Barry Rassin to lead Rotary International next year

Following the unfortunate demise of Samuel Frobisher Owori, who was to take up the leadership of Rotary International in 2018-19, the nominating committee has selected Barry Rassin of the Rotary Club of East Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas, for the position. He will be declared the president-elect on 1 September if no challenging candidates have been suggested.

As president, Rassin aims to strengthen our public image and our use of digital tools to maximize Rotary’s reach.

“Those who know what good Rotary clubs do will want to be a part of it, and we must find new models for membership that allow all interested in our mission to participate,” he says. “With Rotary more in the public eye, we will attract more individuals who want to be part of and support a membership organization that accomplishes so much good around the world.”

Rassin earned an MBA in health and hospital administration from the University of Florida and is the first fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in the Bahamas. He recently retired after 37 years as president of Doctors Hospital Health System, where he continues to serve as an adviser. He is a lifetime member of the American Hospital Association and has served on several boards, including the Quality Council of the Bahamas, Health Education Council, and Employer’s Confederation.

A Rotarian since 1980, Rassin has served Rotary as director and is vice chair of The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees. He was an RI training leader and the aide to 2015-16 RI President K.R. Ravindran.

Rassin received Rotary's highest honor, the Service Above Self Award, as well as other humanitarian awards for his work leading Rotary’s relief efforts in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake there. He and his wife, Esther, are Major Donors and Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation.

Mark Maloney nominated RI President Nominee 2019-20

Mark Daniel Maloney is the choice of Nominating Committee as RI President Nominee 2019-20.

Mark Daniel Maloney, of the Rotary Club of Decatur, Alabama, USA, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2019-20. He will be declared the president-nominee on 1 October if no challenging candidates have been suggested.

“The clubs are where Rotary happens,” says Maloney, an attorney. He aims to support and strengthen clubs at the community level, preserve Rotary’s culture as a service-oriented membership organization, and test new regional approaches for growth.

“With the eradication of polio, recognition for Rotary will be great and the opportunities will be many,” he says. “We have the potential to become the global powerhouse for doing good.”

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, and the Alabama Law Institute.

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.

A Rotarian since 1980, Maloney has served as an RI director; trustee and vice chair of The Rotary Foundation; president’s aide; zone coordinator; and a leader on the Future Vision and 2014 Sydney Convention Committees. He serves on the Operations Review Committee and has served on the Rotary Peace Centers Committee. He has received the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award. Maloney and his wife, Gay, are Paul Harris Fellows, Major Donors, and Bequest Society members.

I'm a Rotarian. I make the Difference

On Ist of July the entire Rotary world would get into action with renewed vigour to Make a Difference.  And already the plans are afoot and the new team is all set to take up the baton of leadership from their immediate predecessor, to take Rotary to still greater heights.

Each one of us is capable of making a difference in the life of someone; in our family, our immediate neighbourhood, the city or town or the country we live in, and in the process, in the entire world. 

Do a Daily Good and make a Difference.  

Howsoever small it may be.  

I am reminded of the tale of a child who finds lots of fish left dying on the seashore with the receding tide.  He picks up a fish and throws it back into the sea.  And he keeps on moving, picking up another fish with his little hands and throwing it back into the water.   

Watching the little child's action from a distance, an old man approaches him and tells him, that he won't be able to do anything since there are thousands of fish on the shore.  It would be futile.  It won't make any difference what you are doing, says the man. 

It won't make any difference what you are doing, says the man. 

The child picks up another fish from the sandy shore, gasping for life, shows to the man, and says, "It makes a difference to this one at least," and throws the fish back into the water. 

Let's remember, as a Rotarian, we cannot ignore our potential to act and save a life.  Or even change a life through little acts of kindness as humans.  

And that is what makes a Rotarian more humane. 

Tell to the world, "I'm a Rotarian. I Make a Difference"