The four Oakville Rotary Clubs are pleased to announce the return of the Paul Harris
Fellow Awards live event on Thursday, January 26 th . The eight 2023 nominees will be
announced and recognized for their service to the Oakville community and beyond at a
gala dinner at the Oakville Conference Centre. Tickets are $75/person and registrations
are required at https://rotaryoakville.ca Registration closes Sunday, January 22 at
6:00pm. The public is invited to attend, but tickets will not be available at the door.
The Paul Harris Fellow Award is the highest award a Rotary Club may grant to a
community benefactor or club member. This year’s nominees whose considerable
contributions to the Oakville community and beyond are most appreciated and continue
to make a difference locally and globally. Community nominees, who are not Rotarians,
are recognized annually in this manner as club members believe the nominees’ choices to
give back to their community are in line with the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self”.
In addition, Oakville Rotary is pleased to announce that Marsha Smith, Halton
Environmental Network’s new CEO and Chair of the Board will be the featured speaker.
Rotary International has added the Environment as an area of service for Rotarians
around the world and her topic is timely for many reasons. Speaking about Achieving
Social Change Through Community Service, all attending will benefit from her extensive
knowledge and informative presentation.
Smith’s journey over the last 20 years has been at the nexus of information
management, environmental science, and social justice, with experience spanning
every sector; private, entrepreneurial, non-profit and the public. She has worked both in
Canada and overseas to improve water quality, protect species-at-risk, preserve
ecosystems, and increase community resilience. Smith has both a Master of
Environmental Science from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Environmental
Studies from the University of Waterloo and is working towards her PhD.