District Governor Iosif Ciosa of Rotary District 7070 spoke to the Rotary Club of Belleville on September 15th and shared information on the 2022-2023 year ahead. The District 7070 Leadership Team Board Officers include Iosif Ciosa from the Rotary Club of Etobicoke, Larry Whatmore Treasurer, East York Rotary Club, Linda Raney Secretary, Whitby Sunrise, John Burns District Governor Elect John Burns, Rotary Club of Bowmanville (2023/2024), Virginia O'Rilley, Toronto East Rotary Club (2024-2025) and Ron Dick IPDG and Vice Chair from the Oshawa Rotary Club. The District Board Committees include Jim Sandiford, Finance and Audit, Terry Caputo, Governance, Lynda Ryder, Protection and a new role of Strategic Direction filled by Prince Kumar of the Toronto Club. Another new role is in the area of Disaster Response with Michael Parker taking the lead from the Rotary Club of Cobourg.
The DG spoke about the new RI President Jennifer E. Jones and the fact that she has made history as the first woman to hold the office in Rotary's 115 year history and she is Canadian! Jennifer urges Rotarians to imagine the possibilities in the change we can made to transform the world. "Dream big and harness the connections and the power of Rotary to turn those dreams into reality". She underscores the importance of member engagement and goes on to say that engaging members is crucial to retaining members, adding that we need to ask members what they want to get from Rotary and giving them meaningful responsibilities. Hands-on service, personal growth, leadership development and lifelong friendships is what creates purpose and passion.
Iosif explained the meaning behind the new logo Imagine Rotary. White represents peace, purple for polio, green for environment. The circle connects us and the seven purple dots represent the seven areas of focus. The green "stick" stands for hard working members who get things done.
Rotary membership is growing, now at 1.4 million members globally. RI President Jones has asked us to create two new cause based clubs such as Rotaract Clubs or clubs with a specific focus on learning (teachers), or a family club including grandparents. The Tibetan Canadian Cultural Center is looking to establish the First Canadian Tibetan Rotary Club. Jennifer encourages us to be creative. Strategic plan highlights:
- Collective District 7070 clubs dollar impact in the community of $2.5 million dollars
- Create two cause based clubs in our District
- Increase the number of clubs collaborating on projects
- Crease a district club dashboard where clubs can highlight their projects
- Set a Rotary Foundation goal of $1.17 million dollars Canadian
- The district will work with clubs to crease a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
- Initiate a "join us" button
Lastly, District Governor Ciosa promoted the 2022/2023 District 7070 Conference "We Have A Dream", a chance to rediscover and dream, taking place in Alliston at the Nottawasaga Resort on October 14th - 16th. Visit the website www.rotary7070districtconference.ca
Thank you to all Rotarians for making a difference!