A Rotarian since 1978, Ian is a charter member of the Rotary Club of Sandringham, Victoria, Australia.  He has served RI in many roles, most recently as co-chair of the 2016 (Seoul) Convention Committee.  He is a Chartered Accountant and Principal of Ian Riseley and Company, a firm he established in 1976.  Ian and Juliet live on seven hectares at Moorooduc where they practice their personal philosophy of sustainable and organic living.  They have two children and four grandchildren.

 

The 140 people in attendance heard Ian raise concern about the “negative growth” in membership in both Australia and Canada; Rotary needs to be strong in all parts of the world.  Rotary still has an image problem among those who do not know us well, and who see us as an elitist men’s club and as a social club, not the service club that we are.  There is a need globally for greater gender balance: of the 23,896 Rotarians in Canada, 7,547 (31%) are women; women represent 21% of Rotary membership worldwide.  Rotary needs to get younger.  Ian spoke of the need to nurture Rotary Youth Exchange and Rotaract and to keep in touch with these young people until they become Rotarians.  That will guarantee a lower average age.  Finally, long term planning is important in achieving our goal of improving the quality of life in our local community and in the world.  “A world with Rotary is better than a world without.”