What Is the Summit About?
This is a Summit to participate in, not simply attend. Bring your experience, your questions and your perspective. Listen to others, challenge familiar assumptions, work with people from different generations and countries, and help turn conversations into ideas, partnerships and practical actions that can continue after Samsun.
The Public Image & Rotaract Summit brings together Rotarians across generations — with a particular focus on young Rotarians and emerging leaders — together with Rotaractors, around a simple but important idea: public image reflects both how society sees Rotary and how our members experience the organisation and feel within it.
What we experience inside Rotary shapes what people see outside it. Trust grows when people feel that they belong, when different generations listen to and understand one another, when new voices have the confidence and opportunity to lead, and when our values are visible in the way we act, communicate and serve. The Summit creates a place to exchange perspectives, learn from experience and explore what Rotary needs in order to remain relevant, trusted and attractive to the generations that will carry it forward.
The programme is built around the priorities identified by the Programme Community: Public Image as Public Trust, One Rotary – Many Generations and Create Lasting Impact as Behaviour. Practical work will focus on positive and ethical storytelling, Project Storytelling and People of Action, Rotary Voice and Public Speaking, and Inclusive Club Experience. Storytelling will be approached through dignity, human change, credible proof and a clear invitation to act — because the way we tell our stories is part of the trust we build.
The Summit is designed to move from conversation to action. Participants will work with ideas that can grow into projects, campaigns and partnerships, develop stories worth sharing, and identify practical steps that can continue after the event. The wider programme also creates space for youth voices, peace and understanding, senior leaders’ personal Rotary stories and initiatives that connect generations through shared purpose.
Its purpose is to strengthen public image, encourage new leadership, deepen belonging and help Rotary turn its values into visible, credible and lasting impact.