What is Rotary?
Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, our communities, and ourselves. Solving real problems takes real commitment and vision. For more than 110 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects. From literacy and peace to water and health, we are constantly working to better our world, and stay committed to the end.
What we do
Rotary members believe we have a shared responsibility to act on our world’s most persistent issues. Our 46,000+ clubs work together to:
- Promote peace
- Fight disease
- Provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
- Save mothers and children
- Support education
- Grow local economies
- Protect the environment
The Birth of Rotary
The first Rotary Club was born in Chicago on February 23, 1905, from a group of friends committed to helping others. It was founded by the lawyer Paul P. Harris, who met with three friends, Sylvester Schiele, Gustav E. Loehr and Hiram E. Shorey, respectively, a merchant, an engineer and a craftsman. These four people came from four different sectors and professed four different religions, united simply by an indissoluble bond of friendship. When the fifth member, the printer Harry Ruggles, joined the Club, the name Rotary Club was decided, and Schiele was elected President. The logo was also chosen, a cogwheel, which is the projection of a round table to symbolise equality between the members. In 1989, Rotary International voted to allow women to join. Today, it is an increasingly strong club association which sets itself to address problems of great importance, such as environmental and health issues, illiteracy and hunger in the world.
Rotary International President
Stephanie A. Urchick has been an RI director and Rotary Foundation trustee and has served Rotary in numerous capacities, including as training leader, regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, and RI president’s representative. In addition, Urchick was a representative and member-at-large at three sessions of the Council on Legislation.
Urchick has also served as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee and The Rotary Foundation’s Centennial Celebration Committee, as well as a member of various Rotary committees, including the Election Review Committee and Operational Review Committee.
A Rotary member since 1991, Urchick has participated in a variety of international service projects, including National Immunization Days in India and Nigeria. In Vietnam, she worked with clubs to help build a primary school and traveled to the Dominican Republic to install water filters. A student of several Slavic languages, she has mentored new Rotary members in Ukraine and coordinated a Rotary Foundation grant for mammography equipment and a biopsy unit for a hospital in Poland. In its commemorative book, the Rotary Club of Krakow, Poland, noted Urchick as a key figure for helping the rebirth of Rotary in post-Communist Poland. Urchick has also helped to pair clubs and districts in the U.S. with Rotary clubs in Albania, Kosovo, and Ukraine for humanitarian and educational services.
Urchick’s professional background is in the higher education, consulting, and entertainment industries. She received her doctorate degree in Leadership Studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has been recognized by The Rotary Foundation and numerous community and international organizations.
Urchick asks members to champion Rotary’s Action Plan so they can improve their clubs and keep Rotary strong, find a balance between continuity and change, and work for peace. She also emphasizes the continuing importance of the effort to eradicate polio.
Stephanie A. Urchick is president of Rotary International 2024-25. Rotary’s President presides over the Board of Directors and is elected to a one-year term.
What is the Rotary Foundation?
The Rotary Foundation transforms funds received from donors around the world into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. Since its founding over 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects. With your help, we can improve lives in your community and worldwide.
The Rotary Foundation's Mission.
The Rotary Foundation helps Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.
What impact can one donation have?
- A child can be protected from polio for as little as 60 euro cents.
- €50 can provide clean water to help fight waterborne illnesses.
- €500 can launch an antibullying campaign and create a safe environment for children.
