Trustee Jose Antonio Salazar Wrote:

In the last Multipets in Orlando, Florida, Trustee Jose Antonio Salazar gave a speech about The Future Vision of TRF and because of its importance we post part of this intersting document, so we can share it with others rotarians.

Dear Friends:

I’d like to ask you all to travel just a little bit farther—to travel with me into the future. Eleven years into the future, to be exact—to the year 2020.

But before I do that, lets me share with you a family history that come to my mind when I speak about the future: My Mom, a woman with strong religious convictions would tell us when she heard us plan our vacations:

If you want to see God laughing tell Him about your future plans…..

This is the reason why I invoque the name of God, the God of everyone, on front our plans…..

Now, let us go to 2020. Here in 2020, there isn’t any such thing as a wild Poliovirus. A few years ago, the world was declared polio-free, thanks to the efforts of Rotary and its partners. Now, The Rotary Foundation has moved on and continues to address other pressing humanitarian concerns.

It’s become a leader in education, bringing clean water and sanitation systems to developing countries.

Our numerous partnerships with nongovernmental organizations and corporations are supporting projects that promote health, economic development, and literacy as well as water and sanitation.

Do you like what you see, in the year 2020?

It can happen-but only if we make it happen. And that will mean taking decisive action today. President Elected Kenny teaches: “The Rotary Future is in your hands”. As we can add: “The future of a big part of mankind is in your hands”.

Please keep in mind what everything that occurs in our lives occurs as a consequence of our actions and omissions. Every things that we do or we don´t do, produce a singular effect.

Changing the future of our Rotary Foundation is what our Future Vision Plan is all about.
It’s a blueprint for streamlining, modernizing, and promoting our Foundation so that it is more effective, more efficient, and better known for its achievements.

By focusing our efforts and resources on six key areas, we’ll get even better at delivering humanitarian service and making a lasting impact on the communities we help.

With a successful implementation of Future Vision, our donors will get increased value for their contributions. Our beneficiaries will enjoy the fruits of our sustainable projects for decades to come.

How will the Future Vision Plan benefit us?

Let’s start with ownership, efficiency, and impact—issues that Rotarians have been concerned about for years.

Under the Future Vision Plan, we’re enhancing and expanding that model with Rotary Foundation District Grants.

Districts will be able to access up to 50 percent of their DDF—giving them greater ownership over the funds they contribute to achieve the Foundation’s mission.

Second, efficiency. Anyone who has applied for a 3-H or Matching Grant will agree that the process can be complicated. Rotarians spend as much time applying for a $2,000 grant as they do applying for a grant of $50,000 or more.

Under the Future Vision Plan, we’ll be able to access DDF more easily through Rotary Foundation District Grants. These grants are extremely flexible and can be used in many ways to fulfill our mission.

And third, is impact. Rotarians often feel that The Rotary Foundation doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

We’ve formed valuable alliances with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Center for Disease Control, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and our fundraising and volunteer achievements have been recognized by the media and the public at large.

The Future Vision Plan will help us to build on that model. Rotary Foundation Global Grants are designed to bring about high-impact, sustainable results.

By focusing on issues like water, literacy, and disease prevention, Rotary can capitalize on its strengths and experience and attract even more positive attention.

Every one of us responds to change in different ways. Some of us embrace it, some of us may approach it with caution, and still others of us are likely to avoid it at all costs.

Rotarians in the first group are eager to participate in the Future Vision pilot that begins on 1

July 2010.

Those in the third group won’t adopt the plan until they have no other choice. For now, I’d like to address that second group—those who are concerned or apprehensive about the changes Future Vision will bring.

We need to change our vision, and our ambition, so that instead of thinking about building one well in one village, we’re installing a complete water and sanitation system that will provide safe water for hundreds of people and last for generations.

Small clubs will still be able to carry out small projects using District Grants. But, they will also be encouraged to work with other clubs and districts in their backyard and around the world to develop larger, more sustainable projects and activities with support from Rotary Foundation Global Grants. They will also be able to apply for the packaged global grants that the Foundation has developed in collaboration with Rotarians and the Foundation’s strategic partners.

Another question Rotarians are asking is: How will Group Study Exchange teams and Ambassadorial Scholars fit into the Future Vision Plan?
The answer is that global grants will support vocational training teams, as well as scholars who are working in one of the six areas of focus. And district grants can be used for these activities in any area of study or professional interest.

And finally, Rotarians want to know: How can we be sure that the Future Vision Plan will work?
We truly believe in the concept and goals of the plan. It has taken nearly three years of work on the part of a talented volunteer committee including analysis of Rotarian feedback through surveys and focus groups and support from consultants and professional staff.

Now, we must take the time to develop the plan in a tried and tested environment. And that’s what the pilot is for. Our hundred pilot districts will help test and refine the plan over a three-year period. They’ll find out what works and what doesn’t, and then the Foundation will implement the plan with the necessary adjustments based on the pilot districts’ feedback.

I said before that The Rotary Foundation can’t afford not to change.
If we don’t change—if we say that the status quo is just fine—we’ll be missing opportunities to do more good, help more people, and make a bigger and more lasting impact in the world. I don’t think any Rotarians, even the most change-averse among us, want to pass up opportunities like that.

I can’t give you all the details of the Future Vision Plan in one speech, so I suggest you go to Rotary’s Web site at www.rotary.org/futurevision and read more about it yourselves.

It’ll remind you all of why we’re here—why we’re all in Rotary to begin with. We’re here to make a difference.

We’re here to do more, to achieve more, than we could ever hope to alone.

We’re here to put “Service above Self”.

And I truly believe that our Future Vision Plan will strengthen that service.

And it will allow the Foundation to better fulfill its own purpose: Doing Good in the World.Thank you.