Each year, Rotary awards up to 130 fully funded fellowships for dedicated leaders from around the world to study at one of Rotary’s peace centers. The Rotary Foundation partners with premier universities to offer master's degrees and professional development certificates in disciplines related to peace and development.
This opportunity is available to people living and working in our communities of BC, through our clubs in Rotary District 5040, from Greater Vancouver up the coast to Prince Rupert, and through other clubs and Districts in the province.
Clubs and districts have the power to shape the next generation of peace leaders both by recruiting and recommending peace fellows, and by keeping them engaged during and after their fellowships.
Peace and Development leaders who apply, and are selected, for a Rotary Peace Fellowship receive full funding for a master’s degree or postgraduate diploma in disciplines related to peace and development. Our fellows lead peacebuilding efforts worldwide. Rotary members in our clubs throughout BC play a key role in recruiting candidates from their communities. Learn more details about the Rotary Peace Fellowship program.
For instance, BC resident Julia Smith completed her Master’s degree at the University of Bradford, in England, on a Rotary Peace Fellowship. Then she went to work in Sierra Leone. Among her achievements there was applying indigenous practices and negotiation skills to mediate a dispute between farming groups, resulting in improved food production. Eventually she brought her knowledge and experience home to teaching a course on the Politics of International Peacekeeping to Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, all thanks to her Rotary Peace Fellowship.
Vancouver Police Department Constable Bryan Nykon completed a Rotary-funded Master's degree program and has since been instrumental in bringing conflict resolution principles into police training. Bryan Nykon is also an instructor in Conflict Resolution at Langara College in Vancouver.
With a nursing degree from UBC, Sara Eftekhar completed her graduate degree in Peace, Conflict and Development from the University Bradford, as a Rotary Peace Fellow. At home in Canada she contributed to a national advocacy agenda on youth priorities, raised awareness through art about children living with disabilities in an Aboriginal community and served as the B.C Youth Ambassador for the Canadian Council for Refugees. She also worked with refugees in Egypt, helped build houses in Ecuador, volunteered as a nurse in Tanzania and is the co-founder of a community organization to help teenage mothers in Kenya.
Examples of other Rotary Peace Fellows include a graduate of the International Christian University in Tokyo who worked at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) leading to member countries' approving policy to improve representation of women in our nuclear sector to offset climate change. Another is a Rotary Peace Fellow who graduated from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and left her senior corporate position in India to found and lead the Red Dot Foundation to work with nongovernmental organizations in India, Nepal, and Kenya to address street harassment and violence against women. There is also the editor and senior political journalist for a newspaper in Zimbabwe, who earned a Master’s degree in peace, leadership, and conflict resolution and made a commitment to use the media to create a more just and peaceful world where all people love each other regardless of the ethnic groups to which they belong.
Clubs and districts can provide a recommendation as part of a candidate's application prior to submission. Educate candidates about Rotary and invite them to club meetings and activities. Help them prepare for the application process. All applications and recommendations are submitted in English.
For more information of clubs and members in our Rotary District 5040, about how to identify and recommend candidates for this huge opportunity, please contact:
Christopher Loat
Rotary Club of West Vancouver Sunrise
District Rotary Peace Fellowship co-ordinator
E: chris-loat@shaw.ca
T: 604 922 8342
C: 778 928 5625