Posted by Stephen Inouye on May 29, 2018
ROTARY OF PERTH PRESIDENT UPDATE - 29TH MAY 2018
We’re in the final stretch of the FY! But which President is counting?! Last week we were privileged to have Darren Lomman, Founder of Greenbatch, present his concept of reducing environmental waste (plastics) to make the world more sustainable. But I hope you caught one of the underlying messages that he presented as well: an opportunity to engage the next generation of community minded leaders! Through Darren’s engagement with primary schools, this environmentally focussed project presents an excellent opportunity for Rotary to jointly engage (via Greenbatch) with this sector of the population. Imaging if we were to establish Interact Clubs in these schools with the proceeds from plastic recycling serving as funds for the students to run their projects! This model of engagement could prove beneficial to the future of Rotary and is worth exploring!
 
Over the next three weeks, our lunch speakers are all similarly minded to Darren - and somewhat linked. This batch of speakers are not only dynamic leaders in their own right, but they also represent the next generation of social entrepreneurs who are working selflessly to make a difference and positive impact in our community. The list includes:
 
Karin Borzel. 1 Jun 18. National Coordinator of Path of Hope. Path of Hope’s vision of breaking the intergenerational cycle of family and domestic violence starts at home and in the home. This partnership phenomenon between Rotary and the Salvos is going global. Considering there is a local Rotary and Salvos in just about every community in the world, this grass roots model of collaboration is taking hold.
 
Katie Liew. 8 June 18. Founder of The Undergorund Collaborative. TUC is a social enterprise which exists to provide employment and housing solutions for homeless, at-risk and disadvantaged youth and seeks to empower the community to help break the cycles of homelessness. Through training and selling of coffee via mobile coffee carts, this projects seeks to empower!
 
Amanda Stephenson 22 June 18. Founder of Bluebird. Bluebird's vision is to be Australia’s leading provider of psychologist led, peer supported services championing adult mental health and wellbeing. Bluebird seeks to fill a gap in current service provisions for adult mental health, particularly in the 25+ year old community. Through collaboration with other young adults, Bluebird aims to make a difference in the lives of our next generation.
 
What ties all these dynamic young leaders together is that they represent the future community leaders of tomorrow. Recognising this, our club (via the Board) has elected to support 2 of these projects as candidates for District Grants. In cooperation with other Rotary Clubs, we seek to support the work and these initiatives which have great potential to make a positive difference on the lives of the people they touch.
 
To further support these initiatives, we have invited all four of these young leaders to accompany our vocational trip to Canberra. Through the generosity of two of our club members, our club is sponsoring their airfares and accommodation. This is what Rotary does: Empower service through the linking of skills and networks to create positive outcomes for the community. Dean Smith, our club member and Senator for WA, was pleased to hear of the response to his invitation and looks forward to facilitating engagement between those attending the trip and our WA legislators in Canberra.
 
I trust you will join us for this next series of lunches where you will get some direct insight into the directions of next years’ projects…straight from the people running them.
 
Join Leaders. Exchange Ideas. Take Action!
Yours in Rotary, Stephen Inouye - President - Rotary of Perth 2017/2018