DEI is a difference maker

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Kumar leads discussion in front of a room full of other members
Mohan Kumar, right, leads discussion sessions in his club designed to let everyone share their ideas.

By Mohan Kumar, charter president, Rotary Club of Bangalore Prime, India

I was given the opportunity to establish a plan aimed at increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our club as the chair of our DEI taskforce.

We have found that when we approach millennials or women to join Rotary, they look at the level of diversity in our club. We are a four-year-old Rotary club with 34 members, seven who are women. For the current Rotary year, we also have women serving as president, secretary, and treasurer. We have just one member below the age of 40 and six members in the range of 40-49. Through this lens, we knew that we could do better and be more relevant in the communities we serve.

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Why I support The Rotary Foundation

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Thank you for giving

By Edward Hicks, a member of the Rotary Club of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

I first became acquainted with The Rotary Foundation and its Fellowship for Undergraduate Study Abroad in 1970, as a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma. My faculty adviser suggested I apply for the fellowship. Little did I imagine how much it would change my life. I used the fellowship to study Economics at the University of Melbourne in Australia during the 1971 academic term.

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Mumbai Rotary comes to aid of a stranded student

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Members of the Rotary Club of Deonar, Maharashtra, India, gather for a group photo in front of trees
Members of the Rotary Club of Deonar, Maharashtra, India, during a club social outing.

By Jaee Bhilare

I am a student at Amity University in Mumbai, India. I have routinely been taking the bus from Pune to Mumbai for the past two years. But a few weeks ago, I had the most unexpected journey.

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Iron lung’s third life builds awareness for End Polio Now

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An iron lung sits inside a mobile exhibit with other decorations around it
The Rotary Iron Lung Education Exhibit (RILEE) makes a stop at Rotary International World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, on World Polio Day, 24 October. Photo by Leann Arthur

By Suzanne Gibson, 2019-20 governor of Rotary District 6440 and a member of the Rotary Club of Barrington Breakfast, Barrington, Illinois

While planning a youth assembly in the fall of 2017, Rotary leaders in my district were looking for a fresh way to connect young people with the story of polio. Their generation is largely unfamiliar with this disease because it has not been endemic in our part of the world for decades. They have little memory, aside from photos in history books, of polio scares and children in iron lungs.

We wanted to explain how Rotary has been working to deliver on the vision of a polio-free world and why. We have reduced the number of cases of polio by 99.9 percent since 1988. But still, as long as polio exists anywhere, it remains a threat. There is no cure, only prevention, through vaccines.

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Rotary members as provocateurs: building legacies in turbulent times

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By Maiden R. Manzanal-Frank, 2015 Rotary Peace Fellow at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Portrait of Maiden Manzanal
Maiden Manzanal-Frank

The Rotary Peace Centers Program has truly transformed my life. After receiving a peace fellowship in 2015, my commitment to peace, human security, and development deepened further.

In my current role as a global impact advisor, I help organizations become more robust, sustainable, and effective in their missions. I draw upon two decades of work with social enterprises, rural women, cooperatives, home-based workers, farmers, artisans, health advocates, and local changemakers. Being based in Canada, I have made contact with all the Rotary clubs in Central Alberta, Edmonton, and Calgary (which I can reach within a few hours), regularly offering support and advice. I share my experiences as a Rotary Peace Fellow and promote the program every year.

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