A special meet on Women in Rotary A Rotary meet at a public library in Alberta put the spotlight on attracting more women into its fold to expand its membership diversity and reach in the communities.

Ladies who are interested in volunteering at a local, national or international level visited and interacted with Rotarians at the Cochrane Public Library on April 22 in Alberta, US.

A ‘Women in Rotary’ event was held as the international organisation is hoping to attract more female members to increase diversity.

Trying to do away with the misnomer that it is a men-only club, the hope is for women to realise that Rotary is an option.

Rotarian Anita McDonald believes many women would be interested in joining the service club if they knew more about it.

“Women only began being members in clubs in 1987. Even though that was 30 years ago, we still find a lot of women don’t realise that Rotary is an option for them when it comes to volunteering and expanding themselves.”

Having a more female presence within the club would bring a different dynamic, shares McDonald.

“Because of the lower amount of women we have in the club, the reason to try and get more women involved is to bring new ideas and different perspectives in; if we have a good split of men and women we could work to fulfil the needs of our community better.”

McDonald stressed the event was just to make women aware of what the Rotary can offer.

“When some club members say we need more women, it can come across the wrong way. The point is we want to make it known as an option just like a lot of other community groups in town.”

“The more people that know about Rotary I think they would really see the benefits of a club, such as Rotary.”

The free event was open to all community members who would like to learn more.

Guest speaker, Christine Rendell – Rotary District 5360 Governor Nominee 2019-20, kicked off the event which was held from 2 to 4 pm at the public library.

Source: Cochrane Now