PA Press Club – Monday, November 24, 2025

Representative Arvind Venkat  (D-30th)

Rep. Arvind Venkat, an emergency physician, was elected to serve his first term in the state House of Representatives in November 2022. He is the first Indian American to be elected to the state House and the first physician to serve in the General Assembly in nearly 60 years.

He serves as State Representative for the 30th Legislative District, which includes part of Hampton Township, and all of McCandless, Franklin Park, Ohio Township, Emsworth, Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights, and Kilbuck.

Rep. Venkat is a fighter for accessible and affordable healthcare, investing in our first responders, protecting reproductive rights, curbing gun violence, expanding access to the ballot box for all voters, and getting more people back into the workforce.

His parents immigrated to the United States, and it was their hard work and commitment to service that inspired him to become a physician.

Rep. Venkat completed his undergraduate and graduate education at Harvard University, his medical education at Yale University, and his emergency medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati/University Hospital. He served as a member of the Board of the McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority and is a former president of the state emergency physicians organization.

Rep. Venkat currently lives in McCandless with his wife and three children.

PA Press Club Luncheon – Monday, October 27, 2025

Senator Greg Rothman

Chair, Pennsyvania State Republican Party

Greg Rothman was elected to the State Senate in November 2022 to represent the people of the 34th Senate District, which includes Cumberland and Perry counties and northern Dauphin County. He previously represented the 87th Legislative District in the House of Representatives.  

Rothman chairs the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee, which helps manage and protect the commonwealth’s natural resources and considers legislation affecting hunting, fishing and conservation. He is also a member of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Banking and Insurance, Education, Finance, Rules and Executive Nominations, and Transportation committees.

He is the former president and CEO of RSR REALTORS, where he began as a real estate sales agent in 1989. Under his leadership, the company grew to become one of the largest real estate businesses in Central Pennsylvania. 

Prior to his public service, Rothman enlisted in the Marine Corps during Operation Desert Storm. He served nearly 10 years in the Marine Corps Reserve, rising to the rank of staff sergeant before being honorably discharged in 2001. His service led the president of the United States to appoint him to the National Veterans Business Development Corporation board to encourage veterans to start entrepreneurial ventures. 

Rothman is a graduate of Cumberland Valley High School and holds an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and a Master of Science degree in real estate from Johns Hopkins University. 

He previously served as a trustee at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and as a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Harrisburg. He was one of the five founders of the Harrisburg Young Professionals. 

Rothman is the proud father of five children. 

PA Press Club Luncheon – Monday, September 22, 2025

Aaron Chapin

President, Pennsylvania State Education Association

Aaron Chapin took office as PSEA president on Sept. 1, 2023. He previously served as PSEA vice president, PSEA Northeastern Region president, and president of the Stroudsburg Area Education Association. Aaron has also served on the PSEA Board of Directors and on the National Education Association’s Committee for Constitution, Bylaws, and Rules.

Aaron taught fourth and fifth grade for 25 years, most of that time at the Stroudsburg Area Middle School. He’s taught all content areas throughout his career but has focused particularly on social studies and reading.

Aaron graduated from Penn State in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education, after switching from a business major his sophomore year when he realized teaching was his true calling. He went on to receive a master’s degree in education from Wilkes University in 1999.

Early in his career, Aaron became involved with his local, the Stroudsburg Area Education Association, initially as a building rep and later as the Act 48 chair, the PACE chair, and chief negotiator. From 2013 to 2019, he served as president of the local. Aaron also served as PSEA’s Northeastern Region president from 2017 to 2019.

As president of PSEA, Chapin focuses on engaging PSEA members, lifting up their voices, and finding solutions to some of the toughest challenges facing public education today, including crisis-level school staff shortages and inequities in education funding.

Next PA Press Club Luncheon – Monday, August 25, 2025

Jay Sidhu

Chair and CEO of Customers Bancorp

The Never Ever Ever Give Up Movement is a spiritual journey that gives meaning to your life. Jay Sidhu serves as Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Customers Bancorp, Inc., and Executive Chair of Customers Bank, with US$22 billion in assets serving mostly commercial clients across the United States. Jay has an extensive and recognized background in banking. Prior to joining Customers Bank, he served as the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. There, he grew the organization from an Initial Public Offering of $12 million to a market cap approaching $12 billion, crediting it as the 17th largest banking institution in the country. Jay has received various recognitions in the industry, including Financial World’s CEO of the Year, Turnaround Entrepreneur of the Year, and was named the Large Business Leader of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce. He has spoken at YPO Universities in Dubai and Hong Kong about Authentic Leadership and has also been a speaker at conferences around the world including Singapore, London, Paris, Madrid, Sydney, Prague, Dubai, and all over the US including the US Military Academy at West Point. Jay earned a Master of Business Administration from Wilkes University and graduated from the Harvard Business School’s Leadership Course for Executives.