Rotary Community Heroes of Hope
Introducing "Rotary Community Heroes of Hope" - a podcast dedicated to showcasing the profound impact of Rotary in District 5330 and beyond. Join us as we explore the remarkable stories of rotary heroes and initiatives that are transforming communities and creating hope around the world.
Rotary Community Heroes of Hope
Lighting The Path: Rotary Training That Works
Want a Rotary education plan that actually moves the needle? We sit down with past District Governor Marilyn Sanderson to unpack a practical, people-first roadmap for training that grows leaders, keeps members, and lifts club impact across District 5330. From new member orientation that truly onboards to skill-building you can use at your day job, we show how smarter learning becomes a retention engine.
We start with a candid look at why members leave and what changes that story: clarity, connection, and a clear path to contribute. Marilyn shares how we’re blending Good to Great principles with Rotary realities—short timelines, busy volunteers, and big goals—to deliver sessions on running effective meetings, building resilient teams, and turning the Four-Way Test into a real-world decision tool. We highlight youth programs like Interact and Model UN as pipelines for fresh leadership and club vitality, and we spotlight Art for Peace, a creative bridge to schools and families that culminates in district showcases and scholarships.
Accessibility is the backbone of the plan. Every training is recorded and posted to the District 5330 YouTube channel, so officers, committees, and new members can learn on their schedule and share with their clubs. We lean into live Q&A and expert-led deep dives, including a two-part Rotary Foundation series that demystifies how funds flow and how to give strategically. Coming up: sessions on public image, membership growth, and youth services designed to equip clubs with tools that work on Monday morning and look great in a grant report.
If you care about member retention, club culture, and visible community impact, this conversation is a playbook. Subscribe, share with your board, and leave a review telling us the one training topic your club needs next.
Hello and welcome to the Community Heroes of Hope, a podcast where we shine a light on the remarkable individuals and projects in Rotary District 5330 that bring hope and change to our local and global communities. I am Judy Zelficar, your co-host and the current district governor of Rotary District 5330.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm Nyron McQueen, the Rotary District Governor-elect. Together we're diving deep into the heart of the community service, showcasing the impact of dedication and collaboration in addressing some of the most pressing challenges our communities face.
SPEAKER_02:Each episode will tell stories of incredible people making a difference, innovating solutions, and inspiring others to take action.
SPEAKER_00:We'll also be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the projects that are transforming the lives and will discuss how you too can get involved, contribute, and be part of the positive change. Whether you're a seasoned Rotarian or just looking to give back, this podcast is for you.
SPEAKER_02:So join us as we explore the journeys, challenges, and successes of people like you who have stepped up to make a difference. Let's celebrate the spirit of community and the power of hope together.
SPEAKER_00:Don't forget to subscribe to the Community Heroes of Hope on your favorite podcast platform. Stay with us on this journey of inspiration, and let's spread the message of hope further than ever.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for tuning in. Let's get started.
SPEAKER_00:Governor Judy, I am uh happy we have past District Governor Marilyn Sanderson here, who is our education chair, and she has been done doing some amazing things for the district this year with trying to add to our rather, in my opinion, rather expansive educational offerings.
SPEAKER_02:We definitely do have a lot.
SPEAKER_00:And it's something that was desired by our presidents and sort of both in surveys from our Southwest Pets um survey as well as from our pre-pet survey. And so I shared that with Marilyn and shared that with uh Bill Chase, etc. And they put their heads together and really, I think, brought a variety of additional content. So, Marilyn, I'd like you to take a few moments to introduce yourself and tell us how wonderful you are, and then we can and then we can get into uh um what you've been doing on behalf of the district because I definitely appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I am Marilyn Sanderson, past district governor in District 5340, which is San Diego. And in joining uh this district when we moved here about seven years ago, I saw that there were lots of opportunities for me to volunteer what I might know and what I might have researched and experienced with uh the various district governors that have served since then. And I must say those opportunities have been amazing. And then Nairon unleashed me.
SPEAKER_02:Unleashed the power of rhetoric.
SPEAKER_01:And we've discussed offering um work sessions for leaders in the district to develop them as leaders, to identify new leaders, give them some uh tools, if you will, to become better leaders, advance in leadership in the district, or whatever else they might do. And then we struck on the idea of Rotarians join Rotary, not just to do service projects, but also to enhance their work lives. And so we came up with the idea of giving them some tools that would do both, make them better Rotarians, improve their membership in their clubs, and skills that they might be able to take to their businesses. And that would also then help attract younger members to rotary if they found that they could improve their business life, their businesses themselves, as well as improving their rotary clubs. And a couple of years ago, I read a book um called Good to Great. Love that book. And that set me thinking, I don't know if you'll be able to see this or not. No, it doesn't work too well. Um and that set me to thinking about companies that work well, companies that are quite successful, and companies that I miss who are no longer with us. And the more I read, the more I researched beyond that book, the more I became convinced that we can combine these two things, our rotary membership and our business life and business work, and expand in both areas. So that's a little bit of the background. And also for the district, I am the polio plus chair and the education chair and the uh belonging chair, which is formerly known as diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I'm and I'm pretty excited because I've been able to use these tips and tools in all three areas.
SPEAKER_00:Well, one of the things, um, how this really started um percolating in my mind is that I Marilyn spoke at a sta, I think it was a staff meeting, or maybe it was an AG meeting, I can't remember, some years ago in Loma Linda and covered good to great.
SPEAKER_01:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And did such a fantastic uh job of it, and I think everybody was inspired that day talking about some of the tools and techniques and at least concepts we could take back on how do we elevate our game in rotary. And I think even more now the that is so necessary because we have been, with the exclusion of Africa and India, we have been on a downward trajectory for membership, right? So w we have to do something different. And I think part of what we're trying to do differently on a number of different levels is provide additional educational offerings that would no not only elevate our presidents and other leadership, but also attract non-Rotarians to rotary because they're getting content that will help them in their everyday lives.
SPEAKER_02:And these concepts that we learn, learn about how to to communicate, how to promote and and uh send information out to our community, how we learn to work with each other, all of these lessons do definitely transcend both rotary and business. So what a great opportunity that you're creating for all of our Rotarians in our district. I wanted to kind of touch a little bit on, you know, all the education we do have that has been that Maryland's been involved in the education committee for several years, and we have quite a wealth of recorded videos on our YouTube channel. And I want to make sure that we mention that because I don't know that everybody goes there to look for it. And, you know, we talked about we're gonna create a better pathway to look for those things through our website as well. But where can these things be found, um uh, Marilyn, as far as the training that has already been done, and then where the future training will also be housed?
SPEAKER_01:The trainings we've already done, which include several of the presentations at District Training Assembly last April, and then we've added several new ones. They're all recorded, and our genius Dan Cortesi um edits these videos and then posts them on YouTube. So they're all there, and as soon as they're posted, I send out an email to everyone in the district with the YouTube link, tell them what it's about, and encourage them to view it. And I think that's popular because not everybody can tune in at the time the live broadcast is being done on various topics. So they have a chance to review it and um then ask questions if they need to. So I think uh the way we're doing it now reaches a pretty wide audience and is pretty valuable based on the feedback I've gotten from those who want to attend or who can review it on YouTube.
SPEAKER_02:So if you go to YouTube, just you know, search up YouTube, you just search District 5330. And when you go to our District 5330 channel, all those videos are there, and you can search through them based on year or however you want to find them.
SPEAKER_00:So, Marilyn, what um what changes would you say you've you're adding, either have added already this year in terms of educational content or approach, and what more do you look to do over the next uh coming months?
SPEAKER_01:We started in July with these podcasts, and the very first one I thought was important, it was on membership. And then uh Bill Chase did one on club management, which is a new addition, because um the president's elect leadership seminar no longer does some basic training, it goes beyond that with um various other broad concepts. So the how-tos, how to run a meeting, how to pick a team, those kinds of things. We hadn't done those before. And so we added that. And then in August, we did uh the four-way test, an explanation of what that is, where it came from, and what it means. And then we did one on um interact clubs. We have a very young, at least in my opinion, a very young interact chair who had some new ideas and was very vibrant in that presentation. Um, Art for Peace is a new one that we did. It's an art contest in various mediums that clubs can participate in, and it awards a scholarship to a student, to a high school student, once that person is selected. And there's quite a process there. I think it's going to be well received as the uh timelines for that come by.
SPEAKER_02:I think I'm gonna stop you there for just a second because there's a new addition along with that art contest. First, the art contest is new to our district, not new to others around us, and and that the winners and the runners up or the contestants have an opportunity to not only show at the I think it's the Nixon Library when we have our Pete's conference, but also at our new new to us last year rise, where we have the students that are in the speech and music competition perform, the winners perform, the art competition winners will also be displayed. So that whole thing is culminating into an amazing uh event that is full of art and culture.
SPEAKER_01:And um Rice, the Rice presentation is gonna be in November. Good segue. Oh, thank you very much for uh skipping to that one. Um, we did another new one called New Member Orientation, and I did that one based on uh I I asked the question at an RLI training, uh the part one, the new people, new participants, and I asked them based on some comments that had been made, do you have an orientation session for your new members? And I was flabbergasted that only three clubs in that gathering of about 15 had one. And that sparked my imagination. So I put together a new member orientation. It was very well attended to the point that we're gonna do another one in January and I'll do that. And um, Al Rubio, our membership chair, will be a part of that presentation. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02:We can we can talk. Hopefully, we're talking about our our passport to rotary in that one as well.
SPEAKER_01:That's great because I'm all for that passport. I think that um we've mixed the older topics from district training assembly with some new information, new topics. And uh as I see the people who come online and listen and tune in, that number increases with every single one that we do. Um different this year is the Ruthery Foundation that Dr. Helene Kalpis, past district governor, is doing. She's doing it in two parts, and that is one part about how the money is spent, and one part about how you can donate. And she knows this inside and out. So there are the first one that she did was very, very successful. A lot of people came and she answered many questions, which is an important part of all these presentations. I've asked all of the presenters and facilitators to leave time for people to ask questions as well as put their information in the chat so that they can be contacted later. And then in January, we have public image. Again, the new member orientation, Model UN, um, youth services in February. And I'm still filling in the blanks for March, April, May, and June. And as I talk with people, new topics are suggested and new ideas come forth. So the spring is basically going to be new ideas, new presentations, new discussions. And to me, that's what all of that is about. We have a topic, we give some basic information, and then people have the opportunity to brainstorm our ask questions and discuss what they've heard. Wonderful. Excellent.
SPEAKER_02:Sounds like we have a good lineup for our education this for the rest of this year.
SPEAKER_00:We do, and and I think that is so important in terms of empowering our our um not only our district staff but our club staff. Um, I love the fact that your new member orientation was so well attended that you're going to have a second one because that is a really important part. 50% of Rotarians leave within the first two years because they're not feeling engaged.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. And it's more important than ever because um I'm gonna brag for you, district governor, that um district 5330 is number one in our zone, and I think actually in both zone 26 and 27, with the number of members that we've added since the beginning of your year, and all of those members need that orientation. We've added 109 new members to our district in that period of time. So that's a critical piece of um education that all of our clubs should be giving to their new members.
SPEAKER_00:You're right, and actually we need to make sure we have a full house for you there, Marilyn, because we have a lot of people that need that.
SPEAKER_01:We'll have to upgrade my Zoom membership. More people in um one of the things that the new member orientation brought forward was there are some clubs that do an excellent job. And so I invited the ones that I knew about to come to the session and bring their information with them so that they could share it. And people can pick and choose or um think of some new ways to handle more new member orientation. And one of the things I asked them was please do not call them fireside chats. Because nobody knows what those are, unless they're in my generation, and Franklin Roosevelt was even before that. So although it was meant to be a warm and inviting title, it's kind of um old and faded at this point. So I encourage them to call them orientations. And you're so right. If if people don't understand when they're joining Rotary what it is, and begin to sort out some of the um initials that we use in referring to various parts of our organization, they're not going to stick, they're not gonna stay. Um, they're too busy, there's too much involved in that. We have to make it easy for them. And I wish someone had done that for me when I first joined Rotary, which was by the way, I was a new real estate agent at that point in time, and I joined Rotary only because I thought the club I was joining had a nice target audience for new clients.
SPEAKER_02:Well, Rotary does mean business, but it is not a networking organization. However, it is a beautiful thing that we can get together, learn together, and then, you know, many times work together. So thank you so much for everything you do. We look forward to all of these new classes that are coming out and uh and to seeing them again on YouTube when we're it when and if we're not able to make the live sessions.
SPEAKER_00:Marilyn, thank you for really energizing our educational component. That's really been exciting for me, both from as a person who sat and listened to it as well as knowing what it can do to invigorate and empower and provide resources to our clubs and our club members. So thank you very much for that.
SPEAKER_01:One of the greatest joys of my life is learning new things and finding out about new ideas, et cetera, and then sharing that information with anybody who will listen to me and these presentations are a great venue. I get so much joy and pleasure and reward from doing them.
SPEAKER_02:Well, we appreciate it very much. Thank you so much. So that wraps up this episode of Heroes of Hope. We are so happy that we have an audience out there listening. We want you to subscribe, share, and tell your friends about the Rotary community Heroes of Hope, because that's how we get the word out about the impact we're having in this world.