Date | Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Location | Giovanni's Restaurant & Convention Center

Time |

11:30 am - 12:00 pm | Silent Auction & Networking
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm  | Program, Speaker, & Open Your Heart Special Appeal

2017 Rockford Go Red Luncheon Speaker | Tracie Frank Mayer

About Tracie

Tracie is an author and will be speaking about her son, Marc, that had a heart defect.  This story of Marc offers an example of how a determined mother never lost hope and how she pursued a worldwide search to provide the best possible options to save the life of her suffering child. I am certain this narrative will move the reader of this well written, compassionate and compelling human story." Aldo Castaneda, M.D. Ph.D. 

Tracie is an active member of the American International Women’s Club of Cologne, a social organization that supports the international community in Cologne, Germany and raises funds for a variety of philanthropic projects focused on women’s rights. She is also a long time member of FAWCO (Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas), a United Nations recognized NGO, with a membership base of over 12,000 women from more than thirty countries. Alongside other FAWCO members, Tracie uses her moderation skills to create awareness of issues that affect women and girls around the world.

Tracie began working in the family real estate business at the age of nine by cleaning apartments on weekends. She has fond memories of sitting at her mother’s side in the evenings, watching her apply an assortment of creams, tonics and lotions to her face. When Tracie received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Seattle University, she had already been working in the family office full time, overseeing—along with her parents and two younger sisters—the management of nearly four-hundred rental units.
 
In 1983, on a weekend jaunt to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Tracie met her future husband, Helmut. She married him a year later. Undaunted by a language she couldn’t speak, Tracie packed her bags and moved to Cologne, Germany, Helmut’s hometown. There she gave birth to her only child, a son named Marc.
 
Residing in Cologne, Germany since 1984, Tracie has worked as a writer, blogger, lyricist, public speaker, and real estate investor. Talk with Tracie, her English language coaching business, is popular with German celebrities hoping to improve their English conversation skills. She also works with corporations, training executives to become more relaxed and fluent while speaking English. Tracie’s energy, enthusiasm, and optimism encourage her clients to relax and have fun with English.
 
As a bi-lingual moderator, Tracie’s most recent engagements include her work as a juror and moderator for Das Goldene Stadttor –The Golden City Gate – an internationally recognized multimedia competition at ITB, the world’s largest travel trade fair in Berlin, Germany (March, 2016). Tracie was a guest speaker and fund raiser on behalf of  the Austrian and German Children’s Protective Agencies at the 2016 Vienna Film Ball in Austria. In June, 2016, Tracie served as a juror at the 2016 Miss Giessen/Miss Germany beauty pageant.
 
Among her many pursuits, Tracie supports various charitable organizations, including die Elterninitiative Herzkranker Kinder, Köln e.V. (Parents Initiative for Children with Heart Disease of Cologne), the Ronald McDonald House in Cologne, the Elternhilfe for Kinder mit Rett Syndrome in Deutschland (parents’ support group for children with Rett Syndrome), Doctors for Ethiopia and the VITA e.V. Assistenzhunde (VITA Assistant Dogs Organization).