Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Club Assembly (Rotary Year 2021/2022)
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Brett Sham, Club President of Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley, presented the club's progress against its strategic goals for the 2021/2022 Rotary Year, covering membership, service projects, foundation contributions, and governance improvements. The club celebrated achievements including 57 diverse members from 15+ countries, $15,000 in foundation contributions, and multiple international service projects, while identifying ongoing challenges with meeting attendance and engagement in the post-pandemic online environment.
Key takeaways
- The club has grown to 57 members with strong diversity metrics: average age 48 (vs. worldwide 62), 45% female representation (vs. worldwide 24%), and members from 15+ countries, though current growth has plateaued after previous high district performance.
- Service impact includes the SODA global grant project with daily on-site activities, five approved mini grants across multiple countries (Nepal, Liberia, Colombia, France, Cameroon), and demonstrated community improvements despite some project implementation delays.
- Foundation giving reached nearly $15,000 year-to-date with 35% member participation in giving and 29 members recognized as Paul Harris Fellows or higher, though Every Rotarian Every Year participation fell slightly short of the doubled target at 30%.
- Governance improvements addressed banking integration issues from a bank merger, outdated state filings with California, and corrected the club's 501(c)(4) nonprofit designation, with treasurer Cecilia working to resolve outstanding compliance matters.
- Meeting attendance has declined to 55% average participation with only 15 members maintaining perfect attendance, attributed partly to pandemic-related online engagement fatigue, representing the club's primary engagement challenge moving forward.
- Public image efforts generated 200+ weekly website users and 147 views for the most popular program on neurophilanthropy, while social media presence grew on Instagram (110 followers) but faced ongoing Facebook page recovery issues.
About Brett ShamBrett Sham is the Club President of Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley for the 2021/2022 Rotary Year, leading the club through strategic planning and operational oversight.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
Meeting for the week of April 11, 2022 - April 17, 2022
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Club Assembly (Rotary Year 2021/2022)
Speaker: Brett Sham
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
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Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
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Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from our Club President.
Members and guests,
Welcome to this week’s meeting of the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
During April, the focus for Rotary is Saving mothers and children, which is one of Rotary’s 7 causes. According to Rotary International, nearly 6 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation - all of which are preventable. To address this, Rotarians are helping expand access to quality care, so vulnerable mothers and their children can live and grow stronger. Examples of these initiatives include mobile prenatal clinics in remote areas of Haiti; a mobile cancer screening unit for breast and cervical cancer in India; and a five-year pilot program to prevent injuries and deaths during home deliveries in Nigeria.
Visit the Rotary website to learn more (Saving Mothers and Children | Rotary International) and make a donation to The Rotary Foundation (Donate | My Rotary) to help support these efforts.
As a reminder, Rotary is responding to the crisis in Ukraine, with many Rotary Clubs taking swift action and providing food, water, medical equipment, and shelter for Ukrainian refugees. According to Rotary International, the war in Ukraine is having devastating consequences on civilians as families flee their homes. According to the United Nations, more than 3.5 million people, most of them women and children, have sought refuge in neighboring countries and across Europe, while about 7 million more people have been displaced within Ukraine.
You can learn more about Rotary’s response (Rotary responds to Ukraine crisis) and how Rotary and Rotaract Clubs throughout Europe are providing humanitarian support (Rotarys network enables rapid humanitarian relief for Ukrainian refugees). The Rotary Foundation has designated its Disaster Response Fund as the main avenue for contributions (The Rotary Foundation creates channel for direct humanitarian support in Ukraine region), which you can support by making a donation here (Disaster Response Fund | My Rotary). Donors who contribute to the Disaster Response Fund will receive full recognition for Paul Harris Fellow, Paul Harris Society, and / or major donor status (however, those donations will not count toward Club or District Annual fund achievement). Your contributions will enable Rotary, Rotarians and Rotaractors in the region to Serve to Change Lives.
Brett Sham
President, Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
president@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.
You are certainly not required to pay anything in order to attend our meetings. However, if you would like to make a small contribution to our service efforts, you are welcome to do so in our secure Happy Dollars section down the page. This could be what you normally pay at your own club's meetings for lunch, for example. Any amount is welcome, but first and foremost, we're happy you've joined us, and hope you will share with others who we are and what we do to help inspire Service Above Self.
And don't forget to fill out our attendance form so you get an email you can pass on to your club's secretary!
The Four-Way Test
The Four-Way Test is a nonpartisan and nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships.
Of the things we think, say or do
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Is it the TRUTH?
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Is it FAIR to all concerned?
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Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
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Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin !
Cat Rules of Hampering
If one of your humans is engaged in some close activity and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called "helping", otherwise known as "hampering." Following are the rules for "hampering":
1. When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted. It's even funnier when they try to avoid stepping on you and fall into a counter or table.
2. For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the book itself.
3. For paperwork, lie on the work in the most appropriate manner so as to obscure as much of the work or at least the most important part. Pretend to doze, but every so often reach out and slap the pencil or pen. The worker may try to distract you; ignore it. Remember, the aim is to hamper work.
4. When a human is holding the newspaper in front of him/her, be sure to jump on the back of the paper.
5. When on a Zoom session, be sure to jump up on your human and stick your tail tip up their nose!
Weekly inspiration
Every week we share a short video highlighting innovation, education, entrepreneurship, or whatever we think might inspire you to see the world in new ways.
This video about empathy from the Cleveland Clinic prompts some strong questions. If someone says something to you that you don't like, how would you normally respond? If that person were dealing with something like the people in the video are dealing with, would you respond differently? How can you know?
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!
If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
This amazing photo of the Aurora was taken in a Swedish forest by Goran Strand and featured in the NASA apod.nasa.com website. I believe it is a composite of two wide angle images.
Learn something new
This section is curated by members Shags Shagrin and aims to teach our members and guests something new, fun, and useful! If you have any ideas on a fun trick or skill you'd like to share please contact Shags.
General Motors New Lordstown Assembly Plant in 1966
This five-minute video shows the latest in automotive assembly technology when I was 10 years old. The Lordstown Assembly Plant employed many of the parents of my schoolmates, and then many of them after graduation in 1974. Sadly, the plant closed in 2019. Notable vehicles produced there include the Caprice, Impala, Bel Air, Biscayne, Firebird, Vega/Monza, Chevy Van, GMC Vandura, Astre, Sunbird, Skyhawk, Cavalier, Cobalt, Cruze, and others.
Relay for Life
Relay Time!
Relay for Life is an event at which a community comes together to support those fighting cancer, remember those we've lost, and raise money to fight back through research and educational programs.
There are many activities - music, games, food, and more - as well as plenty of walking together. The first lap around the track features those wearing purple shirts, which is a special gift to each survivor of cancer. In the image below from the event we joined in 2019, you'll see them walking with family members and caregivers. Can you spot Ferheen?
I (Rushton) have seen children who are barely old enough to go to school wearing those purple shirts, and it always strikes me emotionally to think of what they have endured. I'm also happy to be there to help try and make a difference, hoping that the research we help make happen may one day mean that cancer never takes from us another loved one of any age.
Each year, our club takes part in this effort, and we try to involve every member and guest. You can do any of the following to be part of the club team, and hope you will do so soon. Let's put an end to cancer.
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Share a message with the name of someone you wish to honor or remember. Email that to Rushton (rushton(at)gmail.com).
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Join the The Wild Walkers team (click here to do so) and plan to join our group at the event the afternoon of Saturday, April 30th (details to follow).
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Donate as part of our effort. You can do so on this page, and any amount is welcome. These funds go to support research against cancer, help survivors and caregivers, and provide educational materials. (It says that it's "Robert's" page, because that's Rushton's first name and he doesn't know how to change the page.)
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Honor a friend or family member with a luminaria (each costs $10). If you want to honor someone but are tight on funds (it happens!), you can email Rushton the name and a message, and he'll get it added to the group.
A big thank-you to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Relay for Life Team (as of ):
If you've taken part but don't see your name, let Rushton know and he'll get you added.
Service report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Our events & projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! The section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
Upcoming events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
District 5170 events
All times are Pacific Time! (San Francisco time)
More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Happy Dollars: do good by sharing something good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it’s appropriate!)
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!
This section is usually updated in the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
powered by TypeformProgram: Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Club Assembly (Rotary Year 2021/2022)
Speaker: Brett Sham
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
This week’s presentation is from our recent Club Assembly and is the first part of a two-part recording (the second part - the address from DG Richard Flanders - will feature as next week’s program). It features President Brett providing an update to our members on the club's progress against its goals for the current Rotary Year (which he discussed during a meeting at the start of the year), highlighting our successes, recognizing some of the issues we have faced, and exploring the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for our club.
Upcoming program recording schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
