Plymouth Rotary Inducts New Club President

It was a long road travelled, more than 100,000 miles, for Ann Dillard to arrive on the stage of the annual Rotary Club of Plymouth ceremony this week to be inducted as president for the 2012-2013 Rotary year. Ushering in a new theme for the year, “Peace Through Service,” Ann has lived the motto through her travels around the globe.

Born in St. Ann, Jamaica West Indies, MDillard left Jamaica at age 13 and moved to Connecticut where she attended school before leaving for Chicago to attend college at Devry University, receiving her BS in Business Operations. Dillard has lived in the Twin cities for nearly 14 years, and been married to Minnesota native Joseph Dillard, for 24 years.

As the owner of K.I.P. Consulting, Dillard’s focus is helping and empowering others to achieve their goals. At Columbia Academy, Dillard works to empower students and their families to reach their academic, personal and social goals.  And she does all of this while attending school in the Master’s program at Argosy University.

In 2008, Dillard launched Safety Nets for Senegal, a program designed to help stop the spread of disease in this struggling area of the world by providing mosquito nets and other support to help stop the spread of disease. This year Dillard will make her sixth trip to Senegal, a country in western Africa. Last month she carried the message of this charity to the International Rotary conference in Thailand.  In a few months, she will carry her message to Liberia.  Peace Through Service will be her guide through all of these travels.

Four years ago the Plymouth Rotary adopted the “Nets” program as its international service project. Since that time, a portion of the funds raised through its annual “Ducks on Parade” fundraiser, and working with other Rotary Clubs on joint activities, raised the funds to donate 18,000 mosquito bed nets, establish a 20 bed maternity ward, and set up a self-sustaining chicken farming project at a school in Rufisque, Senegal. 

Dillard describes her vision of leadership and her guide for living her own life of service through three main points:  “to promote positive learning where every person feels safe to express and explore; to spark enthusiasm in every person by providing a different perspective; and to provide a strong foundation for lifelong learning as well as relationship building.”

Dillard has extended an open invitation to citizens of the Twin Cities to attend a Plymouth Rotary meeting to learn more and participate in building “Peace Through Service."

(Information provided by a Plymouth Rotary press release.)