Mariama Keita-Thiero, second from left, at the Ambassadorial reception in Washington, D.C. By Mariama Keita-Thiero, Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., USA For nearly two decades, I built a career at the intersection of communications and global development. I was the first graduate student in my New York University master’s program to secure a summer White…
Members of the Rotary satellite club of Heritage Todd Creek during a recent demonstration at Brighton Care Center. By Vern Hansen, 2026-27 president Rotary Club of Northglenn-Thornton, Colorado, USA, and member of the Rotary satellite club of Heritage Todd Creek I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how this idea of starting a Rotary satellite…
Vansh Saini leads a weekend school for children of construction workers. By Vansh Saini, a 2026 People of Action: Champion of Tomorrow In 2022, I was 16 and president of my Interact club at Hansraj Model School. There, I noticed something I couldn’t ignore — children of construction workers in my neighbourhood with no real access to…
Simbarashe Basvi and students with their new soccer uniforms. By Simbarashe Basvi, Rotary Club of Ladner, British Columbia, Canada On 30 April, I returned to my former primary school, Chamukwenjera, in Manyene, Zimbabwe. Manyene is a rural communal area on the outskirts of Chivhu, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the capital, Harare. The last…
From left, Steve Heiser, interim district membership chair; Scott Whitlock, president-nominee and sponsor of two new members; Christian Tamte, sponsor of two new members; Chris Angellatta, president-elect; and Jason Southwell, club president. By Steve Heiser, Rotary Club of Columbus, Ohio, USA, and District 6690 new club development subcommittee chair As a member of Rotary, we…
Make new friends and exchange bracelets outside the House of Friendship at the 2026 Rotary International Convention in Taipei, Taiwan. From reconnecting with longtime friends to sparking new conversations, inspiration happens when Rotary members come together. International Convention is an opportunity for new experiences and fresh perspectives, and this year in Taipei, the Rotary International…
Members of the Rotary Club of Visakhapatnam By Vinay Gandhi Billapati, past president, Rotary Club Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India When I joined the Rotary Club of Visakhapatnam in 2019, I was 31-year-old. People had cautioned me that it was a “very senior club.” The average member age was around 65, and I was told members…
Rona Karimi, fourth from right, during a trip to Hiroshima, with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in the background. By Rona Karimi, 2023-25 Rotary Peace Fellow at International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan My experiences as a refugee motivated me to seek a Rotary Peace Fellowship. I’ve been labeled in many ways: internally displaced person, refugee in…
Rajdeep Dutta (right) with wife and daughter (middle) at her graduation ceremony in Bangladore, India. By Rajdeep Dutta, Rotary Club of Aarohee, Calcutta, India If your average Rotary meeting resembles a polite gathering of people who say “hear, hear” a lot, Gen Z is probably swiping left faster than you can say “Paul Harris Fellow.”…
Club members in front of the historical marker, including past RI President John Germ (third from left) and Robin Derryberry (fourth from left) By Robin Derryberry, president-nominee of the Rotary Club of Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA The other day, I was driving through downtown Chattanooga when I saw our beautiful historical marker dedicated to the history…