2. 2
Rotary International is an international service organization with 1.2 million members,
whose aim is to bring together business leaders and professionals to provide
humanitarian services and to advance goodwill and peace around the world.
3. 3
Rotary’s Vision Statement
TOGETHER we see a world
where PEOPLE unite and take action
to CREATE lasting
CHANGE across the globe
in our communities and in ourselves.
4. 4
Our Topics Today
I will be sharing the following:
• The global events the Rotary organization went through in its 116 year journey
• Accomplishments of the Rotary organization
• How Rotary opens opportunities
5. What were the
global events the
Rotary organization
went through in its
116 year journey?
5
6. 6
How Did Rotary Get to Where it is Today?
February 23rd,
1905
June 14th,
1917
January 1st,
1921
March 10th,
1932
March 29th,
1945
January 8th,
1989
First Rotary Club was
formed
Rotary votes to
admit women
into clubs
worldwide
49 Rotarians
served in the
United Nations
Charter
Conference
The Four-Way
test was created
by RI Director
Herbert Taylor.
Rotary Clubs
grow into Rotary
International
The Rotary
Foundation was
proposed
Where we are (numbers represent Rotary club members)
387,663 Asia
337,842 USA, Canada, & the Caribbean
295,099 Europe, Africa, & the Middle East
90,422 Central & South America
43,219 Great Britain & Ireland
34,634 Australia, New Zealand, & Pacific Islands
7. 7
Paul
Harris
Sylvester
Schiele
Gus
Loehr
Hiram
Shorey
Paul Harris
Rotary’s Founder
April 19, 1868 - January 27, 1947
Rotary International
Rotary started as the
vision of one man in
Chicago — Paul Harris.
His goal was to create a space for professionals
with diverse backgrounds to exchange ideas and
form meaningful, lifelong friendships.
With his three clients he formed the Rotary
Club of Chicago on 23 February 1905.
8. 8
World War 1 (1914-1918)
Around 20 million deaths in total
World War 2 (1939-1945)
Around 70 – 80 million deaths in total
Rotary Survived Global Events
11. Rotary’s Milestone Achievement:
End Polio Now
11
1979
- Rotary International begins its fight against polio with a multi-year
project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines.
1985
- Rotary International launches PolioPlus with an initial fundraising
target of US$120 million
1988
- Rotary International and World Health Organization (WHO) launched
the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)
1994 - Polio has been eliminated from the Americas
2000
- Polio has been eliminated from the Western Pacific Region, spanning
from Australia to China
2009 - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledges $355 million
2011 - Rotary launches “This Close” program
2020 - World Health Organization certifies the African region wild polio-free
12. 12
PolioPlus & GPEI
In 1988 Rotary became a founding member of the GLOBAL POLIO ERADICATION INITIATIVE (GPEI).
Currently, the members of the GPEI are:
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Rotary International
• US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC)
• United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF)
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
13. 13
• Since 2013, the Gates Foundation has been matching
donations raised through Rotary
($2 from the Gates Foundation for every $1 from
Rotary).
• This partnership has raised up to $150 million
annually for polio eradication.
• By 2019, Rotary and Gates Foundation have raised
roughly $5.6 billion combined.
Partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
14. 14
Rotarians have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless hours of time
to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this crippling disease.
15. 15
Rotary Scholarship Program
• Established in 1947 as Ambassadorial Scholarship
• Types of Scholarships include:
Global Grant Scholarship
Rotary Peace Fellowship
Group Study Exchange
• Every year Rotary gives out $7.5 million for scholarships
• 350,000 scholarships have been awarded by Rotary since 1947
16. 16
Notable Alumni of Ambassadorial Scholarship
SADAKO OGATA
• She received an Ambassadorial Scholarship in 1951 and
attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
• The first female U.N Refugee Chief from 1991 until 2004
• Received the Seoul Peace Prize in 2000 for her work in more
than 40 refugee camps worldwide.
PAUL VOLCKER
• He received an Ambassadorial Scholarship in 1951 and
studied at the London School of Economics.
• He was chairman of the U.S. Board of Governors of
the Federal Reserve System from 1979 to 1987.
17. 17
Notable Alumni of Ambassadorial Scholarship
ROGER EBERT
• He was awarded an Ambassadorial Scholarship in 1964 to
study English literature at the University of Cape
Town, South Africa.
• Is the only motion picture critic in the United States to be
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Film Criticism.
HELMUT JAHN
• Ambassadorial Scholarship from Germany to the Illinois
Institute of Technology in Chicago.
• Listed as one of the 10 most influential American architects.
18. 18
Rotary Participated in Setting up The United Nations
and is Now Represented
• Rotary International was one of 42 organizations the United States invited to serve as
consultants to its delegation at the UN San Francisco conference in 1945.
• Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status offered to a non-governmental
organization by the UN’s Economic and Social Council.
19. 19
• In 1917, Rotary's 6th president, Arch Klumph proposed
the creation of an "ENDOWMENT FUND FOR ROTARY” at
the RI Convention in Atlanta, Georgia.
• The Rotary Foundation started with only $26.50 in 1917
and has now raised more than $5.4 billion.
Arch C. Klumph
6th President of Rotary International
Rotary Club of Cleveland
20. 20
The Rotary Foundation earned a top rating
of 4 STARS from Charity Navigator.
Charity Navigator is the largest and most
prestigious independent evaluator of
nonprofit organizations in the United States.
This top distinction is the eighth in a row
received by The Rotary Foundation placing
it in the top 3% of all US-based charities.
21. 21
Rotary’s Areas of Focus for Service
• Promoting peace
Rotary encourages conversations to foster understanding within and across cultures
• Fighting disease
Educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases like
polio, HIV/AIDS, and malaria
• Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
Support local solutions to bring clean water, sanitation, and hygiene to more people
• Growing local economies
Enhance economic and community development and create opportunities for
sustainable work
• Supporting education
Basic education and literacy
• Saving mothers and children
Expand access to quality care, so mothers and their children can live longer
22. 22
How Rotary Opens Opportunities
Holger Knaack
President of Rotary International (2020 – 2021)
Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany
23. 23
How does Rotary open opportunities?
Rotary allows you to:
• To serve and give hope to the hopeless
• To develop leadership skills
• To strengthen your network
• To enrich personal development
• To create a richer and more meaningful life
• To create lasting change
24. 24
Rotary International President Holger Knaack
believes that Rotary isn’t just a club for people to
join, but an invitation for endless opportunities.
He says that Rotary creates pathways for members to
improve their lives and the lives of those they help
through service projects.
Holger Knaack
President of Rotary International (2020 – 2021)
Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln, Germany
25. Opportunities for Service That
Changes Lives
• Rotary provides opportunities for service
projects that are meaningful and sustainable.
• In Rotary, we don’t just donate the money,
we also perform the service and see the
lasting impact of that service firsthand.
• That is what makes Rotary unique.
25
29. • Rotary also provides opportunities for
leadership and to strengthen your network.
• Creating pathways to leadership for others is
a true Rotary ideal.
• Rotary is not just a service organization, it is a
29
Opportunities for Development
30. Rotary Encourages Diversity,
Equity, & Inclusion
• Rotary values diversity and celebrates the contributions
of people of all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender,
or culture.
• President Knaack is encouraging more women, youths,
and underrepresented groups to join Rotary clubs and fill
leadership positions.
• He believes that Rotary needs more perspectives and
more diversity in order to grow stronger and thrive.
30
31. 31
Opportunities for Change
• As Rotarians, we believe in the opportunities
Rotary provides, in opportunities for others and
ourselves.
• We believe that our acts of service, big and small,
create opportunities for people who need our
help. Every act of service we do inspires and
changes us for the better.
32. Rotary’s Role in Fighting COVID19
• President Holger Knaack encouraged the Rotary network worldwide to use its experiences from
PolioPlus to support the fight against COVID19.
• “We have a global network of more than 1.2 million members worldwide…we have learned many
lessons on what it takes to address a public health threat and these same lessons now should be
applied to the COVID19 response.”
32
33. Rotary’s Role in Fighting COVID19
33
• Instead of just donating to COVID19 relief efforts, Rotary is taking an active approach.
• Here’s some of the things we’re doing:
Vaccination education and community outreach
Collaborating with local health authorities
Combat vaccine resistance and misinformation
34. 34
• Rotary survived many major global events since its inception 116 years ago in 1905.
• These global events threatened every organization in the world, including Rotary, and
many people perished.
• But despite that, Rotary thrived and even succeeded in eradicating Polio.
• Rotary can use our experiences in fighting Polio to help the fight against COVID19.
• Our strength is in our grassroots members in local clubs in almost 200 countries.
• TOGETHER WE CAN CREATE LASTING CHANGE.
Rotary International is an international service organization with 1.2 million members, whose aim is to bring together business leaders and professionals to provide humanitarian services and to advance goodwill and peace around the world.
In order to open opportunities for everyone, Rotary encourages Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.
An example of this is how Rotary is fighting COVID19.