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First woman President of Rotary International and Founder President of Media Street Productions Inc. – an award-winning media company based in Ontario, Canada, Jennifer Jones concluded her four-day tour of the island last week. Sri Lanka was among the countries which Jones selected to visit on her global ‘Imagine Tour of Jennifer Jones’.
Jones held key roles in the hierarchy of Rotary prior to making history at the world’s foremost service organisation which is now into its 117th year. A ‘woman of action’, Jones calls upon everyone to ‘dream big without setting limits’.
Following are the excerpts of an interview she had with the Daily FT during her stay here at home
By Randima Attygalle
Q: You have made history as the first woman president of Rotary International in its 117-year history. Why do you think it took more than a century for a woman to come to its helm?
I would have liked to think it should have come sooner but technically in 1987 it took a supreme court ruling in the US for women to be permitted to join our organisation. Therefore, it has been relatively a short period of time in history for women to climb up in ranks. Just like in the case of our male counterparts, women too need to go through several steps to become a president of a global Rotary Chapter, where one takes on a more regional positioning. And in my case too, I had to go through this process to come to the top. We have had relatively a handful of women who have been though that and qualify to run for this position.
Q: And now that you are at its helm, how do you think it reflects positively on the global Rotary community and women across the world?
My presidency is an index to that fact that at one point of time, we make decisions based exclusively on qualifications and not merely click the gender box for the sake of doing it. It’s an honour and a privilege to be giving leadership to a globally respected organisation which makes up of ‘people of action’ and I hope it will open doors and break barriers. Rotary has been serotyped as ‘male dominated’ and my position helps the world realise that women have been a crucial part of the organisation, in all the good work it does.
Q: As a globally recognised communicator how do you envisage to translate your experience and your story-telling ability to add more muscle to Rotary’s good work across the world during your term of office?
One of the things that I think is incredibly important is to share the stories of our members or what we call ‘people of action’ around the world. We focus on seven core areas which directly align with UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). During my tenure, I’m taking top tier journalists, social influencers, celebrities and other notables to help tell our stories of what people are doing on large scale sustainable important projects in eight different parts of the world.
Having been able to showcase what we are doing in areas such as access to clean water and sanitation, basic education and literacy, economic and community development and environment is critical to our mandate and all what we do are aligned with creating peace in the world.
Q: Interestingly your campaign is branded as ‘Imagine’. What made you come up with this banner?
Most people believe that it was made to select after the song by John Lennon. There is a line I often quote from it in my speeches and talks- ‘You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one.’
While I truly love that song, there is more to it. I selected it because ‘Imagine’ doesn’t set limits. It gives the ability to dream and think large and think big. You don’t imagine yesterday, you imagine tomorrow so we need to leave behind the past and imagine and dream what the future would be and that’s very important to me.
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Q: ‘The Imagine Tour of Jennifer Jones’ is covering diverse regions. In terms of Asia, what would be your mandate during this tour, particularly in terms of health and environmental concerns in the region?
The recent COP 27 summit was an opportunity to reflect deeply with global leaders about the environment and its precarious nature. We know that SDGs need to be achieved by 2030 and we are not there yet, so we need to double, triple and quadruple our efforts to do that. Hence in terms of the environment, for regions of Asia this is of critical importance. The delegation I led there was on mangrove restoration and shoreline protection. We have a number of plans going around globally to protect mangroves which are critically important to the environment as ‘super plants’, particularly where there is rapid urbanisation and natural resources are depleting.
One of the things I’ve seen is not only in Asia and but across the world is shoreline pollution. Beaches are littered with tons of plastic and this plastic is chocking the mangroves and also killing the ocean life, rivers and people. These are critical issues that people need to take stock of. As an organisation of 1.4 million members, Rotary is the voice of civil society. We are connected to leaders at all levels and we are problem solvers; we need to use our voice to amplify the message to a larger world to take definitive steps to protect our planet.
Q: If I may quote you, “Silver linings rise out of the most challenging circumstances.” In what sense do you think this statement of yours could be made a reality for Sri Lankans who are braving very tough times at the moment?
It’s been a challenging period since the pandemic, certainly for Sri Lankans and also at more macro level, to the rest of the world. Every woman, man and child had to traverse through the pandemic. No body has had a free past. Therefore, we need to take the best out of the worst. And those are the silver linings I have been talking about. Pandemic was a level setting exercise globally, particularly in terms of leadership. Today we need a different kind of, different style of leadership at this time of history. We need empathic, bold, courageous and decisive leadership to take countries forward.
We are profoundly and deeply concerned about the people of Sri Lanka and I fervently hope that my visit is a signal of hope, support and inspiration at a time everyone needs it. Our Sri Lankan Rotarians are working tirelessly here on projects that are strengthening communities. One of the projects we particularly looked at during my tour is the partnership with the Ministry of Health, Rotary and UNICEF to provide critical medicine for people in Sri Lanka and our members have also been working in area of food security, trying to ensure that people have been taking care of themselves despite tight times.
Q: How fruitful have your interactions/discussions with the Sri Lankan stakeholders been during your stay so far?
Sri Lanka is no stranger to me, I’ve been here before and have made great Sri Lankan friends. I wanted the world to know that Sri Lanka is not alone and others are coming here in support.
I have had wonderful opportunities to meet many business leaders in the community and partners. My visit to the Stock Exchange enabled opportunities to meet several corporate leaders to pledge to the One Million Trees campaign. My interactions with the tourism authorities in Sri Lanka helped me understand that Sri Lankan tourism can return in earnest despite the economic crisis tourism and those are critical economic dollars which the country needs at the moment. Meeting multiple stakeholders at diverse levels in Sri Lanka during my stay have been a rewarding experience.
Q: What are the Sri Lankan strengths you have observed during your stay, which could be optimised to take the country to another level?
Resilience is one of the chief factors that I’ve seen. I’m also happy to note that there is a lot of space for innovation. Right now, I’m seeing this through our Rotary family members here – their ability to innovate in real time and to look at the community and the country. And I suppose another factor which sounds softer but is equally important is kindness. Everywhere I’ve been in the island, I have seen just the best of people. They have been through some of the worst times. But I’ve seen the best of Sri Lankans and I sincerely hope that it is a signal that there is a lot of hope for Sri Lankans for better days ahead.
Q: Diversity and Inclusivity are among the cornerstones of your road map. What would be your message particularly to young Rotarians across the world in championing these values?
The strength of our organisation is the diverse perspective. Representation from all cultures, all walks of life, all genders, religions is our super power: that’s how we solve world’s problems. We don’t look at it through from one lens. We bring together a collection of people, so that everyone brings individual strengths to the table, giving us a chance to solve problems in a unique way.
Q: Being a Rotarian plus an award-winning media practitioner would have no doubt afforded you lifetime experiences. What are some of the best moments that you’d like to recap in these two roles of yours?
I have been able to touch people’s hearts through stories and create emotions through them. This has enabled people to identify themselves with other people, places and events. Even someone who is not part of our organisation may look at it and say ‘hmm I like that’. I like what they do’. I think that is one of the best things of being a Rotarian. Right now with my presidency, I take my own video clips to the field, do stand-ups with notables in certain areas, bring film crews and so forth.
Our top corporate priority is the eradication of polio. I was in Pakistan a few months ago, where many of the frontline health workers in this campaign are women. It was critical for me to go and interact with some of these women. Sometimes their work places their lives in jeopardy. The ability for me to go there and say thank you to them, to be able to walk with them into homes to immunise children and to see what they are doing was an incredibly powerful privilege.
As a woman I have been afforded unique vantage points that male colleagues of mine would not get. As a female leader to walk in the shoes of others and to see the look of relief on a mother’s, father’s or a grandmother’s face that their child will never face this debilitating disease ever in their life has been a phenomenal experience. To share that kind of humanity together is certainly something I would never forget.
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Q: Finally, the words in your visionary statement, ‘you don’t imagine yesterday, you imagine tomorrow’ offer food for thought for everyone. In today’s complex world, how crucial it is for everyone to embrace these words- starting from the youth to professionals to world leaders?
As we look forward to how we want the world to be in unique situation in the global history, where we are coming out of a pandemic which I think was a great neutraliser – a level-setter for leadership, and as we watched news broadcasters, world leaders broadcasting from their kitchens, from their living rooms, it made us realise that no one had a free past. That very ability to see each other as humans and not necessarily in terms of hierarchy, I think is a way forward globally which we can’t let go of.
I’ve had a wonderful opportunity over the past few months to meet with many heads of state and it has been remarkable to see how comfortable those meetings have been. I think we have all taken a step back perhaps to see each other as people and not as constituents and leaders. I think the best leaders who are going to emerge in profound ways in time to come, are those who have taken that lesson to heart and understand how to incorporate it into their future leadership.
Pic by Ruwan Walpola
