Celebrating leaders in Rotary

TWO of Ballarat’s Rotary Clubs have united to highlight Victorian leaders within the international organisation.

The Rotary Clubs of Ballarat South and Wendouree Breakfast hosted a Celebration of Leadership in Rotary dinner last week to recognise and hear from Ballarat’s Dr Jessie Harman and Melbourne’s Ian Riseley.

A Wendouree Breakfast member, Dr Harman is a recent former Rotary International board member, and was the first Australian woman ever to hold that role.

Mr Riseley was Rotary International president from 2017 to 2018, is a former Rotary Foundation chair, and is from the Rotary Club of Sandringham.

“We put the dinner on to celebrate Jessie’s achievements,” Rotary Club of Wendouree Breakfast president Geoff James said.

“But it was also a rare opportunity to hear a past international president speak so openly about their experiences. It gives people something to aspire to.

“It was unfortunate that Ian had to be there via Zoom, and not in person, but it worked really well, and we had 80 people in attendance from a number of Ballarat clubs, Casterton, Maryborough, Mount Gambier, and Geelong clubs.”

Wendouree Breakfast member Rob McDougal also spoke of his plans to take 18 Rotarians to Ambon Island in Indonesia later this month to help the developing area, while Ballarat South member Pat Janes discussed the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program for young people aged 16 to 24.

“Leadership development is a core activity of Rotary,” Mr James said. “Our club is proud of its record of developing leaders at both the local and international level.”