Posted by Gordon Crann

CONNECTING FOR SUCCESS

At the District 7090 DG Changeover and Awards Luncheon held on Sunday, June 25, 2017 at the Brantford Golf & Country Club, it was announced that 2016-17 Rotary E-Club of Southern Ontario – Western New York (SOWNY) President Gordon Crann had won 3 awards. 
 
Gordon is pictured on left with fellow Rotarian PDG Aziz Memon of Rotary Club of Karachi.
 
As the club reflects back on its award winning 2016-17 Rotary year, its successes held commonality in increasingly connecting District 7090 to Rotarians, Rotary Clubs and Rotarian Action Groups around the world, as follows: 
 
 
  1. Rotary Peace Fellowships.  Building upon its efforts in the 2015-16 Rotary year, when it coached, interviewed and endorsed 6 At-Large Rotary Peace Fellowship Applicants from Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Liberia, Somalia and New York City – 3 of whom were offered Rotary Peace Master’s Fellowships. This Rotary year, the E-Club of SOWNY has coached, interviewed and endorsed 5 Rotary Peace Fellowship Applicants - two from Botswana and New Jersey/South Africa referred by SOWNY members; and 3 At-Large from Kenya, Uzbekistan, and Yemen referred by RI/TRF staff in Evanston.
  1. Microfinance and Social Enterprise. Started on July 1, 2016 with just two members – Wendy Bodnoff (Chair) and Gordon Crann - the SOWNY Microfinance & Social Enterprise Committee has quickly turned the E-Club of SOWNY into the top E-Club in the world for Rotarians interested in microfinance and social business. As a result, SOWNY gained 7 new members this Rotary year who are interested in microfinance and social enterprise from Brazil, Canada, United Kingdom and United States. A number of Rotarians from across Canada and the United States, who are involved in the Rotarian Action Group for Microfinance and Community Development (RAGM), have also asked to be added to the SOWNY Microfinance & Social Enterprise Committee e-mail distribution list, which is becoming known as one of the best ways to keep abreast of what is happening in Rotarian microfinance, social business, savings groups and impact investing globally.
  1. Youth Leadership. After an aborted attempt in the 2015-16 Rotary year, SOWNY Youth Services Chair Darren Luong succeeded in organizing a series of “Leadership Unplugged” online youth leadership interviews using Facebook Live. In addition, the E-Club of SOWNY sponsored its first SLAPSHOT registrant and welcomed its first Rotaractor as a Rotarian SOWNY member, Danielle Hunter, after SOWNY introduced a reduced Rotaractor membership rate during the 2016-17 Rotary year.
  1. High Quality Guest Speakers from Around the World. The E-Club of SOWNY attracted a number of visiting Rotarians from across Canada and the United States - even as far away as Latin America and Australia - to attend its online meetings featuring the following high quality guest speakers from around the world:
  • Solar Ear Founder & President Howard Weinstein from Sao Paolo, Brazil on Rotary and Solar Ear;
  • Rotarian Action Group for Peace (RAGFP) Director-at-Large Amparo Buendia Hernandez from the Rotary Club of Bogota Centenario in Bogota, Colombia and Former Counsel General of Colombia Catalina Chaux from Toronto, ON explaining the Government of Colombia Peace Agreement with the FARC Guerillas and related Rotary Peace Projects in Colombia;
  • Rotary Club of New York #6 (RCNY) President Can Erbilgin from New York City, NY on the Rotary Club of New York and the United Nations, including RCNY – UN Women AGREE Program in Sierra Leone;
  • Rotary Club of Capitol Hill President Quentin Wodon from Washington, DC on how to double your Rotary Club’s membership in six months;
  • PACT Co-Founder & President David Lockett from Rotary Club of Parkdale-High Park in Toronto, ON about the PACT Urban Peace Project’s two-thirds success rate in reducing young offenders recidivism in the Greater Toronto Area and its plans to expand internationally into US cities;
  • Grameen Foundation President & CEO Steve Hollingworth from Washington, DC on the recent merger of two major multinational microfinance institutions - Grameen Foundation and Freedom from Hunger;
  • Kennesaw State University Professor Joseph Bock from Greater Atlanta Area, GA on violence prevention initiatives in US cities; and
  • Social Change Nation Chief Inspiration Officer Joshua Schukman from Kansas City, KS on inspiring social change.
  1. Connecting District 7090 Rotary Clubs and Rotarians using SOWNY’s Global Networks. SOWNY members are involved in a number of global and national organizations, including:
  • Ashoka Fellows global social entrepreneurs network;
  • Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group (ESRAG);
  • Honouring Indigenous Peoples (HIP);
  • Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI);
  • Microcredit Summit Campaign;
  • RESULTS International and RESULTS Educational Fund;
  • Rotarian Action Group for Microfinance and Community Development (RAGM);
  • Rotarian Action Group for Peace (RAGFP);
  • United Nations Association in Canada (UNAC); and
  • Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG).
During the 2016-17 Rotary year, SOWNY members have been able use their global and national networks to make introductions that have led to valuable connections for international service projects being undertaken by District 7090 Rotary Clubs and Rotarians. The following are a few examples:
  • Based on advice from ESRAG Honorary Advisor & SOWNY President Gordon Crann, Rotary Club of St. Catharines South’s breadfruit tree project in Jamaica and Pakistan with Trees That Feed Foundation highlighted as a model tree planting project at the post-convention Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group (ESRAG) Strategy and Tree Planting Workshop on June 15th in Atlanta, GA.
  • Rotary Club of Akron, NY connected with US Peace Corps Alumni and WASRAG volunteers in regards to water project in Sierra Leone.
  • Rotary Club of St. Catharines South introduced to Pakistan National PolioPlus Chair PDG Aziz Memon of Rotary Club of Karachi resulting in PDG Aziz Memon as guest speaker at special Rotary Club of St. Catharines South meeting in May attended by SOWNY members Gordon Crann and Albert Kim.
  • Rotary Club of Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) Bihari Relief Fund education project introduced to Rotarians in Dhaka, Bangladesh and to Bangladeshi Canadian and Bangladeshi American Rotarians in Toronto, ON and Ann Arbor, MI, respectively.
  • Rotary Club of St. Catharines South’s Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) project to combat child malnutrition in Pakistan introduced to Aka Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Pakistan through CEO of Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC).
  • Arranged for Honouring Indigenous Peoples (HIP) to get an invitation for DG Marlee Diehl to attend Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell’s Reception for HIP in Lieutenant-Governor’s Suite at Queen’s Park in Toronto, ON in March that was also attended by SOWNY member Albert Kim.
  • Introduced St. Catharines Rotarian, lawyer and mediator Peter Robinson to Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI) in regards to arranging international “hands on” mediation volunteer opportunity.