Jennifer Jones is the first female president of Rotary International in the 117 years of its history. During her term, which began in July, she has been emphasizing the importance of spreading Rotary’s impact through building new relationships and providing humanitarian services.
At the press conference in Taipei on Tuesday, Jones shared her feelings about being the very first woman president of Rotary International.
Jones said, “I think it’s an opportunity to break down stereotypes, quite honestly. Many people think of our organization as sometimes male driven or elitist. And I think this gives an opportunity for people to see that it maybe looks a little bit different. And hopefully that means that other people, perhaps other women, other younger people, other men as well will look towards us and think, hum, if she can do it, maybe so can I. And maybe this looks like something I want to be a part of, and so hopefully that opens the doors for others who want to fill their hearts with service and do good work in the world."
Jones’ theme for the organization this year is “Imagine Rotary.” It is asking the world to dream and help solve the world’s most pressing challenges. She spoke of what she learned from a Rotary fund set up to help indigenous farmers in Taiwan.
"Here in Taiwan, I have had a wonderful opportunity to be able to follow along with one of our large grants that’s taking place. And we went into a rural part of the country and to the hillside to see where a grant is taking indigenous farmers who are growing cabbage fields and transition them into chestnut trees where truffles are going to grow at the base of them. And so it’s potentially giving them a much higher rate of return on what they are able to earn with their harvest and also it’s going to allow them to use less pesticides. Because trees clearly can be watered by Mother Nature and that means that the water source which starts higher up in the hills and runs into the Yilan area is going to be protected and much more safe with much less chemicals running into the water system,” said the president.
Jones said that for the second half of her term, she hopes for Rotary members to continue to tell important stories and help improve lives as well as strengthen communities around the world.