Tim Conners - Rotary Action Groups (RAGs)

Eden Prairie AM Rotary Member Tim Conners was today’s speaker and introduced the group to the various Rotary Action Groups (RAGs), support systems and ways to get involved. He is a personal member of the Environmental Sustainability RAG (ESRAG) and made the group aware during his presentation that the next ESRAG initiative is the ECO Expo, which they hope to expand to other locations, so look for more information to come on that in an email from Tim.

Tim discussed the primary way of getting involved in the Rotary is through the RAGs. There are roughly 25 different RAGs and the groups are international. The objective of the RAGs is to enhance productivity and offer support for projects within the community by providing knowledge and expertise, educating on the focus areas, coordinating events and maintaining websites. The support system includes the Cadre, which is made up of 600 advisors from across the world that help the RAGs get the job done.  Within each RAG are special initiatives that are executed by specific task forces.

The following are examples of RAGs that may be of interest to you: Disease prevention and treatment, peacebuilding and conflict prevention (PEACERAG), water/sanitation/hygiene (WASHRAG), basic education and literacy, maternal and child health, community and economic development, and the environment (ESRAG).

A more informal way to get involved in the Rotary is through fellowship groups.  Fellowship groups are specific to individual interests or classifications such as wine lovers, coffee lovers and homeowners. You can go to the website to see the complete list. 

Tim encouraged people to get involved in what interests them. To learn more, you can find a webpage on Rotary International that lists all of the action groups and fellowships.