PACE Universal, Educating Girls and Women in the Poorest Parts of the World

The Rotary Club of Grover Beach-Five Cities welcomes its Rotary District 5240 Past District Governor (PDG) Deepa Willingham who is PACE Universal's Founder/CEO. She is an active Rotarian and served as the District Governor in 2010- 2011. She is the Past President of the Rotary Club of Santa Ynez Valley, being named the Rotarian-of-the-Year during her year as President and has been the winner of many humanitarian awards including the winner of Santa Barbara’s ‘Gutsy Gals You Inspire Me Award’ in 2013; one of the “Women of Action” Honoree at the White House in 2014; Time Now – Global Amazing Indian awardee from the Times of India in 2015; one of three Inspiring Women of Action at World Bank’s celebration of International Women’s Day in Washington DC, 2016; and the recipient of the 2018 United Nations Association (UNA) Peace Prize.

Over the past twenty-three years, a great deal of Deepa’ s time and personal resources have been dedicated to the founding and developing of the PACE Learning Centre (PLC) outside of Kolkata, India to counter-act child trafficking, through education of the girl child and empowerment of women. Her dedicated work at PLC, which she developed through an US non-profit organization (PACE Universal – www.paceuniversal.org) she founded, is resulting in the creation of a sustainable village rehabilitation model supported by PACE and a $330,000 Health, Hunger and Humanity Grant from The Rotary Foundation. With this grant money and with the help of local Rotarians, who have become her partners, she is completely rehabilitating the village of Piyali Junction by bringing literacy (to children and adults), health and dental care, clean water, sanitation, vocational training, banking/micro- lending to help the change the face of trafficking and poverty in that corner of the world. PLC is now poised to serve a model for duplication. She will share more with our club about PACE Universal's work.

Learn more about PACE Universal here: https://www.paceuniversal.org/

*Disclaimer: This is an informational educational presentation and does not constitute any perceived or real endorsement of any company or organization by this club.