 And welcome to Hawaii Rotary People of Action. I'm Beth Ann Koslovich, you're a substitute host for today. And with me is our district governor, Wynton Shuneman, who's usually in this seat. And this time we're turning the tables on you a little bit, Wynton, and it's delightful to see you and to be able to talk to you about Rotary. You know, it's wonderful to be here. We're getting towards the end of the Rotary year, which goes from the beginning of July to the end of June. And so there's a lot of things going on still, but we are getting ready to wrap it up. So there's two sides of the conversation in my own mind. One is the melancholy. I'm a little sad about it. The other is that it's exciting to see what's just around the corner. So let's talk a little bit about both sides of that conversation. First of all, how are you feeling? Here we are, this part of the year. Yes, you're coming into nearing the end of your year. But how are you feeling about what you've been able to do this year and how you've seen Rotary evolve over your time as district governor? Well, you know, Rotary is such an amazing organization. And I've had such great opportunities to travel our state and travel throughout the West Coast. It has been immensely fulfilling to be able to connect with people that are just doing such fantastic work. And the other side of it is that I did come in with such immense dreams and such huge goals that it's obvious that I'm not going to get them all done at this point in time. But Rotary is not just about one segment, one year. It is about a sense of continuity over time and really about making a difference. So I have great opportunities to make the difference, make the change that I want to do, that I see as possible within Rotary. To make that change, though, you need a lot of other people. And meeting with the presidents, meeting with all the other clubs, I know you were making the rounds. That's how you and I first met. This is my first year in Rotary, although I'm a legacy because of my mother. And fulfilling a long, long promise. But as you were talking with the presidents who I understand recently met, and I think we've got a picture of everybody who was up at Kilauea Camp yesterday, we have that military camp. There we go. Yeah, beautiful. So there are all the presidents from the various different clubs from across Hawaii. How did that meeting go? And what is it that you think that you were able to impart to them? So as Rotarians, we meet several times during the course of the year, both to plan and to share resources and to talk about the things that are going on and the impact that we're having in our communities, both globally and locally. That particular training session or meeting session, I asked our presidents to meet away from the daily challenges that they face family, business, community and that kind of stuff. And really come together to discuss the things that are going on in Rotary, going on in our community and how we can maximize our efforts for greater impact. So what do you think came out of that that would make a difference not only in how you leave your legacy but what everybody takes forward? So one of the things that we talked about and came up with is truly a focus this year on the efforts of human trafficking or to fight human trafficking. I call them freedom fighters. To say that you're working on human trafficking is one thing that both scares people and intrigues people. So that was one of the great things that came out of the meeting is a coordinated effort across the state to educate ourselves about the issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children, human traffic globally and all of those conversations that we have around the subject. We did a marvelous job with that during the course of the year. I think we probably educated close to 2,000 people about the issue. Some clubs have taken steps towards working with community partners to become freedom fighters. We had a great march here in downtown Honolulu with 400, 500 participants to call attention for our legislators and community action people on the issue. Out of that also came a friendship bond, if you will. One of the things we think about Rotary Off Times as being all about work and no play and one of the things that came out of that was just a real sense of camaraderie, a sense of caring about each other and doing things together. That was particularly one of those chicken skin kind of things, right? I think that's one of the most lovely things that I've discovered about Rotary which I saw in the years that my mother was involved in when she was president that it was a lot more than just doing work projects. It's really a wonderful reason to come together to better a community and to work on something that has great meaning but in so doing, forging friendships that last well beyond the project or well beyond a particular need and to see especially in our small community that's a very important thing because we have so much work to do not just with this particular project which is incredibly weighty and important but how that fits into all of our needs for our families and our children. It's such an important thing that we do. It is, I have a great story. Imanel Dekakni is a good friend of mine. Has been a Rotarian for a long time and he came to Hawaii via New York. He was originally from Alexandria, Egypt but came to Hawaii and knew no one and so he was starting a new business and that kind of stuff and had an experience with his family in Rotary prior to in Alexandria, Egypt and he joined Rotary here in Hawaii so that he had community around him. He knew the value of friendships and the opportunities to just be connected one of my things that in reading and educating myself about community action organizations is that millennials in particular because they're so connected electronically one of the things that they crave is the opportunity to connect personally and so they're more engaged in evening activities than any previous generation and Rotary is a great place for millennials to connect in a different way as well. I think we're seeing that in a lot of ways. I saw a study recently about millennials not wanting to do speed dating or fast food but really learning the value of what takes time to produce and that means a good relationship or a good meal and the fact that Rotary can provide both on occasion is a very, very good thing. So as now you're looking at a very big activity that's coming up for all of us the district conference is going to be not too long from now in the middle of a couple of weeks and knowing that we're going to have some wonderful speakers there that are now open to the public that everyone can come and attend so it's not just for Rotarians, you can come too and knowing that this is a very sort of not exactly the centerpiece of your year but it certainly is one that culminates a lot of the activity. How are you feeling about the conference? I'm excited for the conference. I mean, just truly excited because not only is it a way for us to celebrate the things that we've done it's also an opportunity for us to continue to grow as Rotarians and individuals and my vision for the conference and working with the conference team was to really, so a Rotary theme for the year is be the inspiration from our Rotary International president, Barry Rassen. But you had also a different slice of that, I know when we were beginning to talk about the district conference there was something very important to you that we focus on peace. Yeah, so I wanted to meld the overarching goal of Rotary which is to create a more peaceful world with the theme of be the inspiration and so our theme for the conference is inspiring peace. We have some wonderful keynote speakers, Brian Rush from the Human Thread Foundation on Saturday during the daytime. There is an opportunity to engage in a Ted style talk. Yes, we're calling them wind talks as in worthy information now, not just about you. Yeah, I understand. And so we have Pono Shim, we have Poonani Burgess, we have Ian Ketajima, good friend of mine. I'm so excited for him to come and talk about his way of innovating, thinking and the way, how can we innovate to create a more peaceful world? So from his technology background that's an amazing opportunity. We have some folks from Ho'ol Anapua which is our partner on human trafficking to talk about how fighting for freedom creates a more peaceful world and those issues. Although it's funny when we talk about fighting to be able to create peace as opposed to seriously advocating for. Advocating, yeah, advocating is one step but there does come a point where we need to take action and really be one to say stop. This is unacceptable in our society. We could go on and make this a conversation about human trafficking but I don't wanna do that. Our logo, I'm excited, our logo is interesting in that it is an origami piece of, if you will. I love that and I think we're gonna put it up there so that you can have a look at it. And the origami piece of, in my mind, symbolizes in the folds the combining of our various cultures both in Rotary and in our own community but the coming together in intricacies to reflect our society and our differences in coming together as one in both peace and hope. So if you look at the symbolism of origami and the opportunities there to me it is kind of a fun to think about and talk about. And it's such a lovely piece that I was even thinking if we could turn it into a little piece of jewelry and we could keep with us that goes far beyond the conference but in all seriousness, now being able to take some of those concepts and seeing how we apply them in different ways now and the opportunities that we have both here at home and when we're away from Hawaii and how we bring some of what we know about living in Hawaii to other parts of the country and other parts of the world that need to hear this message so much especially through the Rotary conduits that we have being a worldwide organization. So how has this filtered into what's happening beyond Hawaii and beyond the mainland? Well, first of all, I do wanna say that the concepts and the conversations that we have about during the peace conference is something that I will look to apply in my daily life. It's not just about having a conversation and hearing a good speaker but taking that away and applying it personally, professionally and in my relationships with family, friends and the global community. So truly excited about that. We were talking a few minutes earlier one of the things about millennials and that kind of stuff. We're looking at how we apply passion and connecting it with impact. So we are in the process of developing a new Rotary Club. All right, well, on that note, let's go to a quick break and we'll have something very exciting to talk about when we come back. Wonderful. Hey, loha, my name is Andrew Lanning. I'm the host of Security Matters Hawaii airing every Wednesday here on Think Tech Hawaii live from the studios. I'll bring you guests. I'll bring you information about the things in security that matter to keeping you safe, your coworkers safe, your family safe, keep our community safe. We want to teach you about those things in our industry that may be a little outside of your experience. So please join me because security matters. Aloha. Aloha, I'm Wendy Lo and I'm coming to you every other Tuesday at two o'clock live from Think Tech Hawaii. And on our show, we talk about taking your health back. And what does that mean? It means mind, body and soul. Anything you can do that makes your body healthier and happier is what we're going to be talking about. Whether it's spiritual health, mental health, fascia health, beautiful smile health, whatever it means, let's take healthy back. Aloha. Evening. And we are back with Hawaii Rotary people of action and delighted to be talking to district governor Winton Schoneman, who usually is sitting in my seat, but I am subbing for Janet Shuffer. So we are here together talking about something that's pretty exciting as we're melding passion for Rotary with also issues driven passion. How is that turning up in Rotary clubs? So as most Rotary clubs are focused on a variety of areas, have very diverse groups of people with very diverse passions. And so we go and address one issue here and one issue there. And during the course of the year is my travels throughout the district and having talk with people. One of the things that we tend to gravitate towards is how can we have greater impact in our communities? And so it occurred to me that if we take our resources and respond to a specific issue and focus those resources on that issue, whether it be during a time period or in this case building a Rotary club around a specific issue that will be with us for many years. So the issue is the environment and sustainability. It is not something that is going to be solved immediately, but it is something that needs constant attention to. So we're building the Eco Rotary Club of Kakaako. It's meeting at Salt in at the Revolution, Revolution, Solar Offices upstairs on Wednesday evenings at six right now, but it has attracted a significant group of people. Many of them tend to be in the millennial generation or somewhere there of where their passion and what they see in the world is different from my generation. So they will be addressing issues of environment and sustainability. They are incredibly ambitious and incredibly creative. One of the conversations that they're having right now is how can we do a beach cleanup and Kalalpapa on Molokai? How do we do that rather than just going to our Alamona Beach Park or someplace close by? They have great plans. How can we address the issue of the garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific? Or how can we build a community garden in the Kakaako area where most of the living now is becoming high rises? So I am incredibly excited about this group of young people that are coming together with passion and looking to maximize their impact in our communities. It also strikes me that this kind of a Rotary Club might very well be a model for others where people want to gather around a specific issue and it may in fact be something that is going to slowly change how Rotary may be delivered in future. It could be, there's room for variety. Rotary is an organization that to me over the years has demonstrated flexibility in the way that they approach things. We're not locked into it has to be one specific way and it's been very open, if I don't mind saying so, to change and to growing in a way that meets the needs of Rotarians rather than meeting the needs of a board or meeting the needs of a corporate structure and that kind of stuff. So I'm particularly excited about that. We often hear a phrase, change or die. That's not exactly what we're talking about with this but the idea of having that flexibility and the need to move into a different way of being to be able to create sustainability and to be responsive to an ever-changing world. This world is not the same as it was 10 years ago or 20 years ago for some people who got into Rotary 30 or 50 years ago, clearly very different. And so looking at Rotary's growth and its ability to respond seems to be rooted in the idea of flexibility that's now being seen in how the Echo Rotary Club is being formed. One of the things that that requires though is that we listen to our members and that's something that requires a specific skill, requires a continuous process of reinforcing that in our club presidents, in our district governors and our Rotary International leadership. And I'm happy to say that our Rotary International leadership at the top, at the bottom, depending upon how you look at the triangle, Rotary International leadership is very good at listening to what it is that we want and then striving to meet those actions. The council on legislation met just recently and one of the actions that they took was to elevate our Rotaract clubs to on par with our Rotary clubs and make them partners rather than a subset of a Rotary Club or responsive to a Rotary Club, a true partnership and I'm really excited for that. So how will that show up for those involved with Rotaract? What will they feel as a difference? Well, it's not determined yet how that will be rolled out. The idea that Rotaract clubs don't belong to a Rotary Club anymore but are a true partner in paints an image to me that we will be working more together, that they will have greater independence, they are not to work for us, but that we have a respect for them as an organization of their own and that we work together for the greater good, that we mentor young people until they become Rotarians and that the Rotaract clubs themselves assume greater responsibility for the leadership of their own organizations. That means that districts like ours will be providing more training, will providing more opportunity and we're having conversations at the district level about how we integrate Rotaract into our district board. Having that vitality of younger people who are involved with Rotary, albeit as younger people and those not out of high school yet, that's really important. Having some of that happen, I've seen some of the clubs that were started for high schools and how they interact but it was much more of the mentorship, feeling that there's a sense of self-direction and agency that they will have now seems to also mean that not only are we creating a pipeline for Rotary but also that we're developing the skills for many other issues through Rotaract in school and that's a really important issue for all of us. And it's exciting for me to see them look at the world in terms of having ownership for things that are going on rather than looking at a previous generation and going, well, not just your fault but whatever it is, this is what you created but looking at it and going, you know what? I am empowered to take action. I am empowered to be the solution rather than looking to others. So I'm excited for that aspect of it as well. Me too. I can't wait to see what happens with that. I know my mother helped to start a Rotaract club a while ago and that was a very important thing to her because young people, to be able to bring them not only into Rotary but into life and to be able to have good solution-oriented thinking skills and critical thinking skills and also working well with other people who care deeply about the same issues is a very important thing for all of us to help build as we build community and we talk about building community. But before we have to go away and say goodbye, I wanna ask you about how you feel about saying goodbye to your time as district governor and what it is that you'd like to leave us with as your legacy and what you feel you're personally taking away. You know, this year has been incredibly satisfying. A lot of growth for me personally. In what ways? Well, just in my relationships and my friendships, the way that I see the world, you know, I mean, one of the things that we were talking about with the assistant governors the other day was some of our district conference thing and I had to learn to listen a little bit differently to hear what it is that they were saying. And so there's a lot of personal growth for me and I look back on that and I go, you know what, the outcome of that is truly, that brings tears to my eyes. I don't really wanna think about it. I'm gonna start crying here right now. But there's nothing wrong with that actually but I understand what you said. The legacy of this year will be that we had an impact on human trafficking and we'll never know the people that we had an impact on but they are out there, if we save one life, we save one person. If we have one more person engaged in the conversation and the solution, then we've done our job. That's sort of the starfish story. You might not be able to save all of it but you throw one back in it and then a lot to that one. Exactly. And that is a good way of looking at it too. One more that's saved, one more that can be secured for moving forward and who may save somebody else too. So finally though, what is it that you'd like all of us to remember about this year if you could sort of give us a benediction of sorts? What would it be? I think if I could leave you with one thing is that it takes us all. It's not the district governor, it's not any one individual but that we as Rotarians, we are that piece of, we are that folded in together and together we have such an impact, not just locally but globally. And I'm looking forward to the coming year, the 2020 Rotary International Convention will be here. I'm looking forward to really the opportunity to continue the work that we've started. Well, I'm looking forward to all of that. It's been a pleasure to have the chance to get to know you this year and to have the opportunity to speak with you today. And I'm also looking forward to going to the conference which is May 17th through 19th and you can still get all kinds of tickets, either piecemeal for the whole thing. The prices will go up as of May one. So do go to the Rotary District 5000 website and click on conference and you'll be able to get your tickets to go as well. And the speakers will be fabulous, will be time well spent and time spent together. Whether you're a Rotary, whether you're involved with Rotary now as a Rotarian, whether you're thinking about it, whether you're just interested in some of these wonderful speakers, it is an opportunity for you to hear them and it's not necessarily going to be one that will be replicable again because this group of people will only be there together this one time for the 17th or the 19th of May at the Rotary Conference. I am Beth Ann Koslovich. It's been a delight to be with you, Wynn. Thank you so much. It's subbed for you. Yeah, it's been fun. This has gone by very quickly. Thank you very much. Thank you to ThinkTech Hawaii for hosting us. That's right. Thank you ThinkTech. Thanks to all of you. I'm Beth Ann Koslovich, signing off for Hawaii Rotary, People of Action.