Members of the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa take part in a club celebration. By Selamawit Tezera Chaka, Rotary Club of Addis Ababa, Enderasse, Ethiopia Before my presidential year began, I asked our members a simple question: What can we do better? The answers shaped our entire year. Members wanted more meaningful engagement, greater flexibility,…
The Soup Dogs front from left Bill Robertson, Mark Showalter, Jeff Peterson. Back left to right Doug Wadsworth, Rene Vasquez, Phile Ohl, Khurshed Sharifov, and Rich Sargent. By Doug Wadsworth, Rotary Club of Columbia Center Kennewick, Richland, Washington, USA When I took charge of the Columbia Center Rotary Club’s annual “Shine a Light” fundraiser to…
Eve Conway, third from left standing, with community health workers. By Eve Conway, 2023-25 Rotary International Director Travelling in a convoy of four-wheel drive safari vehicles along unmade sandy roads, we went deep into a rural area outside Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Leaving clouds of sand behind us, we were heading towards Central Province…
Angela Lopez’ Journal stack before (left) and after Rotary Youth Exchange. Lopez By Angela Lopez, RI supervisor of Membership Growth and Experience, and a former Rotary Youth Exchange student In 2003, I began a Rotary Youth Exchange to Denmark. My family was not a traveling one, and when I was accepted for the exchange, they…
By Mayan Raslan, Rotary Club of Cairo Royal, Egypt Raslan When I received the Sylvia Whitlock Leadership Award in March, I felt deeply honored. But more than celebrating a personal achievement, I saw it as a reminder of something much bigger: the responsibility to continue opening doors for women in Rotary. This award carries the…
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…