Jennifer Jones named vice president of Rotary
She is the third woman from our zone to sit on Rotary’s Board
Rotarian Jennifer Jones from LaSalle, Ontario has been elected vice chair of Rotary International. Ms. Jones’ district, 6400, spans eastern Michigan and Ontario and is in zone 29. Zones 28 and 29 are paired and take turns representing clubs, districts and members in 28 districts from eastern Nebraska to New York state, including our district, 5970.
She is the third woman from our region to sit on RI’s governing board, following Betsey Demaray from Sault Ste. Marie, MI and Mary Beth Growney Selene from Madison, WI. Ms. Selene was also elected to vice chair and Ms. Demaray was RI’s treasurer in 2012-2013. She died from cancer while serving.
There have been a handful of other women serving on the “big board,” but no region in the world can match the inclusion of women at all levels of leadership.
Rotary changed its bylaws in 1987 to allow women to join us in compliance with a federal court decision.
Kathleen Wernimont became our club’s first woman member a year later. The first six women to be selected as district governor, all of them from the US, took office in 1995-96.