Srinivasan ’Raj’ Rajagopal
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.
In Canada, Raj first worked for Acres International Limited (Niagara Falls) and while on assignment in Ghana, he met his wife who was from Toronto. Raj has extensive experience at senior levels in the World Bank, United Nations Specialized Agencies, and private sector on irrigated agriculture, hydropower development and integrated water resources management and on development aspects around the world. His experience includes working on sustainable large-scale water resources development and management projects in many countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cameroon, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.
Raj is a Director of the Sources Foundation in White Rock which operates a centre to meet the needs of the community and is a Director of New Bridge Academy; helping to build bridges between the incoming immigrant community and area residents.
Raj joined the Rotary of Club of White Rock in 2014 5 under the classification of International Water Resources Development and Management and was Club President in 2016-17. He has chaired and was a member of several club committees and currently, chairs the club’s International Services and Special Projects Fundraising Committee. He has served the District as the Chair of International Services Project Committee for the past 3 years.
Raj is a multiple Paul Harris fellow and chair of the Canada-Tunisia Inter Country Cultural Committee of the Rotary International. He is also a member of three Rotary Action Groups: Water and Sanitation, Environmental Sustainability, and Honouring Indigenous People as well as a member of the Whisky Dram Rotary Fellowship Group. Raj has attended four Rotary International Conventions.
Raj enjoys an occasional game of tennis. He also enjoys trekking and general hiking. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in the 1980s and trekked up to the Base Camp of Mount Everest eight years ago.
Raj expects to scale the peaks of Rotary as your District Governor. His focus areas would be Water and Sanitation, Basic Education and Literacy (especially financial literacy of students graduating from High School) and Community Economic Development. He strongly believes quality and impact of our projects are fundamental in attracting and retaining members, particularly younger members. Raj looks forward to substantive consultations with the clubs in his preparatory years in setting up the agenda for his year as District Governor.