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John Hewko, General
Secretary-elect of Rotary International, spoke at the RI Convention
in New Orleans. Here is his address.
I
can’t tell you how absolutely thrilled I am to be joining the Rotary
community next month as your new general secretary, and I would like
to thank the Board of Directors and the Trustees for your faith and
trust in me.
With the frequent change in
leadership in Rotary, the general secretary represents, in many
ways, the link between administrations and the vehicle for
institutional continuity. This is an enormous responsibility, and I
want to assure you that I will do all that I can to fulfil that role
with integrity, good judgment, and enthusiasm, and with a deep
appreciation of our past, yet coupled with a keen desire to explore
and implement new, bold, and innovative measures to take Rotary into
its second century.
I would also like to thank my
wife, Margarita, and my 18-year-old daughter, Maria, for their
steadfast support and enthusiasm as we embark together as a family
on this new and exciting adventure. Margarita — or Marga, as we
affectionately call her at home — will be my partner on this
journey. She is originally from Argentina and brings to our
relationship a broad international perspective, and is very much
looking forward to using the platform of the general secretary’s
spouse to make her own unique contribution to this great
organization.
And finally, I would like to
recognize my parents, Lu and Natalie Hewko, who are able to join me
on the stage today, and thank them for all they have done for me. I
could not have asked for better and more loving parents. Although
they currently live in Clarkston, Michigan, a small town north of
Detroit, they came to the United States after the Second World War
from Ukraine by way of a displaced persons refugee camp in Bavaria.
The example of their lives, and their ability to overcome the
hardship of that terrible war, the tragedy of losing everything, and
the fear of coming to the United States with nothing — the values of
honesty, decency, and hard work that they instilled in their three
children — these are the gifts they have given to me and for which I
am deeply grateful.
Now, I am particularly thankful
for the opportunity to address you, the members of Rotary. The
number and diversity of Rotarians at this gathering is in itself a
testament to the strength and global reach of one of the world’s
great institutions. I am well aware that I have a great deal to
learn, to absorb, and to understand, and I would like to thank Ed
Futa for his assistance in educating me about the many facets of
Rotary and in making the transition as smooth as possible. Ed has
done an absolutely fantastic job over the past 11 years as your
general secretary, and I look forward to building on all that he has
achieved.
During the past several months, I
have received a large number of e-mails and calls from family,
friends, and acquaintances — and also from Rotarians around the
world — with their congratulations. A number of the messages asked
why I would leave the world of law and move
to
Evanston to assume this prestigious, yet challenging, opportunity.
Although the reasons were many, there are five that were
particularly meaningful and relevant.
First, the mission of Rotary and
its focus on integrity, and the promotion of goodwill, peace, and
understanding through fellowship. For me, this will not be so much a
job as a passion.
Second, there is not an
organization in the world better positioned to carry out that
mission. The 1.2 million leaders and 34,000 clubs in over 200
geographic locations create an incredible and unmatched platform to
make the world a better place. What this organization, what you as
Rotarians, have been able to achieve over the past 106 years is
simply extraordinary.
Third, Rotary has been a part of
my family for many years. My father has been a committed Rotarian
for almost 30 years, and my mother has been a steadfast supporter of
his life in Rotary. My dad is a past club president and a four-time
Paul Harris Fellow, and was very active in helping to establish the
first Rotary clubs in Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union. It
was thanks to him that I became a charter member of the first club
in Kyiv. My mother continues to be active in a number of community
service efforts, both in Clarkston and the Ukrainian American
community, and was also recently named a Paul Harris Fellow. Thirty
years of watching my parents practice Service Above Self has had a
profound impact on me.
By the way, as an interesting
aside, I first found out about the position when my father sent me a
copy of an announcement in The Rotarian magazine that Rotary
was looking for a new general secretary. I think the lesson here is
clear: Very good things happen when you read The Rotarian
magazine.
Fourth, this, quite frankly, is a
very exciting time to be coming to Rotary. The goal of eradicating
polio is close at hand. Rotary International has just launched a new
strategic plan, and The Rotary Foundation is rolling out the Future
Vision Plan. There is a saying that “timing is everything,” and for
me, the timing for joining Rotary could not be better.
And finally, the internationality
of Rotary dovetails with my own professional and personal background
and experience. My many years as a partner with Baker & McKenzie, a
global law firm; studying and working in the UK, Ecuador, Mexico,
Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic; serving
as a senior official in a U.S. government agency charged with
delivering development assistance funding to the world’s poorest
countries; writing extensively on international issues — these
experiences give me a perspective on the world that will allow me to
better serve Rotary and its tremendously diverse membership.
Now, as I have gotten to know
Rotary more intimately in the last four months, I am struck by how
little many Rotarians know about the function and work of the
Secretariat, and its talented professional staff in Evanston and in
the seven regional Rotary offices outside the United States. My team
— the Rotary professional staff — is vital to the success of this
organization. I want to assure you that one of my top priorities
will be to better connect Rotarians with the Secretariat, to
increase awareness as to what the Secretariat can offer, and to make
sure the Secretariat is an effective, efficient, and useful resource
for the clubs, so that clubs are able to grow and carry out the
mission of Rotary.
I look
forward to supporting President-elect Kalyan Banerjee and Trustee
Chair-elect Bill Boyd in their service to Rotary. The new strategic
plan and Future Vision Plan strike the right balance between
maintaining continuity with the past while outlining a unified,
coherent, and ambitious roadmap for measured change, and I look
forward to working with all of you to implement these plans.
The future for Rotary is bright
indeed. We will rid the world of the terrible scourge of
polio — we will rid the world of this terrible disease — and
then we will be bold and aggressive and identify and conquer the
next big global challenge. We will redouble our public relations
efforts to enhance our brand and image so that the world better
appreciates and understands the great works of Rotary and the value
of connecting through fellowship. During this second Rotary century,
we will successfully use the power and passion of Rotarians to bring
water, sanitation, and basic education to millions, to reduce child
mortality, to prevent disease around the world, and to promote peace
and sustainable economic development.
More and more, we will partner
with others in order to better leverage our resources. We will make
a meaningful contribution to the current ongoing global debate on
how best to address the needs of those less fortunate. We will
promote the ideas of community service and volunteerism among our
youth and bring the world closer together through our scholarship
and exchange programs. New technologies will strengthen our image
among the world’s next generation of leaders. We will work hard to
strengthen clubs and increase Rotary membership around the world,
with a particular focus on attracting a younger and more diverse
membership. And we will do all of this in the spirit of friendship,
goodwill, and fellowship that has been the hallmark of Rotary.
So
again, thank you for the opportunity to be here. Marga and I have
been privileged to meet so many of you this week and have been
deeply moved by the warm welcome that you have extended to us. As I
look out from this stage and see the faces of thousands of
Rotarians, united by the call to service and good works, I feel a
sense of wonder and amazement at who you are and what you have
accomplished. And today I pledge to you that, as your new general
secretary, I will invest every ounce of my energy to ensure the
Rotary flame burns ever brighter so that, working together, we can
continue to make the world a better place — for our families and
friends, for our communities and countries, and for future
generations to come. Thank you |
RI