Directors

The Board of Directors establishes policy for Rotary International and provides guidance that helps our clubs thrive. Clubs elect the members of the Board every year at the Rotary International Convention, and each director serves for two years.

Read the latest Board decisions and minutes

• 

  Jennifer Jones

  President 2022-23
  Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland
  Ontario, Canada

  Jennifer Jones is the founder and president of Media Street Productions, an award-winning 27-year-old media company in Windsor, Ontario. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland.

  Jennifer’s talents have strengthened Rotary’s reach and impact as she has served in roles including vice president, director, Rotary Foundation trustee, and co-chair of the End Polio Now: Make History Today fundraising campaign.

  Read the president’s full biography

  Read the president’s monthly message

• 

  R. Gordon R. McInally

  President-elect 2022-23
  Rotary Club of South Queensferry
  West Lothian, Scotland

  R. Gordon R. McInally is president-elect of Rotary International. He was educated at the Royal High School in Edinburgh and at the University of Dundee, where he earned his graduate degree in dental surgery. He operated his own dental practice in Edinburgh until 2016. Gordon was chair of the East of Scotland branch of the British Paedodontic Society and has held various academic positions. He has also served as a presbytery elder, chair of the Queensferry parish congregational board, and commissioner to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland.

  Read the president-elect’s full biography

• 

  Nicki Scott

  Vice President 2022-23
  Rotary Club of The North Cotswolds
  Gloucestershire, England

  Born in Gosport, England, Nicki Scott began her career with KPMG before becoming an entrepreneur and owning a business focused on brand promotion for companies including Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Rolls-Royce. Combining that with her experience in corporate finance, strategic planning, and change management, Scott went on to mentor and coach CEOs and business owners for Vistage Worldwide. She returned to England in 2018, and in March 2021 joined The Trusted Executive Foundation as a partner.

  Scott, who lived abroad from 1993 to 2018, joined Rotary in 2000 while in Illinois. After serving as governor of District 6450, she took on roles as Rotary coordinator, zone institute chair, and training leader. She also served as a trainer for two International Assemblies and was a member of the RI Strategic Planning Committee. Upon her return to England, she joined the Leadership, Development, and Training Committee for Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland and will serve as RIBI’s leader in 2021-23 while also serving as an RI director.

  Scott’s passions are strategy, leadership coaching, and motivational speaking, which she hopes to use in Rotary to nurture the next generation of leaders. She also enjoys musical theater, walking, and painting.

  Scott considers herself a global citizen whose purpose is to use her full potential to make a difference and inspire others to do so. She sees significant worth in serving with Rotary members driven by the same values and vision in a multicultural environment. By “working together and uniting in action above perceived personal differences,” Scott says, “there is no doubt we can achieve greater impact and create real sustainable change to benefit all concerned.”

  Scott has received the RI Service Above Self Award and supports The Rotary Foundation as a Major Donor and a member of her district Paul Harris Society and the Bequest Society.

• 

  Ananthanarayanan S. “Venky” Venkatesh

  Treasurer 2022-23
  Rotary Club of Chennai Mambalam
  Tamil Nadu, India

  Venkatesh graduated with an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and earned his master’s degree in business administration at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. He entered the civil construction business at age 23 and currently heads a construction firm with more than 1,400 employees. He has been a member of the Builders’ Association of India since 1998.

  Venkatesh, whose Rotary call name is Venky, has served RI in roles that include International Assembly training leader, Rotary coordinator, and lead trainer of Rotary coordinators at the Regional Leaders Training Institute for three years. He represented his district at the 2016 Council on Legislation and has also served as a president’s representative, both in India and overseas.

  A frequent speaker at presidents-elect training seminars and district assemblies throughout India, Venkatesh has attended more than 10 Rotary International Conventions and was chair of the South Asian reception event at conventions in Montreal, Canada; and Seoul, Korea.

  Venkatesh has a keen interest in literacy projects and has served as joint secretary and national executive committee member for the Rotary India Literacy Mission, which supports teacher training, e-learning, and literacy for children and adults in nearly 3,000 schools throughout India.

  Venkatesh has also been active as director of the Rotary Action Group for Family Health and AIDS Prevention and the Rotary Action Group for Community Economic Development. He is an avid bridge player and traveler.

  Venkatesh and his wife, Vinita, are Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation and many of his family members are Paul Harris Fellows.

• 

  Alberto Cecchini

  Director 2022-24
  Rotary Club of Roma Nord-Est
  Italy

  Alberto Cecchini is the sole administrator and technical director of Idroesse Engineering, one of the oldest firms of its kind in Italy. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering at Sapienza University of Rome in 1988. He also served as a partner, board member, and technical director of 3TI Progetti Italia, an engineering firm with offices in cities including Rome and Milan, Italy; Muscat, Oman; and Hong Kong. Among the many projects he has led or designed are the rehabilitation of a water and sanitation system in Kenya, the construction of a new military air base in Oman, and the rebuilding of panoramic Provincial Road 28 in Sicily.

  Alberto's first experience with Rotary was in 1988, when he became a founding member of the Rotaract Club of Anzio-Nettuno. He joined his first Rotary club in 1994. Alberto has served RI at the zone and international levels, including as a committee member, Rotary public image coordinator, training leader, regional coordinator and adviser, governors-elect training seminar facilitator, and International Assembly speaker. Drawing on his experience in Rotary's youth programs, he served as chair and vice chair of the Rotaract-Interact Committee and chaired the Rotaract preconvention meeting in Sydney in 2014. In addition, he has served as the primary RI representative to numerous Rome-based organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the World Food Programme. He is also the RI representative to the Holy See in Vatican City.

  Alberto got the idea and organized a polio eradication fundraiser at the Colosseum in Rome in June 2018 that featured actors from the film "Gladiator," including Russell Crowe and Connie Nielsen, as well as a projection of the movie within the Colosseum with a live orchestra. The event raised $500,000. Alberto has also volunteered during a National Immunization Day in Delhi, India, and has delivered bed nets in Guinea Bissau.

  Alberto divides his time between Padua and Rome. In his spare time, he enjoys exercising, traveling, golf, and reading.

  Alberto has received the Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. He supports the Foundation as a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and Benefactor.

• 

  Patrick Daniel Chisanga

  Director 2022-24
  Rotary Club of Nkwazi
  Zambia

  Patrick Daniel Chisanga, a chartered governance professional, is a fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute (UK) from the London School of Accountancy and a fellow of the Institute of Directors of Zambia. He has advised the World Bank on corporate governance and has served as president of the Institute of Directors of Zambia and the African Corporate Governance Network.

  Working for nearly 20 years in the public and corporate sectors of Zambia, Patrick served as chief executive officer and chair of numerous companies and organizations before taking early retirement in 1994 to focus on running a family owned group of companies, Muchanga Investments Ltd., which he founded in 1987 and serves as chair. He is also chair and lead consultant of Dynamic Concepts Ltd., a consulting firm dedicated to corporate governance and leadership development across Africa, and he serves on the boards of several other local and international companies.

  Patrick first joined the family of Rotary as a member of Interact. As a high school student in 1968, he was selected to go on a short-term interclub exchange to Kenya, where he stayed with the then district governor in Mombasa. "I was so impressed with this man's dedication to humankind that I decided there and then that I would serve as a district governor in Rotary one day," Patrick says.

  In 1986, he became a charter member of the Rotary Club of Nkwazi, and in 1998, he realized his goal of becoming governor of District 9210. He was the first nonwhite person to hold that position. "It was a turning point for me and my district," he says.

  As governor, Patrick focused on supporting communities in need in his district with projects dedicated to health, hygiene, and clean water, and to building safe bridges in rural areas. Later, while serving as RI president's representative at a district event in Bremerhaven, Germany, he lent his networking skills to help start a project to improve infrastructure in Zambian schools that later received several Rotary Foundation grants. The project is still ongoing.

  Patrick has served Rotary International on several committees, including the Membership Committee and the Reach Out to Africa Committee, and as a training leader and Rotary Institute chair. He has also chaired regional Rotary organizations, including the Governors' Council of Southern and Eastern Africa.

  Patrick has received the Service Above Service Award and The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. He and his partner, Petronella, are Major Donors.

• 

  Jessie Harman

  Director 2021-23
  Rotary Club of Wendouree Breakfast
  Victoria, Australia

  Jessie Harman holds a master’s degree in business administration and a doctorate in social entrepreneurship. She enjoyed two decades in higher education, beginning as a lecturer in marketing and ending as pro vice-chancellor (international and partnerships) at Federation University Australia, where she managed high-value state and federal government-funded programs and initiatives. She is now a consultant to tertiary education providers in regulatory compliance, quality assurance, and risk management for international education.

  Harman first experienced Rotary in 1988 as a participant in Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kings Meadows in Tasmania. Since joining Rotary in 1999, she has served in roles that include RI Membership Committee chair and governors-elect training seminar coordinator and trainer. She also served as a member of the 2020 Honolulu Convention Committee; Rotary coordinator for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands; training leader and seminar trainer at the International Assembly; and RI president’s representative. Harman says her first role as a Rotary leader left a lasting impression. “My proudest moment was probably taking on the reins of president in my club — my first opportunity to truly experience the positive impact of Rotary on the everyday lives of others.”

  A resident of Ballarat, Victoria, she has been recognized as one of “Ballarat’s 100 most influential women” by Zonta International. She is nonexecutive director on several boards in the education, arts, and community sectors locally and throughout Australia. A long-distance walker, Harman trekked nearly 500 miles (800 km) across rural Spain on the Camino Francés.

  Harman and her husband, Andrew, who is also a Rotarian, support The Rotary Foundation as Major Donors and Bequest Society members.

• 

  Jeremy Hurst

  Director 2022-24
  Rotary Club of Grand Cayman
  Cayman Islands

  Born in Rochester, England, Jeremy Hurst relocated to the Cayman Islands in 1988. He owns and operates the IRG group of companies, providing a range of property services to the Cayman Islands and other Caribbean markets.

  A past president of the Cayman Islands Real Estate Brokers Association, Hurst was a founding member of the Cayman Islands Investment Council and currently chairs the Global Advisory Board and sits on the board of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE).

  Hurst says he started intentionally applying The Four-Way Test at his business and saw a positive impact, especially with his employees. "My involvement in Rotary and my businesses have grown together and have always been intertwined," says Hurst. "I've always tried to bring the best of Rotary into my businesses and the best aspects of my businesses into Rotary."

  Hurst joined Rotary in 1988. He has served RI as a member of the RI Membership Development Committee and of the Joint Committee on Partnerships, and has been an RI president's representative multiple times.

  Hurst has been heavily involved in managing Rotary's disaster relief efforts in the Caribbean, chairing its Disaster Committee during the back-to-back hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2018 and organizing the Rotarians Emergency Disaster Initiative (REDI) conference in 2009. A passionate supporter of water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives, Hurst is a founding member and steering committee chair of HANWASH Inc., the Rotary-led partnership to bring clean water, improved sanitation and hygiene to all the citizens of Haiti. "We are applying the high impact and sustainable best practices from The Rotary Foundation, modeled on the concept of scalability," he says.

  As a cartographer, Hurst enjoys collecting antique maps in addition to watching rugby, boating, travelling and being a grandfather. He and his wife, Michelle, are Rotary Foundation Major Donors and members of the Bequest Society, Paul Harris Society, and Polio Plus Society, and he is a recipient of the Rotary Foundation's Citation for Meritorious Service.

• 

  Drew Kessler

  Director 2022-24
  Rotary Club of North Rockland (Haverstraw)
  New York, USA

  Drew Kessler is senior vice president of the commercial real estate division at M&T Bank, where he manages a large loan portfolio of real estate and commercial ventures with major businesses in the New York City area.

  Drew has led numerous professional real estate organizations, serving as president of the Rockland County Board of Realtors and of the 10,000-member Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors (HGAR), and as director of both the New York State Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. Drew regularly appeared on Fox Business News from 2008 to 2013 because of his expertise on the finance industry and the real estate market.

  While at HGAR, Drew launched the HG Realtor Foundation. A passionate fundraiser, he has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for organizations including The Rotary Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, March of Dimes, and Feeding Westchester.

  Drew joined Rotary in 2001 at age 20. He served as president of the Rotary Club of North Rockland (Haverstraw) at age 25 and was at that time the youngest president in the club's history. At age 32, he served as governor of District 7210. "For anyone who says that you have to be retired to serve in these positions, I'd like to show that there is another path," he says.

  Drew has served RI on the Young Past Governors Committee, as a representative to the Council on Legislation and Council on Resolutions, and as an RI president's representative. He also has held zone leadership positions including chair of the Zone 28/32 Summit, assistant Rotary coordinator for Zone 32, and chair of the Mid-Northeast Presidents-Elect Training Seminar. Committed to continuity and collaboration, he is a member of the District 7210 executive board, a committee he helped establish that is made up of past and current district leaders who work together to lead the district.

  As a husband and a father of five, Drew prioritizes incorporating family into Rotary events, projects, and meetings whenever possible. All of his children have participated in Rotary, including through Interact, RYLA, and Rotary Youth Exchange and other programs. Drew and his spouse, Vicki, also a Rotarian, live in Hopewell Junction, New York.

• 

  Muhammad Faiz Kidwai

  Director 2022-24
  Rotary Club of Karachi Karsaz
  Sind, Pakistan

  Muhammad Faiz Kidwai is the chair of CG Global, a leading architecture, engineering, urban design, real estate development, and hospitality firm. A 1983 architecture graduate of NED University of Engineering and Technology, Muhammad was later awarded a research fellowship in conservation in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University. A specialist in socially responsive architecture, Muhammad has developed master plans for urban housing projects as well as large urban development and city planning projects.

  Muhammad, who joined Rotaract in 1980, is the first Rotary director from Pakistan. In 1986, departing from Karachi on a Rotary Group Study Exchange trip to Canada, Muhammad survived a violent attack during the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73. "I pledged that, if given another chance to live, I would dedicate my life to the betterment of humanity," he says. "This was the moment that influenced me to join Rotary."

  Muhammad joined Rotary in 1987 and became a charter member of the Rotary Club of Karachi Karsaz in 1993. He has been active in polio eradication efforts since Rotary began its work for the cause in Pakistan. In 1997, he established a Rotary Community Corps (RCC) in the suburbs of Karachi, which continues to work with his club on projects.

  Muhammad is the founder and chair of the Rotary Pakistan Literacy Mission, whose goal is total literacy and quality education in the country. In a project that encompasses all of Rotary's areas of focus, he led the creation of a model sustainable village in Thatta, near Karachi, for 160 families who had been affected by a flood. He has been involved in supporting Afghan refugees in Pakistan, co-chairing an initiative that has assisted more than 50,000 Afghan refugees and working on projects that fight poverty and hunger while promoting the education and empowerment of Afghan girls and women. Muhammad says he would like to see Rotary become the most influential service organization in the region.

  Muhammad has received the Service Above Self Award, The Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award, and The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. He and his wife, Uzma, are Rotary Foundation Major Donors. 

• 

  Won-Pyo Kim

  Director 2021-23
  Rotary Club of Gyeongju South
  Gyeongsangbug, Korea

  Won-Pyo Kim is a dentist at the Gyeongju Yeonhap Dental Clinic. He has served as president of dental associations in both his city and in North Gyeongsang Province. While president of the latter, he helped publish a 60-year history of the association.

  Since 2010, he has provided free dental care to those in need at least once a week in Gyeongju City, after installing dental facilities at his own expense at a health center there. Every year for Oral Health Day, he provides free dentures to the elderly and gives hygiene lectures to residents. He has been active in other health care projects, such as one he led that brought 24 children with heart disease from Mongolia to a hospital in Incheon, Korea, for surgery and treatment.

  Kim joined Rotary in 1991. He has served as a Rotary coordinator, training leader, and regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, as well as assistant RRFC. He has also served as a governors-elect training seminar training leader and director of the Korean Rotary Governors Association. In 1994, he helped form a sister club relationship between his club and the Rotary Club of Usa Hachiman, Oita, Japan. That relationship continues with annual visits and joint service projects. Kim also founded the Interact Club at Silla Technical High School and supports it in service activities with his club.

  He has been recognized by Gyeongju’s mayor and North Gyeongsang Province’s governor with multiple awards and has received two awards from Korea’s Minister of Health and Human Services.

  Kim has received The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and the Distinguished Service Award. He and his spouse Young-Sook Kim supports the Foundation as a member of the Paul Harris Society and the Arch Klumph Society.

• 

  Urs Klemm

  Director 2021-23
  Rotary Club of Aarau
  Switzerland

  Urs Klemm studied business engineering and food chemistry and has a doctorate in physical chemistry. He built up the environmental protection division of a Swiss engineering company, where he worked on national and international projects including environmental planning for a railway system in Basel, construction of the longest railroad tunnel through the Alps, and improving the water supply in the county of Békés, Hungary.

  Klemm was responsible for food safety in Switzerland as a vice director of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health from 1996 to 2007, when he retired. As head of the Swiss delegation of the Codex Alimentarius commission — an initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization that promotes international food safety — Klemm led a project that defined a standard for bottled water. As the commission’s European coordinator, he carried out projects promoting food hygiene in Central Asia and Africa.

  Since joining Rotary in 1994, Klemm has served as a Council on Legislation representative, assistant regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, and endowment/major gifts adviser. As district governor, he implemented a district project to create 10 youth camp sites. He also co-founded the Swiss Rotary Foundation, which generates more than $1 million in annual donations, and the Rotarian Peace Projects Incubator, a joint program of Rotarians, Rotaractors, and Rotary Peace Fellows that aims to identify and activate peace projects. Klemm launched activities of several Rotary Action Groups in Switzerland and still supports them. A member of two Rotary Fellowships (skiing and sailing), Klemm leads hikes for the Swiss Alpine Club, plays piano, and studies literature.

  He and his wife, Hélène, who is also a Rotarian, support The Rotary Foundation as Major Donors and members of the Bequest Society.

• 

  Mahesh Kotbagi

  Director 2021-23
  Rotary Club of Pune Sports City
  Maharashtra, India

  Mahesh Kotbagi is a doctor and a third-generation medical practitioner in his family, which includes his father and grandfather. His daughter also practices medicine. Kotbagi says he is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, whose example guided him to “amalgamate professional life with social service from an early age.”.

  After earning his degree in gynecology from Pune University, Kotbagi dedicated himself to the principle of low-cost health care. He planned and constructed a 10-bed hospital that grew into large, multispecialty hospitals. Kotbagi pursued his interest in hospital planning and administration, creating a consulting firm. He also served as visiting professor, faculty member, and trustee at his alma mater. He set up the Chinmayi Charitable Trust to support low-cost health care services and promote education for rural children, and he helped establish the Association of Hospitals in Pune.

  Since joining Rotary in 1995 as a founding member of his club, Kotbagi has served as training leader, RI presidential representative, adviser to RI institutes, RI presidential summits, and chair of a literacy summit. He is interested in training and leadership development and has served as chair of the governor-elect and governor-nominee training seminar at the zone level, and in numerous district roles. Kotbagi has led more than 100 service projects through Rotary, including those that target women’s literacy and economic development, polio corrective surgeries, and rural eye surgery camps. He has also been active in Rotary’s youth programs.

  Kotbagi enjoys biking, car rallies, flying, and yachting. He has visited 50 countries as a backpacker. He has received the RI Service Above Self Award, The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service, and the PolioPlus Appreciation Award.

• 

  Pat Merryweather-Arges

  Director 2022-24
  Rotary Club of Naperville
  Illinois, USA

  Pat Merryweather-Arges is the executive director of Project Patient Care, a nonprofit that brings together patients, families, and caregivers to improve health care. In that role, she has led nationwide patient and family engagement initiatives with 140,000 clinicians as well as an 18-month project to bring patient concerns into diagnostic research. She helped develop a guide to elective services during the COVID-19 pandemic that was highlighted in The New York Times and more than a dozen health journals.

  Previously, Pat served as executive director of a company contracted by the U.S. government to improve the quality of Medicare in several Midwestern states. She was also a senior vice president at the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, where she advocated legislation on infection screening and engaged hospitals in reporting health care outcomes to the public. She serves on a nominating committee for the American Red Cross' Heroes awards , two nonprofit hospital boards in Chicago, and state committees for infection control and prevention and health care reporting. She was named woman of the year by the MRSA Survivors Network and has received a number of awards for her civic engagement.

  Pat joined Rotary in 2002. She has served on Rotary's COVID-19 task force, as a representative for the Council on Legislation and Council on Resolutions, and as a regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, RI president's representative, and chair of the 2018 presidential peace conference in Chicago. She's also held numerous district and zone appointments. She is on the board of the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Rotary Action Group and chairs the health outcomes and patient safety committee of the International Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals.

  Pat, who has been involved in more than 20 Rotary Foundation grant projects focused on health care and water, sanitation, and hygiene, says that Rotary's expansive network is the secret to its success.

  "No one goes at it alone in Rotary. It's all of us together bringing our expertise and leveraging resources, knowledge, and experience," she says.

  Pat has received the Service Above Self Award, the Avenues of Service Award, and The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. She and her spouse, George, who is also a Rotary member, are members of the Paul Harris Society and are Benefactors and Major Donors.

• 

  Lena J. Mjerskaug

  Director 2022-24
  Rotary Club of Enebakk
  Norway

  Lena J. Mjerskaug is chief of administrative control at the Norwegian Armed Forces' Defence Staff Norway, where she has worked since 1997. She also owns and operates a farm that has been in her family for generations. Lena holds a master's degree in economics and business administration from the NHH Norwegian School of Economics and a postgraduate certificate in education from the University of Oslo. Before 1997, she served in the Royal Norwegian Air Force with the aim of becoming Norway's first female fighter pilot. She also worked as a teacher and helped local entrepreneurs start their own businesses.

  Lena joined Rotary in 1997 as the first woman in her club and, at the time, its youngest member. She has served Rotary as an End Polio Now zone coordinator, Rotary coordinator, representative to the Council on Legislation, and RI president's representative. She was chair of the Norsk Rotary Forum, a multidistrict administrative group, and she also worked on a national Rotary project, Handicamp Norway, a camp that brings together young adults from around the world who have disabilities with others who don't.

  Lena, who plans to continue working full time while serving as director, says she wants to lend her experience and skills to minimize the gap between clubs and Rotary International. "Rotary is what the club members create themselves," she says. "No two clubs in Rotary are the same — what works in Norway may not work in Bangladesh. So I'm not representing myself or my region on the Board — I am representing the world."

  In addition to her work, her farm, and Rotary, Lena enjoys sports, reading, and learning about the history and culture of the places she visits.

  She supports The Rotary Foundation as a Benefactor and a Major Donor. "I give because, even though my contribution will go to a project I may never hear of and help people I will probably never meet," she says, "I know that gift will definitely change someone's life."

• 

  Vicki Puliz

  Director 2021-23
  Rotary Club of Sparks
  Nevada, USA

  Vicki Puliz earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s in business administration from the University of Utah, USA, before becoming a partner in a commercial electrical contracting business in Nevada in 1984. She helped manage and expand the business until it merged with a publicly traded entity in 2003 and she retired.

  When Puliz joined Rotary in 1992, she was the first woman in her club. She has served Rotary in many capacities, including as an RI training leader and Rotary public image coordinator. A proponent of leadership development, Puliz has been active in leading several presidents-elect and governors-elect training seminars. “I see Rotary as a leadership organization that provides community service,” she says.

  Puliz is also interested in developing youth leadership. She has co-chaired Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) events in her district, facilitated RYLA events in Benin, and co-created a district youth leadership program based on RYLA concepts.

  When she witnessed 119 RYLA participants supporting one person who was struggling, it expanded her vision of the power of Rotary. She encourages all Rotary members to identify these moments. “If each individual Rotarian could know and tap into that purpose — to know why they’re in Rotary — and to share it, it would be so powerful for our organization.”

  Puliz and her husband, Tim, who is also a Rotarian, live in Reno, Nevada. They enjoy kayaking and other outdoor sports in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Both are members of the International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians. They support The Rotary Foundation as Major Donors and as members of the Paul Harris Society, the Bequest Society, and the District 5190 PolioPlus Society.

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  Yoshio Sato

  Director 2022-24
  Rotary Club of Okayama-South
  Okayama, Japan

  Yoshio Sato is a certified public accountant who has owned his own consulting firm specializing in tax and general consulting services since 1986. He has also served as director of Chugoku Bank Ltd. since 2016.

  After earning his master's degree in accounting from Keio University, Yoshio worked at Arthur Andersen and then at Tohmatsu & Co., now a part of Deloitte, before starting his own firm, Sato Yoshio CPA Firm. He has held leadership roles in regional professional groups including the Certified Tax Public Accountants Association of Chugoku Region and the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants Western Japan Federation Assembly at Okayama.

  Yoshio has actively supported, on his own and with his Rotary club, the local branch of Asahikawa Villa, an organization that helps people with disabilities live independent lives. He has also served as a director of the Kazuko Watanabe Memorial Scholarship Foundation of Notre Dame.

  A member of the Rotary Club of Okayama-South since 1989, Yoshio has been active in numerous district and national committees. He has served Rotary as chair of the District 2690 Rotary Foundation audit committee and as a member of the Rotary Japan Centennial Executive Committee and the Rotary International Japan Youth Exchange Multidistrict. At the zone level, he has served as convener of the nominating committee for RI director and as a training leader, Rotary institute session panelist, and RI president's representative. He is also a contributor to the Rotary Yoneyama Memorial Foundation, a project of Rotary districts in Japan that supports foreign students who are pursuing academic research in Japan.

  In addition to organizing numerous fundraising events, including zone events for Major Donors and Arch Klumph Society ceremonies, Yoshio personally supports The Rotary Foundation as an Arch Klumph Society member, Paul Harris Society member, Benefactor, and Bequest Society member.

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  Julio César A. Silva-Santisteban

  Director 2021-23
  Rotary Club of El Rímac
  Lima, Peru

  Julio César A. Silva-Santisteban graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú with degrees in law and political science before earning postgraduate degrees in civil law from the Universidad de Lima and in international and community law from the Universidad de la República de Uruguay. He has taught constitutional law at the Universidad de Lima and been an adviser to the constitution committee of the Peruvian Senate. As an expert in public international law, he handled several prominent cases for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. As an entrepreneur, Silva Santisteban has been a shareholder, director, and manager of several companies in the industrial and construction fields.

  Silva-Santisteban joined Rotary in 1987. He has been a board member of El Rotario Peruano, an official Rotary regional magazine, since 1999, and was its director/editor. He has served as a member of several RI committees and as Rotary public image coordinator, intercountry committee coordinator, training leader, and RI presidential representative, among other roles.

  He is a founding member of the first board of trustees that promoted the recovery and enhancement of the Rímac Historic Center of Lima as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition, he has been a member of several civic organizations, including the Instituto Sanmartiniano del Peru, Huaura branch, and the Legion of Cavalry of Peru. He also worked to help designate 23 February as a national day to recognize Rotary’s work.

  His honors include a Civic Medal of Law by the Bar Association of Lima for his professional career and institutional contributions, and a recognition by the Honduran government for his work providing humanitarian aid after a 2001 earthquake.

  Silva-Santisteban has received The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service. He and his wife, Sara, support the Foundation as Major Donors and Benefactors. He and several family members are also members of the Paul Harris Society.

• 

  Elizabeth Usovicz

  Director 2021-23
  Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza
  Missouri, USA

  Elizabeth Usovicz is principal of WhiteSpace Consulting, which focuses on business coaching, business development strategy, and market insights. She previously held leadership positions at Deloitte, Kellogg’s of Mexico, and two venture capital-funded startup companies. Formerly associate director of international programs at Bentley University and an adjunct professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, she currently is a volunteer mentor and adviser to startup company founders through MIT’s Growth Mentoring Services program.

  Usovicz joined Rotary in 1997. She served as a Rotary public image coordinator for three years, a facilitator for multiyear district planning for zones 30 and 31, on the training team for governors-elect training seminars, and as a curriculum chair of the Heart of America Rotary Leadership Institute.

  Her 20-year passion in Rotary is supporting orphans and at-risk children in Malawi. She has written 10 Rotary Foundation grants to help Malawi’s children and led a vocational training team that worked with local primary school teachers to develop and implement a program that encourages children, especially girls, to stay in school. Other grant projects have focused on a malaria bed net initiative in the southern region of Lake Malawi. “We helped reduce the mortality rate of children under five by 80% in that region — that’s the power of ‘we’ in Rotary,” Usovicz says. “I am not a medical professional, but when we collaborate like that in Rotary, we become lifesavers.”

  Usovicz has received The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and has twice received the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award. In 2014, Usovicz was recognized at the White House as a Rotary Women of Action honoree.

  A native of Salem, Massachusetts, she appreciates history and her Lithuanian heritage. She also enjoys music, classic films, and science fiction TV. Usovicz and her husband, Dean Mathewson, are both Major Donors and Bequest Society members. They live in Westwood, Kansas.

• 

  John Hewko

  General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer
  Rotary Club of Kyiv
  Ukraine

  John Hewko is the general secretary and chief executive officer of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation. From 2004 to 2009, Hewko was vice president for operations and compact development for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government agency established in 2004 to deliver foreign assistance to the world’s poorest countries.

  Follow @johnhewko on Twitter. Visit John Hewko on Facebook. 

2022-23 RI Board Committees

Executive Committee

Considers and responds to petitions to the Board, evaluates the performance of the general secretary, serves as the personnel committee of the Board, and acts on behalf of the Board as outlined in the terms of reference set forth in the Rotary Code of Policies.

Chair

Elizabeth Usovicz

Members

Jennifer E. Jones
R. Gordon R. McInally
Nicki Scott
Jessie Harman
Vicki Puliz
Ananthanarayanan "Venky" Venkatesh

Administration Committee

Shall consider such matters of an administrative or legal nature as are referred to the committee by the president or the Board.

Chair

Jessie Harman

Vice Chair

Patrick D. Chisanga

Members

Muhammad Faiz Kidwai
Won-Pyo Kim
Mahesh Kotbagi
Patricia Merryweather-Arges
Yoshio Sato

Programs (Participant Experience) Committee

Shall consider such matters involving RI programs, international meetings, and membership issues as are referred to the committee by the president or the Board.

Chair

Vicki Puliz

Vice Chair

Urs Klemm

Members

Alberto Cecchini
Jeremy S. Hurst
Drew Kessler
Lena J. Mjerskaug
Julio Silva- Santisteban Ojeda

Read the latest Board decisions

See the Board meeting dates

See the RI Committees