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Rotary Int'l - Jessie Harman

At our 8th April 2026 meeting, the guest speaker was our very own Jessie Harman; updating us comprehensively on new developments at Rotary International (RI) and her observations of what’s been happening.

RI has approved its latest Peace Centre, in Prune, India in partnership with a university. RI is continuing its work to totally eradicate polio. Jessie explained that women play a key role in the strategy, as they are the most effective and trusted people to educate and to deliver the vaccines to families in Pakistan and Afghanistan; the only countries where the disease still exists.

2025 marked 50 years of the official Rotary youth exchange program throughout the world. Rates of youth exchange are now back to pre-pandemic levels, interestingly 63% of host families do not include a Rotarian, meaning this program increases Rotary’s reach to others. The first youth exchange occurred in in 1927!

New Rotary clubs - In 2025, 1647 new Rotary clubs were chartered and altogether there are 1.2 million people involved with Rotary, including RI which has 800 people working at this level.

Jessie spoke of the Rotary Foundation, which she described as the engine that drives many projects around the world. The Foundation in 2025, facilitated $120 million dollars to various projects and $197 million dollars to Rotary Peace Centres. RI was established in 1917 to help clubs to work together for projects deemed to be ‘programs of scale’. One example of this is the Pathways to Peace and Prosperity in Columbia; a food program that supports economic empowerment and community.

Their next RI Convention is this year and will be hosted in Taipei. So far more than 45000 people have registered to attend. Jessie commented that Rotary Action groups and fellowships have continued to grow giving members opportunities to further develop their interests and social connections.

Our annual theme is ‘Unite for Good’ and is historically chosen by the RI President but it is now determined by the Board of RI. It stems from the action plan of the RI Board and the themes for the next 6 years have been determined.

Jessie was honoured in the Australia Day awards in 2025 with an AM award. This is in recognition of her significant contribution to social change leadership and to the community of regional Victoria, particularly Ballarat. Jessie has been a Rotarian for many years and has served in a variety of roles, including on the international board of Rotary. Jessie is also a chair, facilitator and non-executive director, having served on the boards of international, national and regional not-for-profit organisations across education, health and community sectors.

Jessie is currently the chair of the international convention committee for the Minneapolis convention. She closed her talk with the comments about her proudest achievements which include being a member of our club; it being the basis for all of her other Rotary work. For Jessie, Rotary is an endless well of opportunities, it is not about endings but about championing future opportunities.