Mesa West Past President and Member Polly Cady is currently serving as Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) Chairman for Rotary District 5495. She was delighted to be able to hold the first in-person RLI since the COVID pandemic began in the spring of 2020. All three sessions of RLI ran concurrently Saturday, March 19, 2022. The staff of the Thunderbird School of Global Management were very welcoming and happy to share their space with Rotary for the day. Dean Sanjeev Khagram is shown welcoming DGN and RLI Facilitator Kevin Pitts.
Gwyn Nichols, who completed RLI virtually is a member of the Thunderbird Rotary Club and was instrumental in making the connections necessary to hold RLI at such a prestigious facility. Gwyn also wanted to receive her RLI completion certificate in person.
Completing their third and final RLI session were three Mesa West members - Pam Cohen, Colleen Coons, and Logan Harper. Ron Klaphacke, President-Elect of the Rotary Club of Wickenburg was a member of their graduating class.
Mesa West Rotarian Bob Zarling, who had completed RLI virtually, accepted the invitation to come to the campus to receive his completion certificate in person. In the bottom row of the photo collage, the middle photo shows the graduating class with their facilitators on the far side of the balcony overlooking the impressive campus lobby. The far right photo shows the Session I RLI classroom with Mesa West member Diane Ware beginning her RLI journey.