Your Endowment /Major Gift Advisers, Marge Cole and Steve Lewis are excited to share some fabulous news with regards to the selection of the latest Peace Fellow nominated from our two paired zones. After much effort this past year to fully fund ($500K+) our shared Zone 26 & 27 Named Endowment Fund #E10557 that was created under the leadership of PRIVP Jerry Hall back in 1987, we’re pleased to inform you that Isabel ‘Izzy’ Gutierrez was selected from District 5340 in Zone 26 as one of the 92 fellowships awarded in the 2023 calendar year selected from 42 countries. Izzy is our first Peace Fellow that’s being funded by our paired zones fully funded Named Endowment Fund!
As a Foreign Service Officer in the United States Department of State, Izzy worked in overseas posts promoting peace and strengthening diplomatic relationships between countries.
Izzy is one of 17 Peace Fellows attending the International Christian University (ICU) in Japan. ICU was founded in 1949 as a unique experiment in international education after the Second World War and is a recognized leader in international education and is known in Japan for its emphasis on academic excellence.
As Izzy earlier noted “studying at the Rotary Peace Center in Japan will help strengthen my work as a diplomat by giving me a deeper understanding of international relations and how to most effectively make an impact.”
Please review the three attachments specific to our Rotary Peace Centers and our Zone 26 and 27 Endowed Fund for Peace and Conflict Resolution as well as our newest Peace Fellow, Izzy Gutierrez.
We’re happy to inform you that our named endowed fund balance has just exceeded $530,000 and continues to grow! To date, there are 17 Districts here in the Big West who have previously invested both cash and DDF into this fund since its inception and another 20 individual Rotarians who have generously made additional cash contributions to this Endowed Fund. Currently, our fund will allow us to fund one new Fellow every four years. Once our named fund hits $750,000 in total contributions, we’ll be able to fully fund a new Fellow every three years.
To learn more about Peace Centers and Izzy, click here to download the summary. Listen to Izzy herself as she expresses her gratitude and conveys what she hopes to accomplish as a fellow.