Our highlight of the year!

Cerese and Deborah have been attending the Tucson Gem Show since 2011. This is surely the highlight of our year. Going to Tucson is the most fun experience to purchase gemstones. It is surely unlike any other buying experience. Here is a bit of history about the Tucson Gem Show….

It all started pretty small, back in 1955, with a free exhibition put together at a local school. In later years the event that started it all moved to a spot in Tucson’s Rodeo Grounds. Over the years, additional shows sprung up and collectively grew into the largest and most amazing display of rocks, fossils, gems, minerals, jewelry, beads, dinosaurs, and meteorites of all time. Conservative estimates put the annual number of show visitors at 50,000, and that’s a big influx for a city with an urban population of about 550,000. Today, the Tucson shows consist of about 45 separate events running concurrently in hotels, parking lots, and tents from the end of January through the middle of February. Admission free except for one show at the Tucson Convention Center, and most are open to the public, though a few are wholesale only and ID may be required for entrance.

“Pat” Russell-McCloud, Esq. is Outspoken!

Her work is from the podium as she takes her place on the global stage.  Whether in the United States, the Motherland of Africa, Europe or the Caribbean, wherever Pat Russell McCloud, Esq. is located, it is very likely that she is engaging an audience on topics ranging from diversity and inclusion, STEM- related careers, women’s issues, work/life balance, and civic engagement.  Her message is urgent, passionate and relevant today.  She is widely known for her animated oratorical style of speaking which educates, invigorates and entertains her audiences.  Her delineation of issues invites the listener to simply, get involved, and commit to making a positive difference.

Highly conscience of image, she appreciates the classy combination of clothes and accessories, whether business or casual, that when appropriately coordinated, result in the desired statement that has become her signature.  Significantly, her bold and courageous oral expression is highly complimented by the couture designs of Cerese D, custom jewelry designer, Atlanta, GA.  The designs of this artist, feature the unexpected findings, including, semi-precious stones, fresh-water pearls, crosses, and so much more, as her jewelry pieces become the perfect companion for each outfit.

As the spouse of Bishop E. Earl McCloud, Jr., the presiding Bishop of the 14th Episcopal District, 2016-2020, (West Africa – Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Cote’ D’ Ivoire, and Togo-Benin) of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, she has the significant role and responsibility of serving as Supervisor, and plans and executes programmatic engagement for women and their families throughout the District.   Previously, she has served in this capacity in Southeast Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Mozambique; and South Africa, living in Cape Town, and supervising in the Cape, Angola, Namibia, Kalahari and Queenstown.

In September of 2016, Russell-McCloud was notified that she had been selected as a member of the prestigious International Women’s Forum (IWF), which is intentional in building leadership across careers, continents and cultures for its over 6,500 members who reside in 35 countries around the world.  Global leadership is not foreign to Pat as she is the 11th International President of The Links, Inc., a 14,000 member premier African American women’s organization who are linked in friendship and service.  She is an active member of the Dogwood City Chapter (GA).

As a telecommunications attorney, she is dedicated to STEM initiatives as she seeks to close the disparity of African American females represented in the careers of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  For the past two years, as founder/strategist for the STEM Scholarship for African American Women at her alma mater, Kentucky State University.  There have been thirteen (13) scholarships awarded at this time.

The respite of the holiday season is a favorite time of the year for Russell-McCloud, in that she travels approximately 180,000 miles a year, annually.  She returns to the speaking circuit in January with the popular mantra, “…have speech, will travel.”

Russell-McCloud, is a best-selling author,  “My Journal:  Myself, Inside Out”, and “A is for Attitude: An Alphabet for Living”.  Her successes are measurable; and, her speeches memorable; and, her commitment to “stand and deliver”, unforgettable.

Russell-Mccloud is a ”visual speaking experience.” With more than 30 years on the lecture circuit, she is categorized as being one of the nation’s best. Her speaking style is engaging, highly substantive, well researched, pertinent to her audiences, and entertaining, whether for the public or private sector. She is distinguished and distinct, her style is classified as “big, broad and animated which leaves her audiences anxious for more.

With each presentation, she demonstrates, yet again, that she is a master at her craft as she artfully seeks to master the spoken word. In sum, this is a “speaker’s speaker” who specializes in ascertaining the organization’s culture, interests and challenges. The client, in turn, receives the value add of the experience and exposure to this qualitatively measurable speaker who is, in a word, unforgettable.

Here is a sample of her signature style: