One year ago, your Rotary International Board of Directors adopted a new vision statement, reflecting our aspirations for our organization and its future. It reads, “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

 

That simple sentence distills so much of what is essential about Rotary. We unite, because we know that we are far stronger together than we could ever be alone. We take action, because we are not dreamers, but doers. We work to create lasting change that will endure long after our involvement has ended – across the globe and in our communities. And perhaps most important of all, we work to create change in ourselves – not just building a better world around us, but becoming better people ourselves.

 

As any great institution with a long and glorious trajectory, I believe that our organization is at an inflection point, at a crossroads.

We are living in a time when technology and the means of communication are radically, and at an unprecedented rate, changing the ways humans interact.

We are living in a time when there are myriad competing options for people to network professionally and to give back to their communities.

We are living in a time when, in many countries, young professionals barely have time for their work and families, let alone time to engage in outside activities such as Rotary.