PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – OCTOBER 2023
Carl W. Treleaven, President (RY 2023-25)
October marks Rotary's celebration of "Community Economic Development" (CED) as one of its seven areas of focus. How can we best celebrate and leverage this opportunity to share our CED passion with fellow Rotarians?
I propose two things:
- Explain the Benefits to Your Local Rotary Club: Share why Rotary's focus on CED can be beneficial to your club.
- Highlight Expertise in CED: Explain how your Rotary Club members can utilize their expertise in CED.
With each Rotary Club rooted in a town or city, the economic health of these communities is vital. Whether your club has prioritized this or not, the Rotary Action Group for Community Economic Development (RAGCED) can assist when you're ready to address the issue. How can RAGCED help? Simply put, many tools and programs successfully applied globally are directly applicable in your hometown. Whatever your local needs are, we can help you find relevant expertise in our worldwide network.
Rotarians are familiar with tools like microfinance, business incubation, and village savings groups. What they may not realize is that these programs can benefit local communities, even in advanced economies. For instance, both types of programs have been successfully implemented in the United States.
Many Rotarians are concerned about member retention, especially in regions like North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. An important solution is to get fellow club members actively involved using their expertise right away. How can you draw upon your members' expertise? Let them know about RAGCED or help them get involved with economic development projects, either in your town or elsewhere in Rotary.
RAGCED and the Rotary Foundation work in various aspects of community economic development:
- Village savings groups
- Microfinance
- Vocational training and scholarships
- Agricultural development/training
- Mentoring of business owners
- Community youth/leadership development
- Enterprise incubation/development
- Access to renewable energy and energy-efficiency measures
- Community infrastructure
- Community-based basic emergency preparedness
RAGCED is Rotary’s worldwide network of expertise in community economic development. We can help your Rotary Club address the economic development needs of your local community and beyond.
Everywhere I go in the rest of the world, I see incredible, innate, entrepreneurial ability. Even in the poorest, remotest villages, people show an amazing capacity to create businesses that sustain their families. We Rotarians can help unleash and empower that innate entrepreneurial ability in so many ways and make communities better, including our own.
So what can you and your fellow club members do? I suggest four possible action items:
- Invite a Speaker: Invite a speaker to your club to talk about some aspect of community economic development.
- Engage Local Leaders: Get members of your club’s leadership to talk with other local leaders in your community about economic development.
- Explore RAGCED’s Website: Visit the ragced.org website to learn more about what we’re doing.
- Encourage Expert Involvement: Encourage fellow Rotary Club members with expertise in economic development to get involved, sharing their expertise to make your community, and others around the world, a better place