Events

Hear about Kevin's exhilerating 98-day trip from Lake Itasca to New Orleans.

My name is Austin Blythe, and I grew up in Williamsburg, Iowa where I attended school until graduating from Williamsburg High School in 2011. In high school I participated in football, wrestling and track. Upon graduating, I attended the University of Iowa on a full ride scholarship to play football for the Hawkeyes.

I played for Iowa from 2011-2015. During my time there I started 52 games, appearing in 4 bowl games including the 2016 Rose Bowl after a 12-0 regular season start. I was a freshman All-American in 2012, and a Rimington Award finalist, which is awarded to the nation’s top center, in 2015.

After I graduated from the University, I began training for an opportunity to play in the NFL. I was drafted in the 7^th round with the 248 pick by the Indianapolis Colts. I spent one year with the organization, starting one game in London. The next spring I was waived and then claimed by the Los Angeles Rams. Over the next four years, I started 69 games including the 2019 Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. In the spring of 2021, I signed a one-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, appearing in 4 games. This past spring I signed a one year contract to play the 2022 season with the Seattle Seahawks.

In 2015 I married my wife, Kiley. Kiley also attended Williamsburg High School and the University of Iowa. In high school she participated in cross country and track, graduating in 2011. She graduated in 2014 from the university with a degree in Elementary Education. She taught 4^th grade at English Valleys Elementary, in North English, Iowa for two years while I completed my career at Iowa. In June 2016, we welcomed our son, Reed, into the world. Then we had our daughter, Callie, in January of 2020. Our third child, a girl, is due in October via surrogacy thanks to our amazing sister-in-law, Kelly Blythe.

Kavi is a Partner at Bâton Global, a Des Moines-based research and advisory firm with offices in the Middle East and Asia. Kavi leads Bâton’s strategy advisory practice and is responsible for co-leading their non-US business. As a global strategy and finance leader, Kavi has over 20 years of experience advising companies, organizations, investors, and governments on strategic growth and capital allocation decisions. He has advised leading organizations in Iowa and across the world, including the governments of China, the Ukraine, and Russia. Kavi conducts industry and applied academic research on foreign direct investing and geopolitics, and in 2021 helped establish a Singapore-based think tank to provide sovereign, corporate, and financial investors with better data to inform their foreign direct investment strategies. He has been published in leading peer reviewed academic journals including the European Journal of International Management and Thunderbird International Business Review, and comments on foreign direct investing and geopolitics for financial industry press including The Economist and Channel News Asia. Kavi holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a Master’s in International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, History, and Political Science from Drake University.

Anthony B. Coleman, DHA (Doctor of Health Administration) is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Broadlawns Medical Center. He assumed his responsibilities on December 6, 2021. Anthony (Tony) was born and raised in Southern California and enlisted in the U.S Navy, serving onboard warships in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. After completing two full sea tours, Tony was commissioned as a Naval Officer. While in graduate school, Tony worked in a rural South Carolina hospital where he discovered his passion for eliminating health disparities among vulnerable populations. During his tenure as a Naval Officer, Tony served in various roles of increasing responsibility, including: Department Head, Medical Administrative Officer onboard USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) and CFO and Executive Board Member at Naval Hospital Beaufort, South Carolina. Some highlights of his 20-year military career include earning the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist designation, Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer qualification and the Executive Medicine additional qualifying designator. While in the military, Tony received a Secretary of Defense appointment to serve as a United States Senate Youth Program Military Mentor and served as Treasurer of the National Association of Health Services Executives, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the advancement and development of African American health care leaders and to elevate the quality of healthcare services rendered to minority and underserved communities. Tony is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and holds the dual distinction of being an Executive Development Program Fellow and Executive Diversity Scholar. He is also a Marshall Memorial Fellow (MMF) of the German Marshall Fund, a non-profit organization designed to increase transatlantic cooperation. During his time as an MMF, Tony traveled to Belgium, England, Spain, Hungary and Germany to study the complexities of the European universal healthcare system.

Broadlawns Medical Center has served as Polk County’s safety net hospital since 1924. If you haven't driven by or had medical services there recently, you will be in for a surprise. Mr. Coleman will talk about the growth of the Center and how it continues to serve the community.