First among equals

 

 

Age: 58
Spouse: Rotarian Jean-François Riveau, a retired navy officer and banker
Children: Two sons, Thomas and Nicolas, and a daughter, Laurence 
Public offices: City councilor of L’Isle-Adam
Profession: Gynecologist with a private practice in L’Isle-Adam; director of the Center for Maternal and Infant Protection for abused children and women
Year joined Rotary: 1991
Current club: Rotary Club of Paris
Rotary offices:  District governor, 1999-2000; International Assembly training leader, 2004 and 2005; Permanent Fund national adviser, 2005-06; Major Gifts adviser, 2006-08
Secret to success: Not sleeping. “When I’m really busy, my day starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. And this doesn’t even include Rotary. I can see 40 patients. I don’t sleep much – about five hours – and this gives me a lot of strength.”

When Catherine Noyer-Riveau joins Rotary International’s Board of Directors in July, she’ll stand out among her peers for more than her Parisian flair. She is a true prima inter pares (first among equals), the only woman elected to the RI Board to date. Representing French-speaking Zone 11 from 2008 to 2010, this third-generation Rotarian and practicing physician seeks consensus and cooperation. She concedes that her new title confers upon her some responsibility to carry the flag for gender equality, but she shies away from publicity and does not define herself as a feminist. In this interview with Bettina Kozlowski (translated from French), Noyer-Riveau says she simply sees herself as a Rotarian. And as such, she is determined to rely on the same strategy that’s brought her this far: setting high standards – and exceeding them.

How does it feel to be the first female director-elect?
Of course, I cannot say that I’m not happy and proud, but I really hope that I have been selected not because I’m a woman but because of my skills. I believe that you have to be quite careful and should not use gender to position yourself. After all, I represent a zone, and I want to serve Rotary.

How do you see your role as first female director?
After I was nominated, I received e-mails from female Rotarians saying, “We’re going to have a women’s project.” And my answer is, “No, we’re going to have a Rotarian project.” Whether we are men or women, it doesn’t matter. I am a professional who wants to use her time to help others. In Rotary, I don’t position myself as a “woman.”

What will be your goals as a director?
To promote what Rotary stands for, what we can do to help other human beings, giving to others. Poverty will always exist, but we can do something to reduce it. Poverty is not only material; it can be intellectual. I witness this in my profession. Fighting illiteracy [among women] is one of my main priorities. Once women are literate, they will be able to control the number of children they have, and their lives will completely change. And everything will be done through women. It’s already happening.

What is your strategy to reach these objectives?
I have a bit of a strategy, a vision of where we want to be. Perhaps Rotarians have forgotten what Rotary is. In Europe, it’s a real problem. People go to a Rotary club meeting like they go to play cards. Rotarians also have a hard time understanding The Rotary Foundation, which has great programs that can help us accomplish more. Instead of carrying out little projects, we can become part of large-scale projects, such as PolioPlus. Of course, we are helped by our spearheading partners, but in 1985, there were 1,000 cases of polio a day, and now we have only 2,000 cases a year. My brother had polio, so this is a subject close to home. We need to finish our work against polio, even if Rotarians are getting tired of hearing about it. Later, we can decide on another corporate focus. We can perhaps start thinking about another project, but it is absolutely necessary to win our fight against polio first.

Are you bothered by the attention you’re getting?
Yes, it is a bit uncomfortable. I would rather talk about Rotary in France, about Zone 11, than about being the first woman on the RI Board. It’s not easy right now. It just happens that I am a woman, with no more and no less competence than others. I am proud to represent women. I still believe that I should not occupy the front of the stage. It was not my ambition to become director at this point, but opportunity knocked. You can see that in France in all areas – there is Ségolène Royal [who won 46.9 percent of the vote in the May presidential election] – and this is happening for a reason. I am convinced that I have a role to play in the promotion of women. I need to come to grips with it. I cannot stay too much in the shadows.

What were the arguments you presented to your zone’s nominating committee?
I [told the committe] I want to uphold Rotary’s timeless values, which are most important and necessary – mutual understanding and ethics, in particular, because as Rotarians, we are professionals who respect ethical standards and use our skills to help others. My motivation  [also] was to promote francophonie and the French language. It’s a good thing to know English, but we should also be proud to speak our own language.

How did you convince the committee to select you?
[laughs] This is a good one, and I don’t have an answer for you. Well, I have a lot of friends in Rotary, and I’m very dedicated to Rotary. I have visited a lot of districts, and the governors and [Zone 11] nominating committee members knew me already. I represented the RI president three times, and as an International Assembly training leader, I trained many Rotary officers. I was able to meet many people, who, I guess, started to talk about me. When you’re a woman [in Rotary], you stand out in the crowd. If you’re the only woman, even if you’re not more brilliant than the others, you’re the one people notice. Being a woman can be an advantage but also a drawback. After I was selected, some said, “So, now you have to wear a skirt to be selected.” It’s not very nice [laughs], but it’s always like that. You can’t stop people from making comments. How is Rotary part of your life? First of all, I have a special status in the club because I was “born” there. My grandfather and father were members of the Rotary Club of Paris. My father was a member for 52 years. When I was 14 or 15, he started to take us to Rotary events, which was very nice. In 1953, we went to the RI Convention in Paris, and I was holding my dad’s hand. I always tell people, “You see, Rotary starts early.”

Tell us about your career in Rotary.
My husband [is] a member of the Rotary Club of L’Isle- Adam–Beaumont-sur-Oise. [In 1990-91], the district governor, François Duviard-Marsan, told my husband’s club, “We’re going to create mixed-gender clubs because we need women who are committed to their profession.” Then, the club president, who is a friend of mine, said, “I know one who would be great.” [So I became] a charter member of the Rotary Club of Paris-La Défense-Grande Arche in 1991.

What is the status of women in your current club, the Rotary Club of Paris?
Our club has 252 members, and that includes 17 women. Need I say more?

Do you think Rotary has been slower than the rest of society to accept women in leadership roles?
Chauvinism hasn’t disappeared. We’re still in a male-dominated environment. It’s also true of society and of my profession. I remember being a victim of dirty tricks in medical school because I was a woman. Everything was done to discourage me. It was part of the game, not only in the medical profession but in other professions as well. This is why I would like to promote certain ethics. Rotary clubs are like elite fortresses. In France, the problem for Rotary is that the age of the average Rotarian is quite high. It will be different in 15 years because younger generations are used to working side by side with women, strong women.

So, you’re saying that women in Rotary still face male chauvinism?
I remember the RI Convention in Nice, [France], in 1995. I wore a white ribbon because I was a club president-elect. People would stop me and say, “So, we have women now in Rotary? And they can be club president?” For them, it was a revolution. Behaviors are changing because society is changing. My father is 90 and had a stonework company where there were no women. I wanted to study architecture, and he said, “I certainly hope that you don’t want to become a female architect!” My father was against the admission of women in Rotary. [laughs] He was still a Rotarian when I joined the Rotary Club of Paris. He didn’t vote against me, though. A sponsor who knew me since I was four or five also used to be against women in Rotary. It’s interesting to be among those people now. My parents are very proud of me and attended the 7 February reception my club organized to celebrate my nomination.

Could you describe your professional life and the role it played in Rotary?
I am an independent gynecologist with my own office. The reason I joined Rotary was to meet professionals in other fields. When you’re a doctor, you cannot talk about personal problems to your patients or to your employees. You would appear weak. The only people you can confide in are other professionals. Rotary was the solution. It’s part of Rotary’s greatness to be able to meet professionals from a totally different world. You realize suddenly that you share the same preoccupations. It’s one of Rotary’s main strengths.

How has your husband’s club reacted to your nomination?
My husband’s club has 25 members. They don’t recruit the same way, and they don’t want any women. It wasn’t easy for them to accept that I joined Rotary and moved up in the hierarchy. Now they’re fine with it, but it’s still a little complicated. People need to embrace change. It is going to change. It is changing. When you have an all-male, small club, and spouses are very active, they become very defensive when suddenly there is a female Rotarian. They feel less worthy. It is now changing with their daughters.

What will you do after this interview?
I am going to have dinner. My husband isn’t home because he’s receiving a [Group Study Exchange] team from Gabon. The team leader is staying with us.

Would you consider becoming president of RI?
Not at all. On the other hand, I never thought I would become director. So, who knows?