German To Take Helm Of Rotary International On July 1, 2020 - #1183

Rotary International is headquartered in the United States and a plurality of recent presidents are from the U.S., but Rotary lives up to its monicker with a majority of its Presidents coming from outside the U.S. Rotary’s current president-elect is Holger Knaack from Hamburg, Germany. Fit and vigorous, Holger sports reading glasses positioned low on his nose, giving him the appearance of a skinny Santa Claus. The likeness doesn’t end there. Genuinely jovial, he seemed to delight in our conversation. Rotary is an international organization with leaders coming from around the world, operating in a representative manner. Holger shared with me some of the differences he sees between Rotary in Central Europe, including Austria, Switzerland and Germany on the one hand and the U.S. on the other. Differences are remarkable. One key difference is that it remains such an honor to be invited to join a Rotary Club in Germany that he jokes, we only leave Rotary “feet first.” Retention and recruitment are not a problem. He noted, however, that their American counterparts remain more generous with the Rotary Foundation. Watch the full interview for more insights. Interview with Holger Knaack, the President-elect of Rotary International. The following is the pre-interview with Holger Knaack. Be sure to watch the recorded interview above. What is your personal or professional connection to polio? For more than 30 years, Rotary has been the driving force in the worldwide polio eradication effort. Where are you presently focused? Rotary must continue to connect the world in the effort toward polio eradication. World Polio Day is a time for Rotary and its partners and supporters from all over the globe to come together, recognize the progress we have made in our fight against polio, and plan the action we must take to end polio forever. How do we get from where we are to total polio eradication? It’s imperative that we continue to raise awareness about the importance of polio eradication. Rotary embarked on this journey in 1985, and we won’t back down until every last child is protected from polio. Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.