The Service Above Self Award is Rotary’s highest individual honor. Each governor or director may nominate only one candidate, and a maximum of 150 recipients are selected worldwide. In 2025, just 132 Rotarians were chosen — 132 out of 1.2 million members globally. That makes Steve one of approximately one in every 9,000 Rotarians to receive this distinction.
A longtime member of Denver Southeast, Steve has served Rotary at the club, district, and international levels. He is widely recognized for his leadership advancing Rotary’s mission in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Known affectionately as “The Godfather of WASH,” Steve founded District 5450’s WASH Local Action Group, sponsoring 16 annual WASH Symposiums. He has also played key leadership roles with the WASH Rotarian Action Group, the Rotary WASH Ambassadors Program, and the Peaceful Schools Initiative.
Rotary International created the Service Above Self Award to recognize members who truly exemplify Rotary’s highest ideal. While many Rotarians distinguish themselves through service, this award honors those who make service not simply an activity — but a way of life. The last recipient from District 5450 was Jim Haldeman of the Rotary Club of Golden in 2020. Each year, Rotary’s 530 district governors and 17 RI directors may nominate one exceptional member whose service has made a meaningful impact on humanity.
Steve’s commitment to humanitarian leadership extends well beyond Rotary. Over the course of his career, he has served as executive director of Water For People, CARE, Habitat for Humanity International, the American Cancer Society, the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse, and numerous other nonprofit organizations and NGOs.
His service journey began in the Peace Corps, where he and his wife served in South Korea. Years later, through Peace Corps Response in the Republic of Georgia, Steve continued his international development work. He has been recognized as both a Kellogg Foundation Fellow and a Salzburg Seminar Fellow — honors reflecting his vision and leadership in the global humanitarian field.
For more than 14 years, Steve and his wife also served as foster parents, opening their home and their hearts to children in need.
Steve Werner’s life truly embodies Rotary’s motto, Service Above Self. His decades-long commitment to humanitarian causes — within Rotary and far beyond — exemplifies the very spirit this award was created to recognize.
He will be formally honored at the Rotary International Convention this year in Taipei, Taiwan.
And here at Denver Southeast, we are proud to celebrate our own — Steve Werner.
