Connections February 6, 2023 (Feb 05, 2023)

Rotary Peace Fellow - Typanga Evans

Typanga (they/them/she/her) is a Dane-zaa, Michif, and French queer rugby playing harm reduction enthusiast who has been accepted for the 2023-2024 Rotary Peace Fellowship to obtain a Master of Peace and Conflict Studies from Queensland University. She was born on her ancestral lands on Treaty 8 in what is now called Grande Prairie, AB and for the past three years she has worked at Northreach Society. Northreach is a harm reduction and AIDS servicing agency serving all Northern Alberta in the role as 2SLGBTQ+ Support Worker and Community Educator. She has worked at other non-profits before Northreach Society and volunteers her time coaching rugby and joining community events and initiatives. Other than playing rugby, Typanga enjoys spending time with her family, as she is raising her two younger sisters, and reading anything and everything.

Typanga applied for the Rotary Peace Fellowship at the direction of a mentor, Brenda Yamkowy, who is a Rotarian and was an interim Executive Director at an agency she was working at. As a former Interactor, Typanga is familiar with Rotary and the work that the organization does and when she explored the Peace Fellowship she found that the goals of the program and her personal goals matched perfectly. Typanga believes in a reality that is based on sustainability, equity, and connection. At the core, she believes in a world built on the foundation of community where we live in reciprocity with the land and with one another, and she wants to be a strong proponent for actualising, what might seem like, a utopian landscape. She is working towards taking on roles as an Executive Director for initiatives that are centred around the land and non-violence and later as a Deputy Minister for ministries such as the Status for Women or Indigenous Services of Canada/Indigenous Affairs. The Master of Peace and Conflict Studies at Queensland University is a beautiful stepping stone in that direction which will increase her capacity and abilities to institute change and continue to create spaces and places of sustainability, equity, and connection.

Typanga will focus on policy, intersectional modalities of peacebuilding, and instituting change. The courses she is most interested are: Indigenous Politics within and Beyond the State (POLS7190); Peacebuilding (POLS7505); Dynamics of Public Policy (POLS7111); Mediation (CRMD7000); Politics of Environmental Change (POLS7115); and Writing Politics (POLS7000).

Typanga would like to thank the many people who helped her: Nicole Simoneau, Molly Evans, Brenda Yamkowy, Ingrid Neitsch, Menasha Nikhanj, Dr. Annalee Lepp, Lindsay Loset, Dr. Roland Bleiker, Diana McCluskey, and all her friends and family who have supported her in applying for the fellowship.

All the best,

Typanga Evans

Contact Ingrid Neitsch for more details

Link to register

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApfu-oqzkoH9D_-gOfdaN2cb9AKRuqteNl

Two New Acronyms for Rotary District 5370!

PELA – For years, and perhaps even decades, Rotary International has used the acronym PETS, meaning President-elect Training Sessions. None of us like the word “training”, and so we have renamed our preparation for presidents-elect to PELA – President-elect Learning Assemblies.

As District leaders and subject matter specialists, we don't “train” anybody; we assist and facilitate Presidents-elect in their learning journey to prepare to take on this important and appreciated role.

Utilizing the modules in the Rotary Learning Center (NOT Training Center), Presidents-elect can set their own pace in learning, and through dialogue with fellow PE’s, build both their competence and confidence in taking on the presidency of their club.

AGLA – In keeping with this mindset, over the next four months we will be providing Area Governor Learning Assemblies (AGLA).

In a poll conducted last year of all Area Governors in Zone 28, fully 40% answered that they did not feel properly oriented or prepared to take on this important and valued role. We intend to remedy this shortfall by holding three sessions over the next four months.

Through a structured curriculum that provides adequate information and resources, these sessions will better prepare Area Governors to build both their competence and confidence in this role. Stay tuned for more information.

Contact District Office

Rotary and Rotaract President elect Training Sessions

As I indicated, this is the second of two emails relative to the preparation of Presidents-elect taking office July 1st. Club Presidents, if the District does not yet have your President-elect’s email address, please pass on this correspondence to them and be sure to have them registered in ClubRunner. Attending these sessions will best prepare your President-elect to have a successful Rotary year, and we highly encourage them to attend. If your club does not yet have a President elect, please have a representative from your club register to attend.

One of the things I will be asking Presidents-elect to do is follow the curriculum in the Rotary Learning Center. The entire curriculum takes less than one hour per month for a total of 4.5 hours over six months, so it is not overly difficult. At each of our online training sessions – 90 minutes each – we will review certain modules of the program for discussion to ensure PEs are comfortable with this knowledge and address any questions or issues that may arise.

To access this learning course, log on to MyRotary, click Learning and Reference, click Learning Center, click View under Club Leadership, then click Club President Basics. We will walk through this process at the first session. Here is the curriculum we will be following over the next six months:

January 31, 2023

Introduction of Learning Center Club President Basics
Ensuring new Executive is registered in ClubRunner
Introduction of new Rotary Policy Manual and Rotary Leadership Handbook (Governance). Please look at these two Draft documents attached.
Review of key Policy changes: Risk Management & Mitigation – led by DGN Brian Edwards
Other issues PE’s wish to raise
Click Here to Register

February 28, 2023

Review of Learning Center Module on Working with your Club Leadership Team and Rotary's Action Plan and You
Strategic Planning – setting goals for the upcoming Rotary year (“The Realm of Possibility”). Review of Presidential Citation goal
Other issues PE’s wish to raise
Click Here to Register

March 28, 2023

Entering goals into Rotary Club Central – a walkthrough
Recording volunteer hours as part of RI goals
Review of Learning Center Module on Getting Ready to be Club President
Review of Rotary Policy on Naming Restrictions
Other issues PE’s wish to raise
Click Here to Register

April 20, 2023 – in person at District Conference Jasper

Review of Learning Center Modules on Best Practices for Engaging Members, Online Membership Leads, Rotary Foundation Basics.
Risk Management and Insurance. (Protecting Youth Program Participants) – led by Jody Swanson
ClubRunner Training
Other issues PE’s wish to raise
Click Here to Register

May 16, 2023

Review of Learning Center Module on Managing Club Business
Public Image
Other issues PE’s wish to raise
Click Here to Register

June 20, 2023

Review of Learning Center Module on Rotary Club Central Resources
Open Forum to discuss anything you want to address, get clarity on, etc.
Click Here to Register

If you have any questions relative to this training program, please let me know. I highly encourage you to review the modules in the Rotary Learning Center prior to our online sessions so that we can discuss questions or issues that arise from those modules. All sessions will be from 7:00 – 8:30 PM Mountain time.

Thank you for your attention in following through with this training program, and I look forward to working with you in the next Rotary year.

Brent Collingwood

District Governor-elect 2022-23

District 5370

Rotary International

Contact District Office

Rotary Employment Partnership Project

The Rotary Employment Partnership Program and Inclusion Alberta are excited to share this new resource on inclusive employment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVltgfBUCTM

Are you interested in learning more? Please reach out to Andre Charrois, Rotary Employment Partnership Chair, to learn more.

Contact Andre Charrois

Rotary Adventure in Human Rights

The Rotary Adventures in Human Rights Program is a collaborative effort with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. We are looking forward to hosting young leaders IN PERSON should it be safe to do so from August 13 to 19, 2023 (including travel days): arrival Sunday, August 13 and departure Saturday, August 19.

Cost is $1 500 PLUS travel to and from Winnipeg

This includes accommodations, meals, programming, ground transportation

Are you a student entering grade 11 or 12 in September?

Costs will be covered by Rotary clubs so apply today! Only 24 spots available!

Application deadline is June 30, 2023

Program details and registration link below
https://rahr5550.ca

Contact Program Director Tamara Larson

Rotary eClub Canada One celebrates 10 years!

Would you like to walk down memory lane with us?

Join our 10th Anniversary celebration on Saturday February 25th at 10AM MT. Celebrations planned.

Our sign-up information is on the website: www.rotaryeclubcanada.ca

ZOOM lnvitation Link

February Food Bank Donation Challenge

We invite Rotary members to participate in a year-long Food Bank Donation Challenge. Each month, we'll post a suggested list of 5 items. These may include non-food, necessity items. Feel free to play along and purchase those items, or items of your choice, and deliver them to your local Food Bank. Or, you may want to check with your local food bank first to see what they are low on at the moment. Alternatively, you may prefer to provide them with a monetary donation or monthly pledge.

Invite your friends, family, colleagues, and social media connections to participate. We ask everyone to keep track of their donations and, at the end of each month, submit them to Kitt at kittbrand@gmail.com, so we can track the impact of our contributions. Let's see what the power of Rotary can do for our food banks!

Contact Kitt

District Conference 2023

We are very excited to host the 2023 District Conference in Jasper at the beautiful Jasper Park Lodge (JPL). When considering where to host the District Conference, the committee looked at our vast geographic region and saw Jasper as a place that was central.

As tourism is the major source of revenue for Jasper and the surrounding communities, this region was hit very hard by the pandemic. Hosting the conference in Jasper is supporting the community and local businesses.

We were able to negotiate affordable room rates and meal costs to ensure that the conference is accessible to Rotary members, family and friends.

In order to ensure a successful, engaging, and educational conference, it is also important to look for sponsors willing to invest in Rotary and all that we do.

Do you know a local business, organization, or individual willing to sponsor this dynamic Rotary conference?

We have a sponsorship package available that can be customized to provide a collaboration that will support our Rotary conference and offer a strong return on a sponsor’s investment.

Please find the sponsorship package below for you to share. Or, if you have a contact and would like to introduce them to the conference committee, please reach out to District Conference Chair Tamara Larson at Larson.tamarac@gmail.com

We look forward to hosting Rotary members and their families, Interact, youth exchange and Rotaract for a weekend that has something for everyone.

District Sponsorship Opportunities

https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50012/documents/en-ca/855f33af-5d2a-4a55-a752-11dc334c005a/1

RESPECT District Conference 2023

Integrity Awards 2023!

The Rotary Club of Edmonton West is coordinating the Integrity Awards this year. These awards celebrate local heroes in the Edmonton area.

We are still finalizing the date (likely May 17) and location, but we wanted to ask you to start thinking about who your club would like to honour. Integrity Award winners are non-Rotarians who demonstrate integrity and service to the community. They may reflect one or more of the following:

a lifestyle that is consistent with the Four-Way test

a life showing purpose and expressing principles widely accepted in the community

taking a stand without concern for personal loss or reputation, regardless of circumstances

demonstrating integrity without the need for recognition within the community

making a personal contribution to the region that warrants special recognition

The nomination form and other information will be available early in February, meanwhile please start thinking about your nominee.

Please contact Vicky Grabb (780 458 7456 vgrabb@shaw.ca ) if you have any question.

Contact Vicky Grabb

Link for details and registration https://curling.rotarytickets.ca/

RYLE 2023

Hello! My name is Kira Eberts and I am the RYLE (Rotary Youth Leadership Experience) Chair for the 2023 camp and I am pleased to announce that camper applications are now open! This email includes important information about registration, sponsorship and a UPDATED FAQ for your convenience. FAQ & Sponsorship Info: Sponsorship Tips and FAQ.docx

RYLE is an opportunity for students to gain and strengthen leadership skills as well as network with like-minded students while also having fun! This year we will be returning to Camp Nakamun for an in-person 4 day RYLE camp May 4th - May 7th!

Rotary Clubs are invited to sponsor high school students; including members of Interact Clubs, to attend the camp. Applicants do not need to be involved with Rotary or Interact, as long as they are interested and willing to participate in the RYLE camp experience. We encourage every student to apply for this opportunity as we promote diversity and inclusion.

Please let us know how many students your club will be sponsoring for each program by April 13th 2022 so that we can ensure all sponsorships are filled. Clubs are responsible for contacting their Interact Clubs. The sponsorship fee per student is $475. Please email us to let us know how many spots to save for your club. Application links are attached below:

RYLE: https://forms.gle/KjZCBsvxpaDmko428

If you have any questions regarding RYLE, please contact us at ryle5370@gmail.com.

Please share this amazing opportunity with students who you believe may benefit from the experience. On behalf of the RYLE Committees, thank you for your continued support of our Camp, and we look forward to having your students join us!

Yours in Rotary,

Kira Eberts, RYLE 2023 Chair

Please check out our Brochure: RYLE 2023 Brochure.pdf

Contact Kira Eberts

Protecting Youth Program Participants

Updated Course: Protecting Youth Program Participants

Check out the updated video message from Jennifer Jones, RI President 2022-23 about the importance of protecting youth.

Video Message from RI President Jennifer Jones

Membership Recognition January 2023

Members of the Rotary community help make Clubs stronger, communities better, and peace possible. Engage with them and recognize what they do to encourage them to continue the good work and as an example to others. Examples of engagement and recognition tactics from Clubs in our District follow:

We announce anniversaries of our Club members at our weekly meetings, so they are recognized for their years of service. We also do yearend pin presentations for perfect attendance. We do not do member awards but are talking about what we can do to celebrate significant years of service milestones. We also recognize our members for any significant events outside our Club as well, such as awards they win, contributions in the community, etc. when we have information to do so.

We recognize our members both at our virtual meetings, our website, our social media and in our “Glenorian” Club e-news. We recognize contributions to our Club and Club efforts as well as other contributions and differences they are making overall. We do not do awards – but try to make it a regular component of our meetings and engagement together.

Our Club does not have any formal process or guidelines to recognize members for their contributions. This is generally done ad-hoc although there has been discussion of different options to incorporate. We wound be open and interested in other Clubs’ practices.

We have just started recognizing our members once a month with a gift card to Starbucks. So, coffee on us as a way to say thank you for being a contributing Rotarian.

We're always recognizing our Rotarian members. We do such things as happy bucks thanking those who came out to help with an event, calling people out especially for serving on a committee, and doing recognition awards at the end of our Rotary year.

Some of the practices we have for member recognition include:

recognition pins at beginning of year for all members with new year theme pins, Women in Rotary pins for new women members, President/Past President/ President Elect and Paul Harris pins for those that need to be awarded.
Paul Harris award for Club President each year in recognition of contributions through the year.
awards at the yearend change-over meeting, both formal and informal to recognize Club and individual achievement of Club goals, including some fun!
thank you cards to all members at Christmas and at the end of the Rotary Year.
regular recognition and thanks for Rotary contribution and participation during the week.
a fun and fellowship event each year that includes recognition of individual and Club achievements.

We have the Whyte Knight Award. This is an award for members who show exceptional service to the Club and community and is chosen by members. The recipient of the award works with a small committee to choose the next recipient. Usually, 3 or 4 times a year.

We also award Paul Harris fellows for exceptional service.

Recognition of members is a way to retain them

Contact Membership Chair Mark DIxon