October Meeting

The meeting featured a presentation by Rebeca Mendoza, Regional Grants Officer with The Rotary Foundation, who shared her experience managing 218 grants totaling $13.2 million across Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Bolivia. She discussed key challenges, including remote locations, limited local capacity, compliance requirements, and banking restrictions that can affect project implementation.
 

Meeting assets:

• Zoom recording
• Executive Summary
   

Rebecca Mendoza Bio:

Rebeca Mendoza has been with Rotary International since 2012 and brings more than a decade of experience supporting global grant programs and advancing Rotary’s humanitarian impact worldwide. She began her Rotary career by helping close out the Group Study Exchange and Matching Grants programs before moving into grant management.

From 2014 to 2020, Rebeca served as a Regional Grants Officer supporting Districts 9211 (Uganda and Tanzania), 2451 (Egypt), and 2201, 2202, and 2203 (Spain) on the Africa and Europe regional team. Working alongside district leaders, she helped support more than 250 grants valued at over $20 million, with nearly $10 million in World Fund contributions. These projects primarily focused on Rotary’s Areas of Focus in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Disease Prevention and Treatment.

Today, Rebeca serves on The Rotary Foundation’s Latin America regional team, supporting Districts 4140, 4170, 4185, and 4195 (Mexico), 4060 (Dominican Republic), 7000 (Puerto Rico), and 4690 (Bolivia). In her role as Regional Grants Officer, she provides guidance throughout the grant process, conducts preliminary reviews and consultations, evaluates grant applications and reports, and delivers presentations and training to help members maximize the impact of their projects.

Originally from Mexico City, Rebeca moved to the United States at age five and is a native Spanish speaker. She holds dual bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Women's Studies from the University of Michigan and a master's degree in Psychology from National Louis University. Her diverse cultural background and extensive grant management experience have made her a valued partner to Rotary districts working to create sustainable, community-driven change around the world.

April Meeting

• Regional Global Grant Opportunities with Nora Beamish-Lannon

Resources from this meeting:

• Zoom Recording

• PowerPoint

• Executive Summary

Nora Beamish-Lannon Bio:

Nora Beamish-Lannon is a Regional Grants Officer for The Rotary Foundation supporting clubs in Central and Eastern Europe, Southwest and Central Asia, and East Africa to develop and implement impactful humanitarian projects. Nora first worked for Rotary starting in 2015 when she oversaw the Rotary Coordinator program (now Membership Coordinators) as part of the Regional Leader Support Team. After close to seven years with Rotary International, she left to work for a local environmental non-profit dedicated to preserving and protecting the Great Lakes. Nora returned to Rotary in 2023 as part of the Grants team. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.S. in Public Service Management from DePaul University.

January Meeting

• Speakers: Sheila Hurst

Resources from this meeting:

• Zoom Recording
• PowerPoint

Sheila Hurst, Ed.D. Biograhy  

Sheila Hurst is a member of the Rotary Club of Redding West in District 5160, Northern Central California. She served as Co-Chair of the Health Education and Wellness Rotary Action Group (HEWRAG) for six years and as District International Service Chair for 4 years.  She is currently a Director of HEWRAG and holds the position of District 5160 International Service Advisor.

A Doctor of Education and a California Real Estate Broker, Sheila has applied her professional experience to Rotary service. She was the leader of two Vocational Training Teams and an Ambassadorial Scholar Counselor. She has consulted on and written District and Global grants for health, education, and literacy projects in Kenya, China, Nigeria, and Zambia and made almost 40 trips to Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and South America in the past 20 years for Rotary projects and to learn about innovative and sustainable Rotary programs. 

She is an enthusiastic photographer whose photos have appeared in several issues of the Rotary magazine, in Rotary International Convention exhibits, and in the book The Rotary Foundation: 100 Years of Doing Good in the World. 

Sheila is a Major Donor to The Rotary Foundation, a member of the Bequest Society, the Paul Harris Society, and the Polio Plus Society. She is honored to be a recipient of the Rotary International Service Above Self Award, the Rotary International Citation of Public Image Achievement Award, and Club Rotarian of the Year Award.

Summary of September 17^th meeting with Guest Speaker, Cecelia Walter

The main presentation was delivered by Cecilia Walter, Regional Grants Officer, who provided an overview of Rotary Foundation grant types, focusing on global grants, disaster response grants, and programs of scale. The discussion covered key aspects of sustainable project implementation, including community assessments, measurable goals, and available resources on rotary.org/grants, with participants asking questions about application scoring and review processes.

Rotary Foundation Grant Overview

Cecilia Walter, the Regional Grants Officer since 2013, presented an overview of Rotary Foundation grant types, focusing on global grants, disaster response grants, and programs of scale. She explained the requirements, funding mechanisms, and unique aspects of each grant type, emphasizing the importance of international partnerships for global grants and the competitive nature of programs of scale.

Presentation Overview and PowerPoint »

Cecilia Walter's Bio

Cecelia Walter has been a Regional Grants Officer (RGO) in the Rotary Grants area of The Rotary Foundation since 2013. Cecelia began her career at Rotary International as a humanitarian grant coordinator, providing assistance with the successful close-out of the Matching Grant and District Simplified Grant program. She transitioned into her role as a Regional Grant Officer with the launch of the new Grant Model in July 2013.

In her position as an RGO, Cecelia reviews and processes grant applications taking place within Zones 26, 29, 30 and 31, parts of Zones 27, 28 and 33 in the USA, Zone 1a in Northern Japan, as well as Districts 3770, 3780, 3820, and 3850 in the Philippines (that’s 95 districts total!). Cecelia has trained countless groups of Rotary members on Rotary Grants both in the field and at home at One Rotary Center throughout her 10-year career as an RGO. She is proficient in the Japanese language.

Cecelia resides in the incredibly diverse Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois with her husband and son. Cecelia is a certified Les Mills SPRINT™, Les Mills CORE™, and Les Mills BODYPUMP™ fitness instructor. When she is not reviewing grants, you can find her in the gym teaching group fitness classes.