From our leaders

This year, we imagined all that Rotary could be and what our future might look like, together.

It began by affirming the importance of comfort and care for our members and demonstrating the power of courageous and empathetic leadership. One way we did this was by honoring six People of Action: Champions of Inclusion. These Rotary members came together to build a sense of belonging, openness, and respect for all people through Rotary. Additionally, nearly 53,000 current and former Rotary members shared their thoughts about and experiences with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as part of Rotary’s second survey on that subject. We’re using the results to strengthen our approach and guide us forward.

We also harnessed the power of our disaster response fund unlike any year in the past. The Rotary Foundation established dedicated funds to help those affected by flooding in Pakistan, the war in Ukraine, and earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Overall, we provided US$14.8 million in disaster response grant funding to help after natural disasters and conflict.

And we built on our historic commitment to ending polio — and the decades-long commitment we have made to disease prevention and public health — by announcing a new Program of Scale, United to End Cervical Cancer in Egypt. The program aims to reduce the number of cervical cancer cases by encouraging HPV vaccination for girls, promoting screenings for women, and raising awareness in and around Cairo about how to prevent cervical cancer.

In addition, we supported 1,098 global grants to support large-scale projects, scholarships, and vocational training teams.

And let us never forget that our number one corporate responsibility is ending polio. We renewed our longstanding partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announcing a joint commitment of up to US$450 million to support global polio eradication efforts. We also pledged US$150 million toward polio eradication at the World Health Summit in Berlin and Global Citizen Live.

Altogether, Rotary raised more than US$427 million this year.

Thanks to your generosity and continued membership, we look forward to a bright future of positive, sustainable action in pursuit of a better world.