The Rotary Club of Edina will receive an update on the International Service project in Guatemala at the Thursday, June 20, meeting. Rotarian Gary Pedersen spearheaded our club's water sanitation project in Guatemala, which has achieved a Rotary International Global Grant and involved donations from many area Rotary clubs. Gary and the International Service Committee has been working on the project for three years.
 
Also speaking at the meeting are representatives of OneVillage Partners—founder Jeff Hall and executive Director Jill LaLonde. They will speak about "Rotary Partnership with OneVillage Partners in Sierra Leone," and give members info about another upcoming International Service project with our club.
 
For more on the meeting, click on the link below...
 
In addition to hearing from Gary Pedersen about our club's International Service Project in Guatemala, we will hear from two representatives from OneVillage Partners, a Minnesota-based international NGO that facilitates community-led development projects in Sierra Leone. OneVillage Partners is working with the International Service committee on another project. 
 
Jeff Hall is the founder of OneVillage Partners. After graduating from Amherst College in 1987, he served for two years in the Peace Corps in Jokibu, Sierra Leone. During his time there, the villagers became his best friends and family. He says their perseverance through tremendous suffering and hardship and their hard work and commitment to improve the future for their children inspires him each day.
 
After the Peace Corps, Hall attended Harvard Business School and worked at General Mills, before becoming a brownfield real estate developer. He started OneVillage Partners and currently serve as chair of the Board of Directors. He says working with the villagers in partnership, they are a success story every day.
 
Jill LaLonde is the Executive Director of OneVillage Partners, as well as adjunct faculty at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in the MA International Development program. She has more than 12 years of experience in the international development and nonprofit sectors, ranging from Gates-funded public health research in Northern Uganda to managing multi-million dollar USAID-funded projects across Africa, Asia and the Middle East at Land O’Lakes International Development. Jill holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.
 
Gary Pedersen is the former director of International Service for our club and serves on the Edina Rotary Foundation Board of Directors. 
 
The Rotary Club of Edina meets at 12:15 p.m. Thursdays at the Edina Country Club. All are welcome. Cost for lunch and the program is $20. Cash, check and credit card payments are accepted. There is a service fee on credit card payments.