Immediate Past President of the Rotary Foundation of Washington, DC Lisa McCurdy and President Marilyn make a charitable contribution check presentation to Ms. Gabrielle Webster, President & CEO
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington.

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Our own Past President Jennifer introduces today's speaker Ms. Gabrielle Webster.
Gabrielle Webster is a visionary thought leader and youth development expert who is sparking positive change as President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (BGCGW). As a skilled convener who engages communities, business leaders, philanthropists and partners in service of capital area youth and their families, Gabrielle has put to use her strategic planning, management abilities and development skills to fuel unprecedented growth for BGCGW. Under her leadership, BGCGW, which serves more than 21,000 youth, is exceeding financial goals and achieving record accomplishments. Gabrielle is the driving force behind a first-ever $30 million comprehensive campaign. Gabrielle also tripled the number of Clubs in the metro area, earning BGCGW the distinction of being among the top 5% of BGCA (Boys & Girls Clubs of America) affiliates in the nation. In 2022, BGCGW celebrated its first National Youth of the Year in 75 years. Gabrielle is further blazing new trails with plans for a flagship Center of Transformation at the Nation’s Boys & Girls Club, which will serve as an incubator to pilot and implement innovative programs across local sites and ideally the BGCA movement.

Gabrielle has a depth of leadership experience as a nonprofit and public sector professional with a track record of growth and exceeding expectations. Prior to BGCGW, she raised more than $220 million as part of her leadership roles at three large non-profit organizations, which operate in the Washington metropolitan area, the Mid-Atlantic region and at the national level. Gabrielle served as the Chief Development Officer at the United Way of the National Capital Area as well as National Vice President for the American Heart Association, where she was charged with the development, implementation, and execution of a new national business to consumer campaign. Prior to that role, she was Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic Region’s Leukemia & Lymphoma Society where she managed a $36 million budget across nine states. Before her career in the nonprofit sector, Gabrielle spent more than a decade with the Eastman Kodak Company and she held several leadership positions in marketing, sales, university relations, and engineering technology.

Gabrielle was selected by Washingtonian Magazine as a 2022 Washingtonian of the Year. She was also a National Science Foundation Fellow, a National Biomedical Symposium Fellow and a Polaroid Scholar. She was chosen to attend the Center for Creative Leadership in 2009 as one of the top executive directors at the American Heart Association.

Gabrielle earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Xavier University and a Master of Physical Chemistry degree from Atlanta University. Gabrielle is also a graduate of the Leadership Greater Washington program and was recently awarded a Harvard Business School Executive Education Certificate for Strategic Agility and Inclusive Leadership.

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Our own Club Historian Monica Smith introduces her colleague from the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Franz, to help our club continue to celebrate Women's History Month by taking a look back at a recent exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Kathleen Franz, Ph.D. is Chair of the Division of Work & Industry and Curator of Business History at the National Museum of American History. Her scholarship has focused on the intersections of technology, popular culture, and gender history.

Her first book, Tinkering: Americans Reinvent the Automobile, explores the gender dynamics of technological knowledge and invention. She was also the project director for the recent exhibition, Girlhood (It's complicated), that looked at the various ways in which girls and young women had political influence and advocated for social, cultural and political change in the U.S. from 1800 to the present.

Dr. Franz holds a BA in American Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University.

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Our own Club Historian, Monica Smith helps us celebrate Women's History Month with a brief overview of a exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution American History Museum celebrating women inventors.

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"Transforming Lives Through Service" is what the DC Rotary Club is committed to and Richard Wright Schools is honored and privileged to be a longtime partner with such an incredible organization. The leadership, the members, and the service their members dedicate their time and energies to are truly transformative, and Richard Wright students were recently a recipient of that through the Inaugural Richard Wright Schools Career Fair sponsored by the DC Rotary Foundation.

Over 40 members, professionals in an array of fields, shared their knowledge, experience, and resources with our students seeking more information on potential careers and career paths. Full of questions and curiosity, Richard Wright students gained invaluable insight and perspective about possibilities for their bright futures. Combined with the openness and excitement from the DC Rotary members about their chosen professions, the vibrant exchange between generations was the visual definition of synergy.

Richard Wright Schools and DC Rotary Club are aligned as service is a cornerstone to their foundation and growth. To partner with role models genuinely interested in supporting the positive growth of future generations is an integral part of who we are. We truly appreciate the DC Rotary Club, the organizers, the leadership, and the members for your time and efforts to help our students with their goals for the future consistently and continually over many years. Thank you. We are Richard Wright and we are transforming lives together.

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Every year, Rotaractors and Rotarians around the world celebrate World Rotaract Week during the week of 13 March to commemorate the founding of the first club in 1968.

World Rotaract Week is a time for celebrating the success and importance of the Rotaract program. This is also an excellent opportunity to inform members of our community about the amazing work that Rotaract clubs do, and give them an opportunity to get involved.

The Rotaract Club of Washington D.C. was founded in May 1994. Their club is a part of a global effort to bring peace and international understanding to the world. Their effort starts at the community level but knows no limits in its outreach. Rotaractors have access to the many resources of Rotary International (RI) and The Rotary Foundation. Rotary International provides the administrative support that helps their Rotaract club thrive, and they're also sponsored by our Club the Rotary Club of Washington D.C.

Their members include young professionals from around the world.

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Our own Debbie Peters introduces today's speaker African Union Ambassador to the U.S., Hilda Suka-Mafudze.
Her Excellency Hilda Suka-Mafudze has been the African Union Ambassador to the United States of America since October 2021. She was nominated by H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, to lead the African Union Mission in the USA, the first bilateral diplomatic Mission opened by the AU in 2007.

Ambassador Hilda Suka-Mafudze is the Permanent Representative of the African Union to the United States of America. Her core mandate is to enhance and maintain existing bilateral ties. These ties strengthen democratic institutions, advance trade and investment, knowledge sharing, promote peace and security, mutual relationships between the U.S and all 55 AU member countries based on culture and shared values.

A career diplomat with experience that spans the African continent, Ambassador Suka-Mafudze assumed her most recent duties on November 2, 2020. Prior to coming to the U.S., she helped lead diplomacy for more than two decades in a variety of top government positions in her home country, Zimbabwe. Wellknown as a “quiet champion of democracy,” Ambassador SukaMafudze held ambassadorial positions representing her country in Khartoum Sudan and South Sudan between 2010 and 2019, and most recently, in the Republic of Malawi.

With a staunch commitment to democracy and the will of the people, Ambassador Suka-Mafudze worked fastidiously with the 55 AU member countries to promote and deepen democracy and democratic elections on the African continent. While Ambassador to Malawi, she chaired the group of regional ambassadors representing the South African Development Community (SADC), a regional Economic Community comprising 16 member states. With an agreed objective to coordinate efforts and settle issues of a contested national election, the Ambassadors engaged deeply with the African Union Election Observers and other international observers. Ambassador Suka-Mafudze herself was serving as an international observer. In Khartoum, Sudan and South Sudan, she led important high-level political processes that continue to move the entire region toward greater peace and security. In 2007, Ambassador Suka-Mafudze was the Executive Director of Community Development where she was responsible for the day-to-day running of an organization and technical professional staff who interfaced with the government, civil society, and private sector. She worked to ensure civil society's needs were articulated and streamlined in public policies and programs.

From 2000 to 2005, Ambassador Suka-Mafudze served as an elected member of Zimbabwe’s Parliament. As one of the few women parliamentarians, she was an influential voice committed to ensuring Zimbabwe’s laws were balanced and served the interests of the poor and other marginalized groups – women, youth, the elderly and children.

Ambassador Suka-Mafudze has a Master of Arts degree in International Relations and World Order from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Gender Development from the Women’s University in Africa (WUA). Located in Marondera, Zimbabwe, WUA is a private university that works to address gender disparity and foster equity in tertiary education while developing knowledge and skills in areas of vital importance for women.

Ambassador Suka-Mafudze’s other professional and academic training include: The United Nations Senior Mission Leaders’ Course, Interaction Leadership from the British Council, a professional certificate in Networking Leadership, Diplomacy, and Mediation Skills, Leading in Conflict Environments and Skills for Conflict Transformation. Ambassador SukaMafudze is fluent in English, with working knowledge of French and some Southern African languages, including Shona and Ndebele.

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President Marilyn Nevy Cruz did things a bit differently at her March 1st Club Assembly. She held an Open House to recognize our Twin City Rotary Clubs around the world. Twin City Club Presidents, or a fellow Rotarian they designated, made a brief presentation on their experience with the Washington, DC Club. This includes Rotary Exchanges; joint support of projects; zoom participation in our individual meetings; or individual personal visits.
The participating clubs were from:
Athens
Bangkok
Edinburgh
Harare
Manila
Paris
Rome
San Salvador
Santiago de Chile
Taipei
Tokyo
Tunis

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