DG Raj Visits Our Club
District Governor Raj Rajagopal
Our Program on January 19
Raj was born in the south of India. He has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree and Masters in Hydraulic Engineering (India) and a Masters in Mechanics and Hydraulics (USA). He came to Canada in 1973 and now lives in White Rock where he has retired but still provides worldwide assistance in subjects of his expertise.
He was introduced by Assistant Governor Duane. To see a more detailed bio on DG Raj, click HERE.
Accompanying DG Raj was Jack Rae. Jack is the District's Foundation Director and also the chair of the 2023 District Conference. It will be held on May 5 6 & 7 in Surrey, BC, at the Sheraton Guildford. The theme of the conference is Imagine A Peaceful And Inclusive World. The conference will focus on 3 areas: Peace, Environment, and on DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion).
Rotary is looking to expand membership by chartering new clubs in one of the 7 focus areas. The first such club in District 5050 is the newly chartered Nature Celebrators, with a focus on the environment. The new club had a challenge finding a name acceptable to R.I. The concern is encroaching on a trademarked name. To see more about the new club, click HERE.
World peace has long been one of the focuses of Rotary. It was one of the world organizations involved in formation of the United Nations in 1945. If you visit the United Nations building in New York, you can see the recognition given to our organization for its involvement in the initial conference held in San Francisco. Rotary has Peace Centers located in various universities around the world. It selects up to 130 peace scholars each year to study at one of the Centers. Foundation Director Jack invited us to identify and encourage applying for a peace fellowship. For more, click HERE.
In talking about DEI, DG Raj pointed out that each club should look to diversity. In particular he talked about making your club's venue more accessible to wheel chairs and those with other challenges such as the hearing and visually impaired. Of course, a club should reflect the demographics of its community when it comes to race and ethnicity.
There will be presenters at the conference to highlight all of these areas of focus. A link to register for the conference is now on the District 5050 website and under events on this website.
While visiting our club, DG Raj also assisted in giving out special presidential recognitions to our members Jim Kelly and Duane Rhodes for stepping up whenever and whatever is needed by our club. Our club Foundation Director also gave out some Paul Harris recognitions with help from DG Raj.