–submitted by Joyce Bromley; photos by Dave Ewanowski
From left: Rick Bova, Jim Ruhly, Rachel Krinsky, Gary Klein & Ron Luskin
The New Member Coffee Reception, hosted by Rachel Krinsky at the YWCA and organized by Jason Beren brought together members as new as 3-weeks, with a lifetime member; several of our past presidents and those of us in between.
Jason Beren, once again, put together an enlightening program. Carol Koby gave the history of the radical concept of opening Rotary to women first introduced in 1934 at a Rotary-Chicago meeting. Today, twenty percent of the Downtown Rotary Club of Madison membership is women. She reminded us that women are Rotarians who happen to be women, not women in Rotary.
From left: Jorge Hidalgo, Haley Saalsaa, Craig Bartlett & Jason Beren
Rachel Krinsky, a member of our Rotary Board, described the principles of the Large Impact Project that will involve all aspects of our Club in addressing ways to improve racial inequality. This 3-prong project will be achieved by:
- Having every committee and fellowship group look at their participation through an equity lens;
- Making our Rotary Club a model by partnering with businesses to advise, hire, and retain employees to correct the inequity imbalance; and;
- Beginning in 2016 partnering with the Madison Public School District to provide programs for students of color.
Through the Large Impact Project we all have a role in its success.
From left: Nick Curran, Will Anzenberger, Joyce Bromley, Courtney Searles & Neil Dinndorf
Jason closed the meeting with the announcement of the formation of the upcoming “New Member Roast Committee” which brought President Ellsworth Brown to full attention. As Dickens would have said “a good time was enjoyed by all.”
Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin 