; two-dozen annual scholarships and internships for students in STEM fields, winning entries by students in the LA Science Fair, and a marine biology club of 50+ annually.

In addition, for 19 years Mark has volunteered at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro.  His leadership in the City2Sea program enables him to take, without cost, students on marine research expeditions to international conferences in Chile, Costa Rica, Japan, Cuba. The students also participate in various zoom and webinar conferences and symposiums.

Since 2016, Mark has been the education director at the LA Maritime Institute.  He has written grants and developed the only bilingual marine science program for LA Unified Schools, as well as other Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Ecology and Mathematics programs for the Institute, including tall ships "on-board" programs training crew and teachers alike at High School and Aquaria science meetings.

Glenn Acosta is a Senior Engineer in the Public Information Office of the Los Angeles County Sanitation
Districts.  He holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Irvine.  During
his tenure, Glenn has represented the agency on regulatory and legislative affairs, served as an
operations engineer at the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant in Carson, and has had strategic planning
responsibilities for Districts facilities.   He is currently the public relations lead for the Clearwater Project,
the largest construction project in the history of the agency.   His hobbies include golf and
screenwriting.