Mary Gottschalk

Mary started out in the New York financial markets in 1970, working as an economist and a banker. By 1985, she’d exceeded her wildest expectations in terms of promotions and compensation, but she actually hated her job. After some – but not too much deliberation – Mary and her then-husband abandoned their  successful careers to embark on the five-year, round-the-world sailing voyage that is the subject of her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. When the journey came to an unexpected end, she returned to the financial markets as a consultant to multinational corporations, working first in New Zealand, and then Australia, Central America, Europe, and ultimately back in New York. A decade later, she dropped out again, this time to oversee a turnaround of a nonprofit that provided housing and support services to the mentally ill in New York City. In 2000, she returned to high finance as SVP of the Federal Home Loan Bank in Des Moines. Two years later, she dropped out of high finance for the final time. Since then, her ‘careers’ have included a multi-year stint as a non-profit consultant, a decade as author of a memoir and a novel, free-lance journalism, and editing non-fiction articles and books. Throughout her two decades in Des Moines, she has  served on a variety of non-profit boards.

Patrick Karemera

Patrick Karemera was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has been fortunate to spend time in several other countries: Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda. He used his BA degree in Sociology to work with several nonprofits around the continent of Africa. After winning a Diversity Lottery Visa, Patrick was able to immigrate to Iowa. He now works as a Refugee Resettlement Caseworker in one of Iowa’s largest refugee resettlement agencies. Patrick finds value in himself and connection with others through sharing his story and bringing awareness to the Diversity Lottery Visa process.