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Was there a project or event when you "became a Rotarian"?Alexa: My dad and I joined a group of Rotarians on a service trip to Guatemala. We helped build additional classrooms onto a school Rotary had already built. I spent hours braiding girls hair, playing soccer, bending rebar, hand-mixing cement, and making lifelong friends. Here was the first time I heard "Service above Self" and it stuck with me; about a year later I joined Rotary.
Diann K.: Squeezing two drops of polio vaccine into the mouths of babes in rural India initiated me in Rotary's signature project.
Diane C.: Yes – the day I was invited to be a charter member of the Rotary Club of Maple Grove! And also by an experience while I was district secretary for D5950. A Rotarian was frustrated by not having received a check for his club’s World Community Service project and told me, “While that requisition is sitting on your desk, children are dying!” He later apologized, stating that he hadn’t understood the approval process. But that remark reminded me that no matter how minor the task appears to be, everything we Rotarians do toward accomplishing a goal will indefinitely impact the quality of life for people we may never meet.
Why should women be in Rotary?
Diann K.: Why not? Rotary is an incredible opportunity for women -- and men -- to network with and serve alongside extraordinary people locally and internationally.
Sandy: In 1945, Paul Harris said, “Rotary is an integrating force in a world where forces of disintegration are all too prevalent.” In those days, RI's founder referenced drawing no lines of politics or religion. Today, we expand this to welcome and affirm our Rotary Family’s diversity of sexual orientation, gender identify, race, ethnicity, age, faith history, socioeconomic status, physical, and mental ability.
What keeps Rotary fresh for you?
Ashley: Rotary always has something new to offer whether it’s networking opportunities, travel, social events, or volunteer events. Every time I attend a district event or volunteer with my club and/or other clubs in Minnesota it is a new and positive experience.
Diane C.: Associating with other Rotarians at club and district meetings is a transfusion of energy and enthusiasm! Rotarians are today’s real-life super heroes who identify a need and work together to devise and execute a solution, seeing it through to a successful conclusion.
Diann K.: Meeting and serving with Rotarians of all types is what keeps Rotary exciting for me.
Alexa: Fellowship.Through fellowship I continue to make new friends and be exposed to new opportunities. Fellowship also helps me feel like I belong and reinforces that (in Rotary) we are part of something much bigger, changing the world for the better.
What is an effective way to mentor female Rotarians?
Diann K.: The key to mentoring female Rotarians is being there for them, sharing club values and expectations, acquainting them with other members, and getting them involved early on. It's really no different than mentoring our male counterparts.
Diane C.: Mentorship is the same for both genders:
- Be an attentive listener.
- Respond with respect.
- Invite the new member to serve on a committee and/or project
- Acknowledge and appreciate the new members’ contributions.
- Get to know your new club members and personally invite them (with their guest) to club and district events.
How will Rotary be even better when membership is 50:50?
Sandy: When my sons were ages 3 & 6, the younger claimed there were no differences between boys and girls; the older insisted there were many differences. Eventually the three-year-old admitted, “Well, sometimes there’s a difference; sometimes girls wear dresses!” As Rotarians, our goal is to not focus on differences but on the similarities that impact our world in a positive way. This is how new Rotarians should be mentored and engaged -- in activities that respect differences, not creating programs that differentiate based on sex or any societal category that creates differences.
Diann K: More women mean more Rotarians working side by side to achieve extraordinary things. Women are here -- and we're here to stay!