Trustees

The Board of Trustees manages the business of The Rotary Foundation, the charitable arm of our organization that funds service activities. The RI president-elect nominates the trustees, who are elected by the RI Board to four-year terms.

Read the latest Trustee decisions and minutes

• 

  Ian H.S. Riseley

  Chair 2022-23
  Trustee 2019-23
  Rotary Club of Sandringham
  Victoria, Australia

  While RI president in 2017-18, Ian H.S. Riseley challenged every Rotary club to plant one tree per member as a way to increase Rotarian involvement in environmental issues. He estimates at least three times that many were planted, likely more than 3 million trees. “I was really thrilled at the way in which the Rotary world embraced my request,” he says. “Everywhere we went, they were planting trees.”

  Riseley is a chartered accountant and principal of Ian Riseley and Co., a firm he established in 1976. His honors include the AusAID Peacebuilder Award from the Australian government in recognition of his work in East Timor and the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to the Australian community, the Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award, and the Service Award for a Polio-Free World.

  Riseley and his wife, Juliet, a past district governor, are Rotary Foundation Major Donors and Bequest Society members. They live on seven hectares at Moorooduc, where they practice their personal philosophy of sustainable and organic living.

  Read the trustee chair's monthly message

• 

  Barry Rassin

  Chair-elect 2022-23
  Trustee 2020-24
  Rotary Club of East Nassau Bahamas

  Barry Rassin is a director and former president of Doctors Hospital Health System in Nassau, Bahamas, where he retired after a 38-year career. He was the first fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in the Bahamas and was honored with the National Award of Health Hero by the Bahamas Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization.

  A Rotarian since 1980, Rassin served as RI president in 2018-19, when he advocated for closer partnership between Rotary and Rotaract clubs and presented the measure that broadened the definition of membership in Rotary International to include Rotaract clubs at the 2019 Council on Legislation. He has served RI in many other capacities, including as RI director, Rotary Foundation trustee and vice chair, chair of both the Finance and the Shaping Rotary’s Future committees, RI training leader, and seminar trainer. In 2010, Rassin coordinated Rotary’s disaster relief efforts in Haiti after a devastating earthquake. That included supervising the completion of 105 relief and development projects throughout Haiti that were made possible by the $6.5 million raised by Rotary members worldwide. He is currently active on the Bahamas Rotary Disaster Relief Committee and working on relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Outside of Rotary, Rassin chairs Volunteer Bahamas, a national program to create a culture of volunteerism in the country. He also helped found the Haiti National Clean Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Strategy (HANWASH), a collaborative program to bring potable water and adequate sanitation to all the citizens of Haiti. In 2018, the government of the Bahamas named him as an Officer of the Order of Distinction.

  Rassin has received the Service Above Self Award. He and his spouse, Esther, are Rotary Foundation Major Donors, Benefactors, Paul Harris Fellows, and members of the Paul Harris Society.

• 

  Jorge Aufranc

  Trustee 2019-23
  Rotary Club of Guatemala Sur
  Guatemala

  Jorge Aufranc is a chemical engineer and director of Corporación Instatec, which designs and builds networking telecom systems. He first saw the power of The Rotary Foundation in 1995, when he led a project to bring clean drinking water to an orphanage using matching grants. Today, he is the primary contact for the $600,000 WASH in Schools competitive grant program in Guatemala, which is bringing water, sanitation, and hygiene to 48 schools in the country.

  Aufranc has served Rotary in many roles, including as RI director; founder and president of Rotary en el Corazón de las Americas, the Rotary regional magazine for Central America; and director of the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group. He and his wife, Débora, participated in a National Immunization Day in Moradabad, India, in 2009.

  He is a Rotary Foundation Benefactor, Major Donor, and Bequest Society Member, and is a recipient of the Citation for Meritorious Service.

• 

  Marcelo Demétrio Haick

  Trustee 2021-23
  Rotary Club of Santos-Praia
  São Paulo, Brazil

  Marcelo Demétrio Haick is president of Sologic South America, a division of a global company that provides root cause analysis methods, technology, and expertise to help companies reduce risk and solve problems. Haick performs investigations and manages the company’s training and consulting services throughout South America.

  He graduated from Santos Medical College in 1982 with a focus in occupational medicine. His professional background includes environmental, health, and safety management systems; strategic planning; and ergonomics consulting.

  A Rotarian since 1991, Haick has served in many roles, including End Polio Now coordinator, PolioPlus national advocacy adviser, and vice chair of the Cadre of Technical Advisers. He has also served as district governor, a committee member, and a training leader.

  He and his wife, Maria Silvia, are Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation and Major Donors.

• 

  Martha Peak Helman

  Trustee 2022-26
  Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor
  Maine, USA

  Marty Helman is president of the Otto and Fran Walter Foundation, a nonprofit that has helped build schools in developing nations, provided scholarships for at-risk youth, and supplied humanitarian aid to Holocaust survivors, among other initiatives. The Walter Foundation made history in 2021 when it announced plans to completely fund a new Rotary Peace Center in the Middle East or North Africa, which is expected to welcome its first class in 2026. 

  She worked as a writer for business executives and as a magazine editor at McGraw Hill and the American Management Association. 

  Marty and her spouse, Frank, both joined the Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor in 2003. She has served Rotary as chair of the Peace Major Gifts Initiative and has was on the diversity, equity, and inclusion task force. 

  A keen fundraiser for The Rotary Foundation, Marty put together a group to support the Sakuji Tanaka Rotary Peace Fellowship, which raised $1 million for the Rotary Peace Centers. 

  Frank, who died in 2022, and Marty chose to support the Foundation as Major Donors, Paul Harris Society members, and inaugural members of the Legacy Society of The Rotary Foundation. 

• 

  Holger Knaack

  Trustee 2022-26 
  Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenburg-Mölln
  Germany

  Knaack is the owner of Knaack KG, a real estate company. He was previously a partner and general manager of Knaack Enterprises, a family business founded in 1868.

  He is a founding member of the Civic Foundation of the City of Ratzeburg and the founder and chair of the Karl Adam Foundation.

  A Rotary member since 1992, Knaack has served Rotary as president, treasurer, director, moderator, member and chair of several committees, representative for the Council on Legislation, zone coordinator, training leader, and district governor.

  He was an endowment/major gifts adviser and was co-chair of the Host Organization Committee for the 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg.

  Knaack and his wife, Susanne, are Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation and members of the Bequest Society.

• 

  Hsiu-Ming Lin

  Trustee 2020-24
  Rotary Club of Taipei Tungteh
  Taiwan

  Hsui-Ming “Frederick” Lin is managing director of Continental Worldwide Enterprises Co. Ltd., a company that designs and integrates satellite communications systems. Lin is active on the boards of organizations outside of Rotary, including as director of the Taipei Lifeline Association.

  A Rotarian since 1988, Lin has served Rotary as a regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, Rotary coordinator, RI president’s representative, committee member and chair, and director and treasurer on the RI Board.

  He and his wife, Chen-Yi, are members of the Arch Klumph Society. Lin is also a Benefactor of The Rotary Foundation and a Paul Harris Fellow.

• 

  Larry A. Lunsford

  Trustee 2021-25
  Rotary Club of Kansas City-Plaza
  Missouri, USA

  Larry A. Lunsford, a certified public accountant, is senior vice president and chief financial officer of Bernstein-Rein Advertising, Inc. A recipient of bachelor’s and master's degrees in accounting from Truman State University, he has served his alma mater on its National Alumni Association Board and its Foundation Board. He also served as treasurer of the Epilepsy Foundation for the Heart of America.

  His passion for Rotary and his invitation into the family of Rotary began during his college years, when in 1982, he was selected as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar to Australia. Lunsford joined Rotary in 1991. He served RI as director, and aide to RI President Mark Daniel Maloney. In addition, he has served as RI president’s representative, zone institute chair, Rotary Public Image Coordinator, Rotary Foundation alumni coordinator, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, training leader, International Assembly leaders’ seminar trainer, RI committee chair and member, and chair of the Rotary Peace Centers Committee of The Rotary Foundation.

  Lunsford and his wife, Jill are Major Donors, Benefactors, and Bequest Society members.  He is a charter member of the District 6040 Paul Harris Society. He has been awarded the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service and the RI Service Above Self Award.

• 

  Mark Daniel Maloney

  Trustee 2021-25
  Rotary Club of Decatur
  Alabama, USA

  Mark Daniel Maloney is a principal in the law firm of Blackburn, Maloney and Schuppert, LLC, with a focus on taxation, estate planning, and agricultural law. He represents large farming operations in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States and has chaired the American Bar Association’s Committee on Agriculture in the Section of Taxation. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Alabama State Bar Association, the Alabama Law Institute, and is a past president of the Morgan County Bar Association.

  He has been active in Decatur’s religious community, chairing his church’s finance council and a local Catholic school board. He has also served as president of the Community Foundation of Greater Decatur, chair of Morgan County Meals on Wheels, and director of the United Way of Morgan County and the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce.

  Maloney served as RI president during 2019-2020, when he presided over the first virtual RI Convention that was organized during the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasized strategies to grow Rotary. A Rotarian since 1980, he has also served as an RI director; Foundation trustee and vice chair; and aide to 2003-04 RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe. He also has participated in the Council on Legislation as chair, vice chair, parliamentarian, and trainer. He was an adviser to the 2004 Osaka Convention Committee, chaired the 2014 Sydney Convention Committee, and chaired RI’s Operations Review Committee for four terms. Prior to serving as a district governor, Maloney led a Group Study Exchange to Nigeria.

  He also served as Future Vision Committee vice chair; Foundation training institute moderator; Foundation permanent fund national adviser; member and vice chair of the Peace Centers Committee; member of the International PolioPlus Committee; and adviser to the Foundation’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Schools Target Challenge Committee.

  Maloney’s wife, Gay, is an attorney in the same law firm and a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Decatur Daybreak, Alabama, USA. Both support The Rotary Foundation as Paul Harris Fellows, Major Donors, and Bequest Society members.

• 

  Geeta Manek

  Trustee, 2020-24
  Rotary Club of Muthaiga
  Kenya

  Geeta Manek, a second-generation Kenyan, graduated from business school in the United Kingdom before returning to Nairobi to join the family retail and property management business, which she still runs.

  Manek joined Rotary in 1997. Her roles have included Rotary coordinator, chair of the Health Major Gifts Initiative and of the Joint Committee on Partnerships, member of the Major Gifts Initiative Oversight Team and the Rotary Institute Host Organizing Committee, RI training leader, lead facilitator at the Regional Leaders Training Institute, and RI president’s representative. She was also the only female governor of District 9200 before it was divided into Districts 9211 and 9212 in 2012-13. She also served as her district’s coordinator of the Kick Polio Out of Africa Campaign.

  Manek is passionate about initiatives that help women and improve education. She was a charter member of Lohana Ladies Circle, a women’s club dedicated to community service, social welfare, and cultural heritage. She’s also helping lead a Rotary literacy initiative in Kenya and the region. Manek has volunteered as a first responder during national crises, including in post-election violence and after terrorist attacks. She has led teams of Rotarians to collaborate and coordinate initiatives with organizations such as the Red Cross, the United Nations, and community-based institutions. In recognition of her humanitarian work, Manek was awarded an honorary doctorate of humanities in 2019.

  Manek has been honored with the Service Above Self Award. She and her spouse, Kaushik — who served as governor of District 9200 in 2008-09 — are Rotary Foundation Major Donors and Benefactors, as well as Bequest Society and Arch Klumph Society members.

• 

  Aziz Memon

  Trustee 2020-24
  Rotary Club of Karachi
  Pakistan

  Aziz Memon is chair of the Kings Group, a conglomerate of five companies that is one of the leading textile and ready-made garment manufacturing and exporting groups in Pakistan. He is also chair of the board of the Karachi Garment City, a project of the government of Pakistan. Memon’s other roles include honorary consul general of the Republic of Suriname in Karachi, president of the English Speaking Union of Pakistan, and president of the United Memon Jamat of Pakistan, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to community development and helping the underprivileged.

  Since he joined Rotary in 1995, he has been widely recognized for his leadership in polio eradication. Memon has served as member of the International PolioPlus Committee and chair of the Pakistan PolioPlus Committee. He has worked closely with Rotary’s partners and stakeholders, including UNICEF, WHO and its Expanded Programme on Immunization, government officials, religious scholars, celebrities, business leaders, and Rotarians from around the world. He was one of four polio eradication activists to receive the Louis Pasteur Medal by the Institut Pasteur. His other RI leadership positions have included training leader, committee member, and RI president’s representative. Memon says his favorite Rotary project was working with his club to raise over $285,000 to fund an English-language instruction school for 4,000 children.

  Memon has received the Service Above Self Award, the International and Regional Service Awards for a Polio-Free World, and The Rotary Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award and Citation for Meritorious Service. In recognition of his community and humanitarian services in the health sector, the president of Pakistan conferred the Pride of Performance Award on Memon in 2011. He and his wife, Samina, are members of the Arch Klumph Society.

• 

  Akira Miki

  Trustee 2021-25
  Rotary Club of Himeji
  Japan

  Akira Miki, a dentist with his own practice, dedicated himself to disaster recovery projects after the January 1995 Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, one of the worst earthquakes to hit Japan in the 20th century. Miki worked on building a children’s home and supported children who needed emotional care.

  Miki joined Rotary in 1981. He served on the RI Board of Directors from 2018 to 2020 and a special advisor for the Foundation Trustees in 2020-21. Previously, his leadership roles in RI have included serving as RI president’s representative, training leader, governors-elect trainer, committee member, assistant Rotary coordinator, Council on Legislation representative, and sergeant-at-arms for international conventions and assemblies. He is director of the RI Japan Youth Exchange Committee. He visited Washington, USA, as a short-term youth exchange student. He has been a strong advocate for youth development. Since 1985, he has led the district RYLA seminar, the All Japan RYLA Institute, and the All Japan Interact Institute.

  Miki is a former Interactor and a recipient of The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service. He and his wife, Chiharu, are members of The Arch Klumph Society, Benefactors, and Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation.

• 

  Bharat S. Pandya

  Trustee 2022-26
  Rotary Club of Borivli
  Maharashtra, India

  Bharat Pandya is a practicing general and laparoscopic surgeon. He and his wife, Madhavi, a gynecologist, own a private hospital in Mumbai. He is a fellow of the International College of Surgeons and has served on the board of the Jan Shikshan Sansthan vocational training institute, sponsored by the Indian government.

  Pandya joined Rotary in 1989 as a charter member of his club. During his year as governor of District 3140, his district contributed over $2 million to The Rotary Foundation, making it the top contributor worldwide for 2006-07. He has led numerous projects, including water and sanitation projects funded by Foundation grants that installed check dams so that villagers no longer needed to walk up to four miles per day to collect water.

  Pandya has served Rotary, as Director, RI Treasurer, regional RI membership coordinator, training leader, and member of Rotary’s Membership, Strategic Planning, Leadership Development and Convention Promotion committees and on the India PolioPlus Committee.

  He has received the Service Above Self Award, the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service, and the Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award. He and Madhavi are Level 2 Major Donors to the Foundation.

• 

  Greg E. Podd

  Trustee 2022-26
  Rotary Club of Evergreen
  Colorado, USA

  Greg is a retired certified public accountant and personal financial specialist who opened his own firm in 1979. During his career, he wrote four professional continuing education accounting and finance courses and was a keynote speaker at five national conferences. Greg has taught many courses as a guest professor in the master’s degree in taxation program at Arizona State University and has made presentations to more than 20,000 CPAs and chartered accountants worldwide. He was also president and owner of a firm that specialized in metal fabrication for the telecommunications industry and of an international health care software development firm.

  Greg joined Rotary in 1982. He has served Rotary International as vice president and director. During his time on the Board of Directors, he chaired committees including the Audit Committee and the Board Council on Legislation Advisory Committee. He also served on the Operations Review Committee and The Rotary Foundation’s Investment Committee, among others. Other roles he’s held include training leader, RI president’s representative, and representative to the Council on Legislation.

  As a Rotary Foundation major gifts adviser, Greg organized his district’s Million Dollar Dinner, which raised more than $3.1 million in one night. He enjoys applying his professional knowledge and skills to help Rotary’s club, district, and zone leaders resolve funding questions. He says, “There is an education gap out there dealing with the finances of Rotary at all levels, and I’m glad to have served as a go-to person for questions.”

  Greg has also been active in numerous local, regional, and national professional organizations, community groups, and charities, including as a treasurer and board and committee member.

  Greg has received the Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. He and his spouse, Pam, are Major Donors and members of the Arch Klumph Society, Bequest Society, and Paul Harris Society.

• 

  Hendreen Dean Rohrs

  Trustee 2020-23 
  Rotary Club of Langley Central
  British Columbia, Canada

  Dean Rohrs is an owner and administrator at Rhide Technologies Inc., which supplies soil stabilization products used in road construction. Earlier in her career, she had been a nurse in Cape Town, South Africa, on Christiaan Barnard’s heart transplant team.

  From 1959-90, she was active in Red Cross in South Africa. She served on the board of the West End Seniors’ Network in British Columbia and is currently on the board of a girls school in Malawi.

  Dean Rohrs has been a Rotarian since 1989 and has served RI as vice president, director, Rotary coordinator, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, and district governor. She is a Rotary Foundation Benefactor, Major Donor, and Bequest Society member.

  She and her husband, Reinhold, are Paul Harris Fellows.

• 

  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 (MCC), a U.S. government agency established in 2004 to deliver foreign assistance to the world’s poorest countries.

  Read General Secretary Hewko’s full biography.

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

2022-23 Trustee Committees

Executive Committee

This committee oversees matters of an executive or administrative character as set forth in the Foundation Code of Policy.

Chair

Geeta K. Manek

Members

Larry A. Lunsford
Mark Daniel Maloney
Barry Rassin
Ian H.S. Riseley
Dean Rohrs

Participant Experience

This committee reviews recommendations regarding the participant experience for report to the Trustees.

Chair

Jorge Aufranc

Members

Holger Knaack
Mark Daniel Maloney
Aziz Memon
Akira Miki

Foundation Finance Committee

This committee, mandated by the Rotary Foundation Bylaws, shall advise the Trustees on all finances of the Foundation. It will recommend the annual budget and five-year financial forecast, review financial statement activity, and monitor revenues and expenses. The committee will work with the RI Finance Committee to confirm the allocation of secretariat expenses between RI and the Foundation. The committee shall consider the organization’s long-term financial projections and financial sustainability in collaboration with the Strategic Planning Committee and recommends changes as necessary to The Rotary Foundation Funding Model to ensure sufficient funds are available to fund programs and pay operating expenses.

Chair

Larry A. Lunsford

Vice Chair

Bharat Pandya

Members

Holger Knaack
Hsiu-Ming “Frederick” Lin
Greg Podd

Foundation Programs Committee

This committee guides and evaluates the programmatic activity of The Rotary Foundation.

Chair

Geeta K. Manek

Members

Jorge Aufranc
Basker Chockalingam
Greg Podd
Carolyn Schrader
Daumonguiller Escobar Tumangan

Foundation Awards Review Committee

Reviews nominations and recommends recipients of the Foundation Distinguished Service Award the Rotary Alumni Global Service Award, and the Alumni Association of the Year Award.

Chair

Aziz Memon

Vice Chair

Marcelo Haick

Members

Martha Helman
Bharat Pandya

Stewardship Committee

Provides guidance to the Trustees and General Secretary on all matters related to stewardship, compliance, and oversight of Rotary grants.

Chair

Mark Daniel Maloney

Vice Chair

Marcelo Haick

Members

Geeta K. Manek
Bharat Pandya
Barry Rassin

See the Rotary Foundation Committees