Our speaker for the day was Barb Feder, the District 5495 Diversity, Equity and InclusionTask Force Chair. Barb, who has been a Rotarian since 1992, president of the Tempe club in 1997-98 and president of Tempe Downtown in 2016-17 also served as District Governor for D5510 in 2001-2. Her honors include Paul Harris, Major Donor and the Rotary Service Above Self award. Her husband Abe is also a PDG.
Per Barb, RI has a central focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. While we are diversified internationally, not all groups are represented. An international task force is up and running, and even though Rotary has a history of diverse backgrounds, RI has affirmed its commitment by issuing a more explicit DEI inclusion statement in 2019.
As a global network that strives to build a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change, Rotary values diversity and celebrates the contributions of people of all backgrounds, regardless of their age, ethnicity, race, color, abilities, religion, socioeconomic status, culture, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
The action plan is to increase our impact, expand our reach, enhance participant engagement, and increase our ability to adapt.
Engaging people from all cultures, experiences and identities and making them feel welcome and a part of the Rotary experience will allow us to increase our membership which is vital to the health and longevity of the organization. Inviting diverse perspectives will offer us new and bold ideas to keep Rotary relevant for the next century. Making diversity, equity and inclusion a priority is everyone’s responsibility—from club members to Rotary staff members. We want a rainbow of colors in our clubs.
Barb indicates our club will utilize a DEI assessment generated from RI. As a member of the District DEI Task Force, she will help to facilitate the club "walking through the assessment together". Cheryl Goodwin will be our club facilitator of the process. Our thanks to PDG Barb for updating us on the important work ahead. A book will be donated to an Osborn School in her honor!
