Welcome
Announced October 1, 2021
Special thank you to Gretchen Bren (President of Omaha Night, District Polio Chair, District Training Team member) for designing this visual.
DG Carol first presented this model to her District Governor Classmates at Zone Institute last month and it was a hit. It has been submitted to Rotary International as a potential resource for other clubs and districts to use in their efforts to communicate the importance and our alignment with the ideals of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Please share this with your clubs and others. Watch for some social media posts to share also.
So what else is new on the DEIB front?
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to look at Rotary’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, please do. There are great resources there to help make your club more inclusive, connecting with diverse communities, uncovering unconscious bias, etc.
The Rotary DEI Task Force have submitted their action plan to the RI Board for review this month. They had also promised a code of conduct (which had already been approved) but we have not seen that published yet.
Also, did you know that Rotary has a LGBT+ Fellowship? Check it out
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
We have scheduled the virtual training sessions with Out Nebraska. Very special thank you to Abbi Swatsworth (Member of Lincoln 14, member of the Inclusion Imperative Team, Executive Director of Out Nebraska) for designing and arranging these sessions.
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DATE and TIME
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TOPIC
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Wednesday, October 27th 4pm-5:30pm
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LGBTQIA+ What does all this mean?
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Wednesday, November 3rd 4pm-5:30pm
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Spiritual Perspectives on LGBTQIA+ with Pastor Stephen Griffith
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Wednesday, November 10th 4pm-5:30pm
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Learn about the experiences of being transgender
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Wednesday, November 17th 4pm-5:30pm
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Panel of LGBT Rotarians speaking about their experiences in Rotary
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These sessions are free to all Rotarians in District 5650. You will receive an invite via email to sign up so watch for that.
Rotary, We All Belong Here!
Your Inclusion Imperative Team
Announced January 2, 2021
Watch for more to come!
There will be outreach events, club program offerings, resources for clubs, programming attached to the Vibrant Club Workshops, satellite club development, additional training from RI and community partners, maybe even a place to ask difficult questions.
To start with, we have the Inclusivity Workshops.
Rotary values diversity and celebrates the contributions of people of all backgrounds, regardless of their age, ethnicity, race, color, abilities, religion, socioeconomic status, culture, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. District 5650 embraces this value and believes that it is through creating a sense of inclusion and belonging in our Clubs that we will increase our impact, expand our reach, enhance participant engagement, and increase our ability to adapt. This is imperative to our ability to meet our mission as Rotarians.
For these reasons, we invite you to join fellow Rotarians from District 5650 and beyond for (4) free virtual inclusivity workshops facilitated by Inclusive Communities (you can learn more about them at https://www.inclusive-communities.org/). We'll explore our own personal experiences with diversity, equity, and inclusion, examine our unconscious biases, and uncover actionable ideas about how we can increase membership by making Rotary a place of belonging for all people and a better reflection of our communities. Plus, you'll build personal leadership skills and that promote respectful and inclusive behaviors.
You will receive the most value by attending all four workshops which are from 4:00pm - 5:30pm on these four consecutive Thursdays: 10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12. So, please plan to attend all (or as many as you can) sessions while registering.
These workshops are free to Rotarians through a district grant submitted by Omaha Suburban Rotary. We thank them for their initiative and support.
Please direct any questions to Rotary District 5650 Membership Chair, Jared Bakewell at (402) 312-6110 or jaredbakewell@gmail.com.