I think we can all agree if we are to 'Imagine' the Rotary (and Rotaract) of the future it is one where we work together with purpose knowing we are better together.

Article by Laura Telford, Rotaract Australia Chair

Collaboration is a word used to describe when people come together for a shared purpose; collaboration between clubs and members and more recently collaboration between Rotary and Rotaract - clubs and members.

As the Chair of Rotaract Australia I was so thrilled to be part of the team that created a space for more than 50 Rotaractors to feel comfortable walking among their Rotary peers at the recent Zone 8 Better Together Conference. However I was even more thrilled to hear the conversations of potential partnerships and opportunities from Rotarians ready to go back to their communities and look at new relationships.

For me the conversations that lead to these future collaborations was about setting up a precedent of coming together because we can share and learn from each other on a human level as much as on a community service level. And on a more personal level it is about coming together for a shared purpose - to help our local community young and old, Rotary and Rotaract.

One of the things the 2022 Zone Conference showed us was that if we are truly serious about collaboration it needs to start at the beginning and be sustained over the lifetime of a project or event. Will we always see eye to eye? No, but that doesn’t mean working together shouldn't happen. The collaboration of organising the conference was initiated by Rotaract but endorsed and committed to by Rotary and Rotarians right from the very beginning. It was a strong signal we all wanted to come to the table but it was also possible because Rotarians and Rotaractors recognised the skills and opportunity this collaboration presented. Both sides came to the table and from the success of the conference collectively we were better together.

The learnings from this conference prove to me we have come a long way from Rotaractors only being in charge of tech “because we are young” and Rotarians solely asked to “hand over money” to fund Rotaract activities. Because I think we can all agree if we are to imagine the Rotary (and Rotaract) of the future it is one where we work together with purpose knowing we are better together.