Events

Join the Rotary Club of Houston the 2nd Tuesday evening of each month for food, fun and fellowship.  There is no charrge to attend.  Participants are responsible for purchasing their own drinks and food.  

SPEAKER: LISA FALKENBERG, INTRODUCTION BY DUNCAN KLUSSMANN

Lisa Falkenberg is a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the Houston Chronicle’s senior columnist.

Falkenberg formerly led the Chronicle’s editorial board as vice president and editor of opinion. In May, Falkenberg shared a Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing for a series on the dangers of stopped trains in Houston. In 2022, she led the editorial board to their first Pulitzer Prize for a series debunking the “Big Lie” of voter fraud and examining Texas’ long history of voter suppression. 

Falkenberg wrote a metro column at the Chronicle for more than a decade and in 2015 was awarded the Pulitzer for commentary, as well as the American Society of News Editors’ Mike Royko Award for Commentary/Column Writing for a series that exposed a wrongful conviction in a death penalty case and led Texas lawmakers to reform a grand jury system ripe for abuse. She was a Pulitzer finalist in 2014 and 2023.

Raised in Seguin, Texas, Falkenberg is the daughter of a truck driver and a homemaker, and the first in her family to go to college. She earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000. She started her career at The Associated Press, first as a college student in Austin, helping cover the Legislature, and later in Dallas, covering everything from politics to capital murder trials. She joined the Chronicle’s Austin bureau in 2007 as a roving state correspondent.

Falkenberg lives in Houston and is the mother of two teen daughters and a 5-year-old son.

Join Virtually ---> February 16, 2026

The Rotary Club of Houston is partnering with KIPP Academy for the Dictionary Project.  Ten Rotarians are needed to volunteer. The Dictionary Project is a literacy initiative that provides age-appropriate dictionaries to third grade students, helping strengthen reading, writing, and vocabulary skills at a critical stage of learning.  Rotarians meet with the students, talk about the importance of reading and learning new words, and explain how to use a dictionary as a helpful tool at school and at home. The visit creates excitement around reading, gives students a sense of pride in owning a book of their own, and leaves a lasting impression of community members investing in their education and success.

John Whitmire, the 63rd Mayor of Houston was sworn in on January 1, 2024, bringing decades of public service experience to the role. Before becoming mayor, he served as the longest-tenured member of the Texas State Senate, representing Houstonians for 40 years in the Texas Senate and 10 years in the Texas House. Throughout his career, Whitmire has been a strong advocate for criminal justice reform, public safety, and economic development. As mayor, Whitmire is focused on strengthening public safety, fixing the city’s finances and infrastructure, and improving Houstonians' quality of life. His leadership is shaped by his love for people, his vast understanding of government and his commitment to public service.

Details coming soon...