Rotaractors have been seeing the term “Elevate Rotaract” in Rotary-related websites and in social media that triggered our curiosity and made us ask questions of what and why. To answer the questions and confusions on Elevate Rotaract, the Rotaract Club of Cebu Fuente-Community Based, together with the Rotaract Club of Freeport Zone (Subic Bay), hosted a webinar last September 18, 2021, via Zoom. It was a special occasion because it was the pioneering session in the country to have one of the proponents of Elevate Rotaract himself, Rotary International President Barry Rassin, as the guest speaker. R.I. PP Barry has given light and life to the discussion as he tackled the reasons and changes behind the decision to bring Elevate Rotaract. He made the session dynamic, interactive, and conversational to establish a more personal connection to all the participating Rotaractors and Rotarians in the virtual room, which truly embodies the idea behind the Elevate Rotaract movement.
The activity was participated by District Rotaract Representatives (DRR), DRR-Elect, DRR-nominee, and other Rotaractors from different districts and clubs around the world. The event was also attended by Past Rotary International Director Rafael Garcia III who gave his words of encouragement and inspiration to the participants and End Polio Now Zone Coordinator Mary Anne Alcordo-Solomon who was a very supportive mentor to the organizing Rotaract clubs.
The District Rotaract Representative-Elect of District 3860 Shevee Resolado formally introduced their guest speaker, Rotary International Past President Barry Rassin (R.Y. 2018-2019)—who was warmly welcomed by Rotaractors and Rotarians around the world. RI Past President Barry Rassin shared the reason behind the changes in Rotary International. He shared that “(These are) Changes we have to adopt towards progress — to strengthen the relationship with Rotary and Rotaract and to work together and learn from each other.”
Rotary International Past President Barry Rasin emphasized during the webinar some important and striking messages that we should cherish, “Rotaract serves a great purpose in the organization. It is a great opportunity for young professionals for growth, self-development, and leadership development. And that’s where we inspire them to stay in Rotary.”
The topic itself stirred a lot of questions from our viewers. During the open forum, most questions were directed on the reasons behind the big leaps Rotary made to come up with Elevate Rotaract, RI Past President Barry Rassin clarified.
He also explained, “Rotary doesn’t want to replace Rotaract, as they serve a great purpose, but they need to be equal with Rotary clubs just younger—that’s the only difference between us.”
Following the discussion of RI Past President Barry Rassin about Elevate Rotaract was an interactive open forum participated by the Rotaractors and Rotarians during the webinar. As pointed out during the conversation by RI Past President Barry Rassin: “We are more today than we were yesterday. We are more knowledgeable and capable and we know we can do more.” One of the closing statements of RI Past President Barry Rassin was “We will come out to this pandemic better, able to do our part to make the world a better place”, encouraging everyone that “we will never shrink from challenges. We would grow to meet them. Rotary will be bigger.”
“Because they (Rotaractors) have equal abilities and we wanted to show respect to them beyond Interact.”
He also added, “Rotaract are young professionals ready to change and make our world a better place. Their ultimate desire is to make the world a better place. “
“We want to show you respect and the fact we want you long-term, we want you in Rotary and we want you to be the leaders of our organization in the future. That’s what led to elevating Rotaract. “
Rotary International Past President Barry Rassin made the conversation clear that Elevating Rotaract is an opportunity for Rotary and Rotaract to strengthen its relationship and commitment towards serving and changing lives.
