The email address used for this eBulletin (Internationalrli@gmail.com) is used only for this purpose and IS NOT monitored regularly. That address should NOT be used for correspondence to RLI officers. Email addresses for RLI officers are shown on the main website and the site also contains "contact us" on the home page.

“Obstacles should be seen as opportunities.”

—An unidentified professor at Rutgers University, New Jersey USA

It is interesting that the reputation of leaders often depends on the difficulty of the task the leader has had to face. The best known U.S. Presidents have been those who faced wars, economic crises, etc. Perhaps it is unfair to praise those who faced difficult times over those who managed to avoid crises, but it certainly tests real leadership ability where difficult problems exist. As the Rutgers University Professor said, overcoming obstacles may be merely an opportunity for a capable leader.

As this eBulletin is written, only about 45 days remain to the RLI Annual Convention Breakfast Meeting in Montreal. We ask those of you who are attending the Montreal Convention to please register now to enable RLI to give an accurate guaranty to the hotel

The Breakfast flyer, including ticket purchase information is posted on the RLI website Home Page (www.rotaryleadershipinstitute.org ) together with a page describing alternate payment methods, including PAYPAL. The breakfast price is US$ 32.00 per person. If anyone has questions about this event, please contact RLI Executive Director and Breakfast Chair, PDG Michael Rabasca, m.rabasca@comcast.net .

The Breakfast Committee has agreed to reserve tables by languages other than English of at least eight speakers of that language. A bilingual member can provide some "quiet" translations of the proceedings. Contact Mike Rabasca to arrange for such "language tables."

The principal speaker will be Past Rotary International President Richard D. King of California, USA. His very appropriate topic will be "The Visionary Leader-How Great the Need." Also expected to attend and offer remarks is Rotary International President Nominee, Kalyan Banerjee of Vapi, India. Remarks will also be given by two representatives of the R.I.Board: R.I. Vice-President Eric Adamson of Virginia, USA and R.I. Director Antonio Hallage of Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.

Small group meetings are in the process of being arranged on Monday and Tuesday afternoons at the Intercontinental Hotel. Those interested in considering joining the RLI family who would like to attend such a meeting should contact RLI Intl. Chair David Linett at ginlin@aol.com .

RLI is very pleased to welcome Rotary International Directors-Nominee Ken Boyd of Kerman, California, USA and Elizabeth "Betsy" Demaray of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, USA, as members of the RLI International Senior Leaders Advisory Board.

Ken previously served as Rotary International Membership Chair during the successful 2001-2 Global Quest membership campaign. He is serving this year on the Rotary International RYLA Committee.

Betsy is only the second woman to be nominated (and soon to be elected) to the Rotary International Board of Directors. Among many other positions in Zone 29 and R.I., Betsy has been an International Training Leader and Assistant General Coordinator of the Family of Rotary Task Force.

RLI warmly welcomes District 2650 as a member of the Japan Division. That district covers Fukui, Kyoto, Nara and Shiga. A large district, it has 96 Rotary clubs and 5033 members. The Governor of District 2650 is Kenzo Tomita of Kyoto. The Japan Division, under the leadership of PRID Yoshikazu Minamisono, Division Chair, is growing steadily and has the capacity to become one of RLI's largest divisions.

Although the mission of RLI has not changed since its founding in 1992, the international general officers wanted the statement to be more concise and perhaps clearer. The revised mission statement now appears in the updated RLI international brochure that will be distributed at the RLI Convention Breakfast. It reads:

The Rotary Leadership Institute is a grassroots, multi-district leadership development program whose mission is to strengthen Rotary clubs through quality leadership education.

“No ray of sunshine is ever lost, but the green which it awakens into existence needs time to sprout, and it is not always granted for the sower to see the harvest.” —Albert Schweitzer

The above will replace the former mission statement on all RLI documents.

•   The RLI's two websites are being updated twice each month. Spanish translations are now available for many documents on the sites. RLI thanks Carlos "Charly" Antelo and Rodolfo "Rodo" Soto" from the Bolivia Division and PDG Julio A. Mendez and Carlos Esquerro from the Argentina-Uruguay Division for their hard work in translating these documents into Spanish. The Agreements of Membership documents are now available in Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese. Curriculum translations appear on the RLI materials website and more are in progress. Courses of RLI have been held in about 15 languages during the past few years.

•   RLI courses organized by the Rotary Club of Battaramulla were conducted in Sri Lanka at Rajagiriya in District 3220. The Division Chair of the South India & Sri Lanka Division is PDG K.S. Pillai. DG Rajan and District RLI leaders gave their full support to the program.

•   The Division St-Laurent has scheduled courses in Quebec City and Drummondville, Quebec. The Board of Directors of the division consists of PDG Rene Laporte, Chair, PDG Jean Hugues Laflamme, PDG Helene Toussaint, PDG Yves Fluet, Vice-Chair, Gilles Gravel, Secretary and AG Claude Descheneault. The division will conduct French language RLI courses in the Province of Quebec and surrounding French speaking areas.

•   The Northeast America Division has completed its spring course schedule at eleven sites. The division also conducted courses at sixteen sites during the past fall. Chair of the Division is PDG Knut Johnsen of Newburgh, New York.

“Having leadership skills does not alone assure good Rotary leadership. An effective Rotary leader must ALSO have Rotary knowledge, perspective about where Rotary has been, where it is now going and a vision of what Rotary can be.”