It’s such an exciting time to be a Rotarian, especially in Victoria and especially in our great club.
From celebrating our centenary over the last two years where we’ve reflected on our enviable legacy to looking to the future next Rotary year when the International Convention comes to town.
After 44 years, Rotary Melbourne will once again be home to the District Governor and it is happening at a truly exciting time for our club, District and region.
My main focus, like every Governor, is to grow Rotary. I believe we have an unparalleled opportunity to increase our membership through service. Service being our core business with membership underpinning our impact and fundraising capabilities.
I’m thrilled to receive such broad support throughout the Rotary world to deliver over 12 months a contemporary and future-focussed vision for Rotary. As well as building on the fantastic work of my predecessors, I look forward to supporting clubs in engaging younger members through hands-on volunteering opportunities (like Secondbite), creating new cause-based satellite clubs and cause-focused community events to raise money and Rotary’s profile. Crucially these initiatives can be achieved at scale. I’m so pleased to hear about all the various ways Rotary Melbourne is continuing to create cause-based hands-one volunteering opportunities for prospective and current members.
In my role as Governor-elect, the first cab off the rank in terms of deliverables has been an initiative called Greenhouse - a place to nurture ideas and initiatives to grow Rotary. With Greenhouse, we’ve set up a dedicated website and facebook group to support our 2022-23 club leaders. The focus on content, coaching and collaboration has already attracted the attention of regional leaders throughout our zone and Greenhouse is being regarded as an innovation in how we engage and support Presidents-elect. There is more, lots more, innovation waiting in the wings and I look forward to sharing this with you at the appropriate time.
I also wish to congratulate Bev Brock on her nomination as President-elect. We’re fortunate to witness the alignment of four planets in 2022-2023:
Jennifer Jones, Rotary International President
Jessie Harman, Rotary International Director Zone 8
Amanda Wendt, Governor District 9800
Bev Brock, President Rotary Melbourne
The excitement is building for the 2022-2023 Rotary year. If you’d like to step outside the club and get involved at a District level in 2022-2023, please get in touch. Key support team appointments are being made throughout October and November.
Finally, the members of Rotary Melbourne, past and present, continue to inspire me. Our members are always challenging ‘what’s possible’ and it was fantastic to see this acknowledged by Rotary International President-elect Jennifer Jones at the recent Global Citizen live 24 hour event in Paris when she gave a shout-out to our achievements via Give Every Child a Future (see separate article in the Bulletin). I look forward to sharing this journey with you all and can’t wait to see the impact we collectively make in 2022-2023, whilst also having a LOTS of fun!
Amanda Wendt, Governor District 9800 Elect 2022-23
