Rotary members who attended the Young Professionals Summit 26-27 September.

By Chris Davidson, Rotary Club of Newport News, Virginia

I attended the first-ever Rotary Young Professionals Summit held in Chicago on 26-27 September, which gathered 30 Rotarians under the age of 40 to discuss how Rotary can better attract and engage young professionals.

The summit was a huge success and thoroughly captured the essence of what Millennials and members of Generation Y are looking for — mentorship, friendship, opportunities, and fun. One of my Rotary mentors, past RI Vice President Anne L. Matthews, who I had worked with on district membership projects, had encouraged me to apply.

Joining Rotary as a 32-year-old young professional was a life-changing event.

Salman Ahmad, founder of the popular Pakistani band Junoon, is the latest musician to lend his talents to our campaign to End Polio Now, recording this video to mobilize Pakistan’s various ethnic and religious groups in support of eradicating the crippling disease. Pakistan is one of only three countries, the other two being Nigeria and Afghanistan, where transmission of the live polio virus has never been stopped.