August 6, 2025 • 44 mins
Time to get to know our new Rotary International President Francesco Arezzo, and his aid John De Giorgio. Find out what it's like to drop your whole life, move, quit your job, and become the RIP in less then 72hrs.
WOW what a story, and BTW he brought his best friend John and his family with him too.
Join me as I talk to those "amazing people turning their Actions 2 Impact all over the world. #BE THE CHANGE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Hi there, everyone.
I'm Gwen Jones and welcome onceagain to the Action to Impact
podcast, the weekly podcastwhere I introduce you to
amazing, wonderful, fantasticpeople from all over the world
that are turning their actionsinto impact.
And this week I have a veryspecial show because it is my
(00:22):
honor, my humbling honor tointroduce you to our brand new
and really, really brand newRotary International President.
Francisco Arezzo is joining metoday.
Now, if that's a name that'sbrand new on your lips, probably
(00:42):
because we had the marvelousMario for a year and a half.
And through circumstances beyondanyone's control, he was not
able to become our RotaryInternational President for
2025-2026.
But Francisco was was willing tostep up and he decided to bring
(01:03):
his longtime friend and friendof the podcast, Don DiGiorno, as
his aide.
And guess what?
John said, Gwen, would you liketo get to know Francisco?
Would I like to get to knowFrancisco?
Not only me, but the rest of theRotary world that hears my voice
(01:25):
would definitely like to get toknow Francisco.
So sit back, get a cocktail or acup of coffee or a wonderful
glass of water.
I want your ears ready to meetyour brand new Rotary
International President.
That's right, Francisco's hereto join me and I'm so So glad
(01:47):
you're here to join us too.
Welcome back to the show,everyone.
It is my honor and my pleasureto introduce you to our new
Rotary International presidentand his aide.
That is right.
The gentleman that came out ofnowhere, Mr.
(02:08):
Francesco Arzetso is our newRotary International president
and his aide, the guy who had tostep into the shoes of Tom Gump
is a dear friend of the show aswell, John DiGiorgio.
Guys, remember John?
He talked with us and then wentoff to sail the world.
So thank you for getting offyour boat, John, and joining us.
(02:32):
Ladies and gentlemen, theys andthems from all over the Rotary
world, let me please introduceyou to your Rotary International
President.
Francisco, thank you so much forjoining me on the podcast.
SPEAKER_00 (02:45):
It is a pleasure, but it is also an honor to be
here to speak with all theRotarians in the world.
Thank you for this opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (02:53):
Oh, thank you.
I mean, could you please startat the beginning?
How long have you been aRotarian?
Let's find your Rotary storybefore your Rotary president
story.
What's your club?
I am
SPEAKER_00 (03:08):
a proud member of the club of Ragusa in Sicily and
so in Italy.
Now I have been a Rotarian for36 years.
So a long, long story in Rotary.
And it was a very quiet story inthe first years.
And then it began to be very,very fast.
(03:33):
And it runs very quickly in thelast month.
And now I am here as president.
It was, for me, I have to say,it was a surprise, a wonderful,
but also a very difficultsurprise.
Because it was so fast, arrivingso quickly, I had just a very
(03:59):
short time to prepare myself tothis appointment.
But now we are running, we areworking very, very hard, and now
we are ready.
We are ready to go.
SPEAKER_01 (04:13):
So, and in those 36 years, I assume...
You were a president, a districtgovernor, because there is a
road you must take before you'represident.
They didn't just scoop you outof Sicily and say, be president.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
I was the club president in 99-20, 1999-2000.
I was a club president.
And then I was the districtgovernor in 09-10.
And when I was districtgovernor, John, my aide, was
(04:54):
club president of a club ofMalta.
And so I was his governor, andit was the opportunity to meet
each other, and was a very goodmeeting, because since that year
we are very, very close, and itis...
(05:16):
It is a great friendship thatwas born into Rotary and is so
precious for me.
I hope the same for John, ofcourse.
SPEAKER_01 (05:28):
Right, because you're in this now, John.
So, like I said, you had to getoff the sailboat.
You had to join us.
SPEAKER_00 (05:35):
Yes.
And then after being a governor,the year after I was a training
leader, a training leader in SanDiego, in the assembly in San
Diego for two years.
And then I was part of severalinternational committees.
(05:56):
I was also chair of somecommittee.
And two years ago, I was chairof the international convention
in Melbourne.
And that was another verybeautiful experience.
And each time, each commitment,each role that I had in Rotary,
(06:19):
I thought it was the last.
We all do.
But every time, it was.
And so now I really think it isthe last.
You've
SPEAKER_01 (06:38):
reached the top of your mountain and you're
SPEAKER_00 (06:40):
done.
Do
SPEAKER_01 (06:42):
you miss your club?
You want to go back to yourclub?
SPEAKER_00 (06:44):
Of course.
I will go back to my club towork with them.
And I think it will be anothergood and beautiful experience to
go back to your club.
I miss my club.
Because in the last years, forseveral reasons, I was very...
(07:10):
a very bad member of my club.
SPEAKER_01 (07:16):
I think you have a few excuses for not being there.
SPEAKER_00 (07:20):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (07:21):
So, Francisco, it's very obvious, and I already said
before we went on, that yourcircumstances to become
president, although not beingunprecedented, were kind of a
shock to a lot of Rotarians.
Putting that story behind, wasit a shock for you?
(07:44):
I mean, did you wake up one dayand get a phone call and say,
you're now our president?
SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
No.
Almost, almost.
Almost.
They called me, of course, tosay that there was this
surprise.
of the resignment of Mario.
Mario is a very good friend ofmine.
(08:13):
I am very close to Mario.
And for me it was very sad tohear that he was obliged to
resign.
And they said that they weregoing to do another interview to
the same candidates of thatyear.
And if I was available to havean interview, But the interview
(08:39):
was after two days, not with along period to prepare.
I said, yes, of course, you knowthat in Rotary you cannot never
say, no, I don't want toparticipate.
So it is mandatory to say yes.
And after two days, we had theinterview in the afternoon.
(09:03):
And in the evening, they calledme again.
saying me, congratulations, youare the new president.
It was the Saturday evening.
SPEAKER_02 (09:16):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (09:19):
And I was in my district conference on that
Saturday.
And so it was, you can imaginewhat happened in the district
conference.
There were 400 Australians frommy district, and it was a feast.
It was...
As you can imagine.
(09:39):
A celebration.
It's a special day.
Italians are also very, very...
Pansy.
Excited.
Much more than a celebration.
It was a party.
It was a delirium.
It was very moving also.
(10:00):
It was very, very moving.
But I know that in the same daythere were other conference in
Italy.
And in each of them, it was agreat celebration.
And John was in one of thatdistrict conference.
Can you confirm, John?
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (10:22):
John, it was your district conference.
So basically from Malta all theway up the boot, people were
incredibly excited?
SPEAKER_03 (10:30):
Yes.
The situation that Francesco isreferring to is that I was
president's rep.
in another district in Italy, inCalabria, District 2102, when
the news emerged, and it waschaotic.
It was literally, it was a big,big festival.
There was a great deal of joyfor the Italian Rotarians and,
(10:55):
of course, for Francesco at apersonal level.
So, yes, it was an interestingscene.
Yeah.
And that has continued.
SPEAKER_01 (11:05):
So Francisco, when you didn't make it, right?
So you were kind of relaxedthinking that you went for an
interview to be president andthey chose somebody else.
So in America, we call it, youwere off the hook.
You were never going to bepresident, right?
(11:26):
Or were you going to, had youhad plans of being president
another time?
SPEAKER_00 (11:34):
You cannot plan to become a president.
It happens, it happens.
And yes, I...
To be very, very, very honestwith you, I was planning to be a
(11:55):
candidate for president.
SPEAKER_02 (11:58):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (11:58):
But that year, I...
I was a candidate just tounderstand how the selection was
made, just to see, just to hear,just to be prepared in the
future.
(12:19):
But I didn't have any future.
I was elected on the firstattempt, and that was very
strange for me.
I had the news on Saturdayevening, and on Tuesday morning,
I was already on a plane to goto Calgary.
(12:43):
So I only had two days, two daysto prepare my, to say something
to my office, to my employees,to my colleagues in the office.
and to explain that for one yearI am out of the place.
(13:06):
I cannot be with you.
And so we arranged in adifferent way the office.
And luckily, luckily, now I havemy daughter with me in the
office.
And so she was called tosubstitute me, in other words.
And it was very interesting.
(13:27):
It was very...
Chaotic, again, chaotic, but itwas very interesting, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (13:34):
That is important for our Rotarians to remember
that when we've had, especiallyJennifer Jones was nice enough
to have us at a, like she tookus all the way through it, from
when she was a designate to whenshe was president-elect to even
after.
So our fans got a chance to seethe two, two-and-a-half-year
(13:58):
process process just to becomepresident.
And instead of two years, youhad two days.
And I think people don't realizethat that means you had to move
your business, your family, youreverything in two days.
So we would be remiss if wedidn't say, is there a Mrs.?
(14:25):
President, is there a familythat has now been uprooted from
Sicily and now taken to theUnited States?
SPEAKER_00 (14:33):
Yes, I said in my speech that on Friday evening, I
was in my dining room with mygrandchildren, playing with
them.
And on Tuesday, I was on theplane.
So it was really very...
(14:54):
very strange for me and was alsovery engaging because it is not
easy to prepare yourself in twodays, in one week, to take this
role that is so important, sodifficult, so rich of many, many
(15:15):
particulars that usually youlearn in two years.
Right.
Two years to prepare yourself.
yourself to the role.
And we had only one week.
But in Italy, we are verycreative.
(15:36):
So I hope to be creative enoughto invent in the right way my
year.
SPEAKER_01 (15:46):
So, and I want to talk about your year, but I want
to pass this question to John aswell, because I believe, sir,
you hadn't planned on being theaide to the president.
That role was already given toanother friend of the show.
And so are you uprooted or doyou get to stay in Malta?
(16:10):
Are you on the road with thepresident?
SPEAKER_03 (16:15):
I would say it's a combination of all of those.
Okay.
And also it's going to be, it'sa journey, literally in this
case.
that as Francesco was saying,whereas you normally got two
years worth to plan and decideon a number of things,
everything is compressed.
The role of the president todayis also a bit different to what
(16:38):
it was a number of years ago inthe sense that in between what
has happened is the world hasgot used to remote working and
therefore the ability to reachout to the membership, not by
not doing the traveling, but byextending the reach.
(17:00):
Of course, extending our reachis something which is part of
our action
SPEAKER_01 (17:04):
plan, strategic plan.
Absolutely.
So is adapting.
So is adapting,
SPEAKER_03 (17:08):
exactly.
You're absolutely right.
And of course, Francesco willnot be spending all his time in
Everston.
He'll be spending his timevisiting projects and working on
the advocacy with the partnersof Rotary.
So I don't think the presidentactually spends that time, that
(17:31):
much time.
And the plan is to beaccompanying Francesco and Anna.
So Monique and I will beaccompanying Francesco and Anna
on some of the trips.
The actual number will varydepending on where they are and
what the needs are.
Of course, we also have thecommon language.
We speak Italian.
(17:53):
I actually learned Italian as aresult of Francesco, and
Francesco learned English, Ihave to say, partly as a result
of me.
So it's been an interestingjourney, as he was saying.
SPEAKER_01 (18:04):
That's wonderful.
Well, and maybe you can teach meEnglish.
I'm not even going to tryItalian.
SPEAKER_00 (18:10):
But it's not the first time that I involved John
in my plans.
He usually is my victim in thesecommitments.
He was the chair of myinstitute, the chair of the
(18:30):
presidential conference that weorganized in Venice.
So he always works with me.
And so I think it is a goodcouple, a good couple.
SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
Yes.
He says yes to everything.
Good man, John.
It just didn't, when he said yesto this last one, it was just a
little bit sped up.
So let's talk about your year,Francisco, because all of a
sudden, I mean, we got, I got tomeet Mario a couple times.
(19:10):
We were talking football.
He is a huge football fan likemyself.
We were talking about his year.
I live in the Boston area.
He was working with stuff atMIT.
I mean, we got to reallyunderstand what he wanted to do.
So since you're so good atpushing all this stuff into
(19:36):
short timeframes, now tell uswhat you want to do because we
haven't had two years to meetyou.
So what do you want to do inyour year?
SPEAKER_00 (19:48):
What I want to do?
In my speech in Calgary, myfirst speech as president, my
only speech, my first and onlyspeech.
So far.
SPEAKER_01 (20:02):
So
SPEAKER_00 (20:02):
far.
So far.
I said that my opinion, it isimportant to dream.
Dream is the basis for me of ouraction.
We have to dream.
We have to dream.
We have always to dream, but notalone.
And the role of the president,the role of the leader, in my
(20:28):
opinion, and I was called to bea leader in this year, the role
of a good leader is tounderstand what their team is
dreaming.
Not what is my dream, but whatis the dream of everyone, of
(20:48):
each of my team members.
And then I have to try to unify,to unite all the dreams in one
big, wonderful dream that we allcan reach and can follow and can
(21:09):
reach at the end of the year.
So I want to feel, not to know,but to feel what is the dream of
Rotary World in this moment.
And then we have to create aplan to bring to reality this
(21:36):
big dream.
SPEAKER_01 (21:37):
To make those dreams come true, for no better
SPEAKER_00 (21:40):
words.
Yes, yes, yes.
We have to, but before we haveto understand what is this
dream?
What is this dream?
Of course, one of my dream is tomove finally the membership from
this now eternal number,1,200,000, that we are not able
(22:05):
to move.
And this is one of my dreams inthis moment, of course.
And another dream, as I am very,very fond of the Rotary
Foundation, I was the founderand I am now the president of
Rotary Foundation Italy.
(22:28):
So my dream is to eradicatepolio, of course.
So these are the two dreams thatI hope are the dream of everyone
in the Rotary world.
We all need to have these twodreams.
And then the third dream for meis peace.
(22:55):
But peace in this moment inEurope is a really big problem.
In this moment we have threewars nearby our borders, very,
very, very near Ukraine, Iranand Middle East, Israel and
Palestine.
but we also have a difficultsituation in Libya, for example.
(23:18):
So I hope that we can work forpeace.
Of course, I don't think that Iam able to stop wars, of course,
but we can work for peace in away that we know very well and
that we have done for manyyears.
(23:44):
When we send a young man to apeace center, it is a step
toward peace.
When we work for environment,again, environment is another of
my important points.
When we work for theenvironment, at the same moment,
(24:06):
we work for peace.
And if we want for the maternalhealth, and the child of all
over the world we are workingfor the peace so we have to be
very very concrete and we haveto to point i hope in a few
(24:30):
weeks now to have some a few afew goals to reach during this
this year but the goals are whati I have already said,
membership, polio, foundation,and peace with what means peace
(24:53):
for the Rotarians.
SPEAKER_01 (24:55):
So it's rather instead of unite for good, you
want to kind of say unite todream might be your theme in a
way.
However, what do you say withpeople whose dreams maybe looked
at and well, ridiculed.
I myself, when I speak todistricts and everything, my
(25:20):
dream, my goal is 2 millionRotarians by 2030, if not
sooner.
If we help Rotarians find theirwhy, why are they here?
What makes them happy?
And I've had people come up tome and say, That's a silly
(25:41):
dream.
Are you saying you want big,bold dreams?
Do you want us to dare to dream?
SPEAKER_00 (25:48):
That is a silly dream if you dream alone.
Of course.
Okay.
But if we dream all together inthe same way and in the same
direction, it is not a sillydream.
It becomes something morerealistic, more important.
(26:10):
of something of a feasible.
And so I think that, but thefirst thing is to have all the
Rotarians dreaming in the sameway.
That is difficult.
And to do something of asimilar, you need to create in
the Rotarians a big emotion.
(26:33):
Because you cannot work with theRotarians if they are not pushed
by the enthusiasm and to createenthusiastic atmosphere, you
need to give them emotions.
They have to live the sameemotion in the same moment, all
(26:55):
together.
And in that moment, you canrealize your dream.
But only if you are able tounite everybody around a unique,
a unique dream.
SPEAKER_01 (27:14):
So you talk about, and John, I'll ask you about
this passion part, because youboth talked about, you and
Francisco talked about when itwas announced that he was going
to be president, that all ofItaly into your neck of the
woods was filled with thispassion, was filled with this
energy, that it was a festivalof just pure joy.
(27:38):
Is that what Francisco istalking about?
Is that what we need a littlebit more Italy in our life, a
little more Italian in ourrotary?
SPEAKER_03 (27:47):
Interesting question.
Well, you know, if we don't havepassion for what we're doing, we
might as well stay at home.
So passion is very important.
And Francesco is absolutelyright saying you need, and the
role of the leader is tomotivate people, to make people
emotional, make people wantsomething.
(28:09):
to go down that path.
So yes, I would say it'simportant to have that passion.
But I would go slightly further.
So I don't want to give theimpression that there were
festivals going on in Italy whenFrancesco's appointment was
announced and that was it.
I experienced living theconvention in Calgary very
(28:33):
closely with Francesco and Annaand together with Monique, my
partner.
And People were coming up toFrancesco in the corridors, in
the hallways, and thanking himfor stepping in.
I think he motivated peoplebecause he's very sincere.
Sorry, I'm saying this in frontof you, Francesco, but he's
(28:55):
very, because I know that he's aperson of humility, so he
doesn't like being praised verymuch.
But that sincerity, I think, issomething which is much
appreciated by people.
And that's humility.
is very much appreciated bypeople.
And so the reaction, the offersof support, offers of
(29:16):
congratulation, ofcongratulations, et cetera, were
really touching, I have to say.
So that's part of the emotionalso.
You know, if you were there in,I was backstage when Francesco
was giving his speech, so Ididn't live it in quite the same
way.
But you could see the reaction.
I've seen the video.
(29:36):
I could hear the reaction.
I could see the reaction.
And I've seen the video.
The reaction was fantasticbecause that sense of connection
was very clear.
And we need that.
We need that stability at thismoment.
We need humility at the moment.
We need a person who can unify.
(29:59):
And finding the person to unifyexactly in the year where the
theme is to unite for good, youcouldn't make it up.
It's exactly right.
The moment is right.
SPEAKER_01 (30:15):
So you kept Mario's theme, I happen to love it.
And did you keep it because,Francisco, because it was one
less thing that you had to do inthe week that you...
It was
SPEAKER_00 (30:30):
a...
No, no.
First of all, there is...
a misunderstanding.
The theme, the theme...
There is
SPEAKER_01 (30:38):
no more themes, correct.
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
Yes, it is a message, but it is decided by
the board.
It is not written by thepresident.
Oh.
So this is not the message ofthe president.
It is the message of the RotaryWorld.
And my job is to...
(31:03):
to bring this message around theworld.
SPEAKER_01 (31:10):
So then what does that message mean to you?
SPEAKER_00 (31:14):
What are those
SPEAKER_01 (31:15):
three words?
SPEAKER_00 (31:16):
For me it's a very simple, very short, but it's a
wonderful message.
Unite for me is one, together isone of my favorite words.
we have to work together becausewe alone, we cannot go in any
(31:37):
place.
We always remain where we are.
Alone we cannot do anything.
Unite together, unite and uniteas I said, that means only that
we have to work all together.
This is unite in the spacebecause you have to unite the
(31:59):
clubs, you have to unite thepartners, you have to unite a
lot of people around your dream.
But unite in the time that isimportant as well as unite in
the space means that you have towork in continuity with people
(32:21):
before you and with people afteryou.
So it is not my year.
It is always the year of Rotary.
So I have to work very closelywith Stephanie and with Sanku
now.
Because only if we worktogether, we have an enduring
(32:42):
dream.
We have something veryimportant.
If we change our dream everyyear, it is never over.
a big dream.
It is always a very small dream.
It's not so important.
So we need to dream alltogether, but for a long time.
And we have to work because thisdream can be real for several
(33:11):
years.
SPEAKER_01 (33:12):
So I know you...
Please, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (33:15):
It is not essential for me to reach a goal during
this year.
If possible, of course, I willbe very...
I would
SPEAKER_01 (33:28):
like you to reach the peace goal.
That would be lovely.
SPEAKER_00 (33:32):
I hope to reach some goals.
But if the goal is very big andit is not possible to reach it
in one year, I am very happy towork for Sanku to begin
something that he can...
can continue after me.
(33:53):
And when we, the run that I amrunning, I apologize for my
English that is very simple andnot so sophisticated.
It's perfect.
We are running, in my opinion, Iam running a relay.
I am not running for myself.
(34:13):
It is a relay.
And I am one of the relay.
I will pass the the job to theother runner after me.
But when we, after one, two orthree years, we reach the goal,
it is the goal of everybody, ofall of us.
(34:35):
It is not important whopersonally reached the goal.
The important is that we allhave worked for the goal.
SPEAKER_01 (34:47):
I love it.
So I know you are an incredibly,both of you are very incredibly
busy men.
So I just have one or two morequestions and I'll let you go
because I assume you have a fewthings to do today.
Let's go into the future.
And it is now, let's see, we'rerecording this on the 9th of
(35:09):
July, but it's 2026.
You're done.
What do you think people areremembering about your year?
In other words, how did peoplelike your year?
What do you think happened?
Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00 (35:31):
But the English says that the most elegant man is
able to walk through all London,from east to ovest, without
being noticed by nobody, buteach of them remembers him.
(35:57):
And in the same way, I am notinterested to do something
exceptional remembered for mystrange things.
Grandness.
(36:18):
You don't want to be
SPEAKER_01 (36:19):
remembered for something grand.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (36:21):
But I will be really very happy if every Rotarian can
remember something of a smallabout my year.
One can remember the humility,another can remember that I was
(36:42):
very, very open with people andready to speak with everybody.
And I hope to be remembered forthe small things, not for the...
The grand, the
SPEAKER_01 (36:59):
grand
SPEAKER_00 (37:00):
thing.
For a great...
But he was a good man.
He was a good president.
SPEAKER_01 (37:07):
Yeah.
As easy as that.
John?
Are you ready?
Francisco has no choice.
Are you ready?
SPEAKER_03 (37:16):
Yes, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_01 (37:18):
And we'll put you in the time machine too.
What are you thinking about inJuly 9th of 2026?
What do you think is going to begoing through your mind?
Besides that you could use arest.
SPEAKER_03 (37:33):
Yeah, I'm sure we'll need a rest by then.
It is very impacting as a rolealso.
But I think there areinteresting things, actually,
that we need to work on.
I think every Rotarian thinks,ah, Rotary should do this or
Rotary should do that, as ifRotary was a person.
(37:57):
We are Rotary.
And every one of us, perhaps atdifferent levels of influence,
but every one of us can make adifference.
Francesco has been thrust intothis position where he has the
ability to make a difference.
He's asked me to come along thejourney to help him in some ways
(38:19):
to achieve that.
And, you know, we are, orFrancesco is at least, in a
position to bring about somechange, maybe some change that
we have as simple Rotariansalways thought of as, wouldn't
it be great if this changed orif that happened?
Now, Francesco is in a positionto perhaps bring about some of
(38:43):
that change.
Certainly not all the thingsthat need to be changed, because
there's always evolution.
SPEAKER_01 (38:48):
Don't send him a list.
He doesn't want a list.
I am
SPEAKER_03 (38:53):
creating a list, by the way.
Anyone out there want to add tothat list?
So really, what I would like,come a year's time, is to look
back at this year, and one, havestrengthened this...
bond of friendship thatfrancesco and anna have with
monique and myself which i'msure will occur it's an amazing
(39:15):
opportunity that we have beengiven we've all been given but
hopefully we'll also have made adifference and rotary makes
making a difference was actuallythe theme in the year that i was
district governor so making adifference is built in to our
way of doing Rotary, andFrancesco and I have the same
(39:37):
vision for Rotary, founded on asolid platform of ethics and
integrity.
SPEAKER_00 (39:45):
I think that next July the Rotarians could say,
oh, the president was verynormal, wasn't so good, but the
aid was really very good.
SPEAKER_03 (40:02):
I doubt that.
I doubt
SPEAKER_01 (40:04):
that.
All right.
Mr.
President, is there any closingwords that you have to a
worldwide audience who are superexcited to meet you?
Any last words, sir?
SPEAKER_00 (40:16):
Yes.
I say to the Rotarians all overthe world that I, but not I, we
are living for a for aninteresting, long, but also
short trip for a journey that isvery exciting.
(40:37):
But this journey to besuccessful needs to be done all
together.
And we all have to give a handto the president because the
president alone is not ableto...
(41:00):
to do a good job.
I need all the Rotarians.
Even the single Rotarian thatdoes a small thing, even that is
so precious for me and is soessential for our success.
So we have to work all togetherand then it will be a great
(41:24):
success.
SPEAKER_01 (41:26):
And dream big.
SPEAKER_00 (41:28):
And dream big, of course.
SPEAKER_01 (41:30):
And dream big, of course.
Gentlemen, President Francisco,John, thank you so much for
joining me on the show.
It was an absolute honor.
Thank you for stepping inliterally last minute and taking
your friends and family withyou.
And I, for one, will not stopdreaming.
So I thank you, sir, for beingon the show, both of you.
SPEAKER_00 (41:54):
Thank you, everybody.
And thank you to you, Ben, ofcourse.
Ciao, John.
Ciao, Francesco.
SPEAKER_01 (42:03):
Well, what do you think?
Keep dreaming.
Huh?
What do you think of Francisco?
What a joy to have him on theshow.
I really wanted to know thestory of the phone call.
And I was so happy that both heand John were so gracious to
tell me about what it's like topick up the phone, to be over
(42:26):
it, to think, I'm not going tobe Rotary President.
Gosh, it was fun to go throughthe exercise of trying out to be
Rotary President.
Oops.
Now I'm rotary president.
Oh, by the way, I'm bringing mybest bud with me and their wives
on this adventure.
Drop everything.
Here we go.
Wow.
(42:46):
I mean, think about it, youguys.
Think about it.
Could you do it?
I mean, I consider myself a blueblood do anything for rotary.
But could I drop everything?
To go on an adventure like that?
I kind of hope so.
(43:07):
Oh, well, thank you, John.
Thank you, Francisco.
Thank you for a wonderful yearin advance that you're going to
have.
And thank you out there forlistening.
I do adore, adore doing thisshow.
If you'd like to hear my moremusical side, of course, check
out Rotary Radio UK.
And until next week, take careof yourself and the world around
(43:33):
you.
And we'll hear you next time onthe Action to Impact podcast.
Thank you out there.
Take care.
Hi there, everyone.
I'm Gwen Jones and welcome onceagain to the Action to Impact
podcast, the weekly podcastwhere I introduce you to
amazing, wonderful, fantasticpeople from all over the world
that are turning their actionsinto impact.
And this week I have a veryspecial show because it is my
(00:22):
honor, my humbling honor tointroduce you to our brand new
and really, really brand newRotary International President.
Francisco Arezzo is joining metoday.
Now, if that's a name that'sbrand new on your lips, probably
(00:42):
because we had the marvelousMario for a year and a half.
And through circumstances beyondanyone's control, he was not
able to become our RotaryInternational President for
2025-2026.
But Francisco was was willing tostep up and he decided to bring
(01:03):
his longtime friend and friendof the podcast, Don DiGiorno, as
his aide.
And guess what?
John said, Gwen, would you liketo get to know Francisco?
Would I like to get to knowFrancisco?
Not only me, but the rest of theRotary world that hears my voice
(01:25):
would definitely like to get toknow Francisco.
So sit back, get a cocktail or acup of coffee or a wonderful
glass of water.
I want your ears ready to meetyour brand new Rotary
International President.
That's right, Francisco's hereto join me and I'm so So glad
(01:47):
you're here to join us too.
Welcome back to the show,everyone.
It is my honor and my pleasureto introduce you to our new
Rotary International presidentand his aide.
That is right.
The gentleman that came out ofnowhere, Mr.
(02:08):
Francesco Arzetso is our newRotary International president
and his aide, the guy who had tostep into the shoes of Tom Gump
is a dear friend of the show aswell, John DiGiorgio.
Guys, remember John?
He talked with us and then wentoff to sail the world.
So thank you for getting offyour boat, John, and joining us.
(02:32):
Ladies and gentlemen, theys andthems from all over the Rotary
world, let me please introduceyou to your Rotary International
President.
Francisco, thank you so much forjoining me on the podcast.
SPEAKER_00 (02:45):
It is a pleasure, but it is also an honor to be
here to speak with all theRotarians in the world.
Thank you for this opportunity.
SPEAKER_01 (02:53):
Oh, thank you.
I mean, could you please startat the beginning?
How long have you been aRotarian?
Let's find your Rotary storybefore your Rotary president
story.
What's your club?
I am
SPEAKER_00 (03:08):
a proud member of the club of Ragusa in Sicily and
so in Italy.
Now I have been a Rotarian for36 years.
So a long, long story in Rotary.
And it was a very quiet story inthe first years.
And then it began to be very,very fast.
(03:33):
And it runs very quickly in thelast month.
And now I am here as president.
It was, for me, I have to say,it was a surprise, a wonderful,
but also a very difficultsurprise.
Because it was so fast, arrivingso quickly, I had just a very
(03:59):
short time to prepare myself tothis appointment.
But now we are running, we areworking very, very hard, and now
we are ready.
We are ready to go.
SPEAKER_01 (04:13):
So, and in those 36 years, I assume...
You were a president, a districtgovernor, because there is a
road you must take before you'represident.
They didn't just scoop you outof Sicily and say, be president.
SPEAKER_00 (04:31):
I was the club president in 99-20, 1999-2000.
I was a club president.
And then I was the districtgovernor in 09-10.
And when I was districtgovernor, John, my aide, was
(04:54):
club president of a club ofMalta.
And so I was his governor, andit was the opportunity to meet
each other, and was a very goodmeeting, because since that year
we are very, very close, and itis...
(05:16):
It is a great friendship thatwas born into Rotary and is so
precious for me.
I hope the same for John, ofcourse.
SPEAKER_01 (05:28):
Right, because you're in this now, John.
So, like I said, you had to getoff the sailboat.
You had to join us.
SPEAKER_00 (05:35):
Yes.
And then after being a governor,the year after I was a training
leader, a training leader in SanDiego, in the assembly in San
Diego for two years.
And then I was part of severalinternational committees.
(05:56):
I was also chair of somecommittee.
And two years ago, I was chairof the international convention
in Melbourne.
And that was another verybeautiful experience.
And each time, each commitment,each role that I had in Rotary,
(06:19):
I thought it was the last.
We all do.
But every time, it was.
And so now I really think it isthe last.
You've
SPEAKER_01 (06:38):
reached the top of your mountain and you're
SPEAKER_00 (06:40):
done.
Do
SPEAKER_01 (06:42):
you miss your club?
You want to go back to yourclub?
SPEAKER_00 (06:44):
Of course.
I will go back to my club towork with them.
And I think it will be anothergood and beautiful experience to
go back to your club.
I miss my club.
Because in the last years, forseveral reasons, I was very...
(07:10):
a very bad member of my club.
SPEAKER_01 (07:16):
I think you have a few excuses for not being there.
SPEAKER_00 (07:20):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (07:21):
So, Francisco, it's very obvious, and I already said
before we went on, that yourcircumstances to become
president, although not beingunprecedented, were kind of a
shock to a lot of Rotarians.
Putting that story behind, wasit a shock for you?
(07:44):
I mean, did you wake up one dayand get a phone call and say,
you're now our president?
SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
No.
Almost, almost.
Almost.
They called me, of course, tosay that there was this
surprise.
of the resignment of Mario.
Mario is a very good friend ofmine.
(08:13):
I am very close to Mario.
And for me it was very sad tohear that he was obliged to
resign.
And they said that they weregoing to do another interview to
the same candidates of thatyear.
And if I was available to havean interview, But the interview
(08:39):
was after two days, not with along period to prepare.
I said, yes, of course, you knowthat in Rotary you cannot never
say, no, I don't want toparticipate.
So it is mandatory to say yes.
And after two days, we had theinterview in the afternoon.
(09:03):
And in the evening, they calledme again.
saying me, congratulations, youare the new president.
It was the Saturday evening.
SPEAKER_02 (09:16):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (09:19):
And I was in my district conference on that
Saturday.
And so it was, you can imaginewhat happened in the district
conference.
There were 400 Australians frommy district, and it was a feast.
It was...
As you can imagine.
(09:39):
A celebration.
It's a special day.
Italians are also very, very...
Pansy.
Excited.
Much more than a celebration.
It was a party.
It was a delirium.
It was very moving also.
(10:00):
It was very, very moving.
But I know that in the same daythere were other conference in
Italy.
And in each of them, it was agreat celebration.
And John was in one of thatdistrict conference.
Can you confirm, John?
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (10:22):
John, it was your district conference.
So basically from Malta all theway up the boot, people were
incredibly excited?
SPEAKER_03 (10:30):
Yes.
The situation that Francesco isreferring to is that I was
president's rep.
in another district in Italy, inCalabria, District 2102, when
the news emerged, and it waschaotic.
It was literally, it was a big,big festival.
There was a great deal of joyfor the Italian Rotarians and,
(10:55):
of course, for Francesco at apersonal level.
So, yes, it was an interestingscene.
Yeah.
And that has continued.
SPEAKER_01 (11:05):
So Francisco, when you didn't make it, right?
So you were kind of relaxedthinking that you went for an
interview to be president andthey chose somebody else.
So in America, we call it, youwere off the hook.
You were never going to bepresident, right?
(11:26):
Or were you going to, had youhad plans of being president
another time?
SPEAKER_00 (11:34):
You cannot plan to become a president.
It happens, it happens.
And yes, I...
To be very, very, very honestwith you, I was planning to be a
(11:55):
candidate for president.
SPEAKER_02 (11:58):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (11:58):
But that year, I...
I was a candidate just tounderstand how the selection was
made, just to see, just to hear,just to be prepared in the
future.
(12:19):
But I didn't have any future.
I was elected on the firstattempt, and that was very
strange for me.
I had the news on Saturdayevening, and on Tuesday morning,
I was already on a plane to goto Calgary.
(12:43):
So I only had two days, two daysto prepare my, to say something
to my office, to my employees,to my colleagues in the office.
and to explain that for one yearI am out of the place.
(13:06):
I cannot be with you.
And so we arranged in adifferent way the office.
And luckily, luckily, now I havemy daughter with me in the
office.
And so she was called tosubstitute me, in other words.
And it was very interesting.
(13:27):
It was very...
Chaotic, again, chaotic, but itwas very interesting, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (13:34):
That is important for our Rotarians to remember
that when we've had, especiallyJennifer Jones was nice enough
to have us at a, like she tookus all the way through it, from
when she was a designate to whenshe was president-elect to even
after.
So our fans got a chance to seethe two, two-and-a-half-year
(13:58):
process process just to becomepresident.
And instead of two years, youhad two days.
And I think people don't realizethat that means you had to move
your business, your family, youreverything in two days.
So we would be remiss if wedidn't say, is there a Mrs.?
(14:25):
President, is there a familythat has now been uprooted from
Sicily and now taken to theUnited States?
SPEAKER_00 (14:33):
Yes, I said in my speech that on Friday evening, I
was in my dining room with mygrandchildren, playing with
them.
And on Tuesday, I was on theplane.
So it was really very...
(14:54):
very strange for me and was alsovery engaging because it is not
easy to prepare yourself in twodays, in one week, to take this
role that is so important, sodifficult, so rich of many, many
(15:15):
particulars that usually youlearn in two years.
Right.
Two years to prepare yourself.
yourself to the role.
And we had only one week.
But in Italy, we are verycreative.
(15:36):
So I hope to be creative enoughto invent in the right way my
year.
SPEAKER_01 (15:46):
So, and I want to talk about your year, but I want
to pass this question to John aswell, because I believe, sir,
you hadn't planned on being theaide to the president.
That role was already given toanother friend of the show.
And so are you uprooted or doyou get to stay in Malta?
(16:10):
Are you on the road with thepresident?
SPEAKER_03 (16:15):
I would say it's a combination of all of those.
Okay.
And also it's going to be, it'sa journey, literally in this
case.
that as Francesco was saying,whereas you normally got two
years worth to plan and decideon a number of things,
everything is compressed.
The role of the president todayis also a bit different to what
(16:38):
it was a number of years ago inthe sense that in between what
has happened is the world hasgot used to remote working and
therefore the ability to reachout to the membership, not by
not doing the traveling, but byextending the reach.
(17:00):
Of course, extending our reachis something which is part of
our action
SPEAKER_01 (17:04):
plan, strategic plan.
Absolutely.
So is adapting.
So is adapting,
SPEAKER_03 (17:08):
exactly.
You're absolutely right.
And of course, Francesco willnot be spending all his time in
Everston.
He'll be spending his timevisiting projects and working on
the advocacy with the partnersof Rotary.
So I don't think the presidentactually spends that time, that
(17:31):
much time.
And the plan is to beaccompanying Francesco and Anna.
So Monique and I will beaccompanying Francesco and Anna
on some of the trips.
The actual number will varydepending on where they are and
what the needs are.
Of course, we also have thecommon language.
We speak Italian.
(17:53):
I actually learned Italian as aresult of Francesco, and
Francesco learned English, Ihave to say, partly as a result
of me.
So it's been an interestingjourney, as he was saying.
SPEAKER_01 (18:04):
That's wonderful.
Well, and maybe you can teach meEnglish.
I'm not even going to tryItalian.
SPEAKER_00 (18:10):
But it's not the first time that I involved John
in my plans.
He usually is my victim in thesecommitments.
He was the chair of myinstitute, the chair of the
(18:30):
presidential conference that weorganized in Venice.
So he always works with me.
And so I think it is a goodcouple, a good couple.
SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
Yes.
He says yes to everything.
Good man, John.
It just didn't, when he said yesto this last one, it was just a
little bit sped up.
So let's talk about your year,Francisco, because all of a
sudden, I mean, we got, I got tomeet Mario a couple times.
(19:10):
We were talking football.
He is a huge football fan likemyself.
We were talking about his year.
I live in the Boston area.
He was working with stuff atMIT.
I mean, we got to reallyunderstand what he wanted to do.
So since you're so good atpushing all this stuff into
(19:36):
short timeframes, now tell uswhat you want to do because we
haven't had two years to meetyou.
So what do you want to do inyour year?
SPEAKER_00 (19:48):
What I want to do?
In my speech in Calgary, myfirst speech as president, my
only speech, my first and onlyspeech.
So far.
SPEAKER_01 (20:02):
So
SPEAKER_00 (20:02):
far.
So far.
I said that my opinion, it isimportant to dream.
Dream is the basis for me of ouraction.
We have to dream.
We have to dream.
We have always to dream, but notalone.
And the role of the president,the role of the leader, in my
(20:28):
opinion, and I was called to bea leader in this year, the role
of a good leader is tounderstand what their team is
dreaming.
Not what is my dream, but whatis the dream of everyone, of
(20:48):
each of my team members.
And then I have to try to unify,to unite all the dreams in one
big, wonderful dream that we allcan reach and can follow and can
(21:09):
reach at the end of the year.
So I want to feel, not to know,but to feel what is the dream of
Rotary World in this moment.
And then we have to create aplan to bring to reality this
(21:36):
big dream.
SPEAKER_01 (21:37):
To make those dreams come true, for no better
SPEAKER_00 (21:40):
words.
Yes, yes, yes.
We have to, but before we haveto understand what is this
dream?
What is this dream?
Of course, one of my dream is tomove finally the membership from
this now eternal number,1,200,000, that we are not able
(22:05):
to move.
And this is one of my dreams inthis moment, of course.
And another dream, as I am very,very fond of the Rotary
Foundation, I was the founderand I am now the president of
Rotary Foundation Italy.
(22:28):
So my dream is to eradicatepolio, of course.
So these are the two dreams thatI hope are the dream of everyone
in the Rotary world.
We all need to have these twodreams.
And then the third dream for meis peace.
(22:55):
But peace in this moment inEurope is a really big problem.
In this moment we have threewars nearby our borders, very,
very, very near Ukraine, Iranand Middle East, Israel and
Palestine.
but we also have a difficultsituation in Libya, for example.
(23:18):
So I hope that we can work forpeace.
Of course, I don't think that Iam able to stop wars, of course,
but we can work for peace in away that we know very well and
that we have done for manyyears.
(23:44):
When we send a young man to apeace center, it is a step
toward peace.
When we work for environment,again, environment is another of
my important points.
When we work for theenvironment, at the same moment,
(24:06):
we work for peace.
And if we want for the maternalhealth, and the child of all
over the world we are workingfor the peace so we have to be
very very concrete and we haveto to point i hope in a few
(24:30):
weeks now to have some a few afew goals to reach during this
this year but the goals are whati I have already said,
membership, polio, foundation,and peace with what means peace
(24:53):
for the Rotarians.
SPEAKER_01 (24:55):
So it's rather instead of unite for good, you
want to kind of say unite todream might be your theme in a
way.
However, what do you say withpeople whose dreams maybe looked
at and well, ridiculed.
I myself, when I speak todistricts and everything, my
(25:20):
dream, my goal is 2 millionRotarians by 2030, if not
sooner.
If we help Rotarians find theirwhy, why are they here?
What makes them happy?
And I've had people come up tome and say, That's a silly
(25:41):
dream.
Are you saying you want big,bold dreams?
Do you want us to dare to dream?
SPEAKER_00 (25:48):
That is a silly dream if you dream alone.
Of course.
Okay.
But if we dream all together inthe same way and in the same
direction, it is not a sillydream.
It becomes something morerealistic, more important.
(26:10):
of something of a feasible.
And so I think that, but thefirst thing is to have all the
Rotarians dreaming in the sameway.
That is difficult.
And to do something of asimilar, you need to create in
the Rotarians a big emotion.
(26:33):
Because you cannot work with theRotarians if they are not pushed
by the enthusiasm and to createenthusiastic atmosphere, you
need to give them emotions.
They have to live the sameemotion in the same moment, all
(26:55):
together.
And in that moment, you canrealize your dream.
But only if you are able tounite everybody around a unique,
a unique dream.
SPEAKER_01 (27:14):
So you talk about, and John, I'll ask you about
this passion part, because youboth talked about, you and
Francisco talked about when itwas announced that he was going
to be president, that all ofItaly into your neck of the
woods was filled with thispassion, was filled with this
energy, that it was a festivalof just pure joy.
(27:38):
Is that what Francisco istalking about?
Is that what we need a littlebit more Italy in our life, a
little more Italian in ourrotary?
SPEAKER_03 (27:47):
Interesting question.
Well, you know, if we don't havepassion for what we're doing, we
might as well stay at home.
So passion is very important.
And Francesco is absolutelyright saying you need, and the
role of the leader is tomotivate people, to make people
emotional, make people wantsomething.
(28:09):
to go down that path.
So yes, I would say it'simportant to have that passion.
But I would go slightly further.
So I don't want to give theimpression that there were
festivals going on in Italy whenFrancesco's appointment was
announced and that was it.
I experienced living theconvention in Calgary very
(28:33):
closely with Francesco and Annaand together with Monique, my
partner.
And People were coming up toFrancesco in the corridors, in
the hallways, and thanking himfor stepping in.
I think he motivated peoplebecause he's very sincere.
Sorry, I'm saying this in frontof you, Francesco, but he's
(28:55):
very, because I know that he's aperson of humility, so he
doesn't like being praised verymuch.
But that sincerity, I think, issomething which is much
appreciated by people.
And that's humility.
is very much appreciated bypeople.
And so the reaction, the offersof support, offers of
(29:16):
congratulation, ofcongratulations, et cetera, were
really touching, I have to say.
So that's part of the emotionalso.
You know, if you were there in,I was backstage when Francesco
was giving his speech, so Ididn't live it in quite the same
way.
But you could see the reaction.
I've seen the video.
(29:36):
I could hear the reaction.
I could see the reaction.
And I've seen the video.
The reaction was fantasticbecause that sense of connection
was very clear.
And we need that.
We need that stability at thismoment.
We need humility at the moment.
We need a person who can unify.
(29:59):
And finding the person to unifyexactly in the year where the
theme is to unite for good, youcouldn't make it up.
It's exactly right.
The moment is right.
SPEAKER_01 (30:15):
So you kept Mario's theme, I happen to love it.
And did you keep it because,Francisco, because it was one
less thing that you had to do inthe week that you...
It was
SPEAKER_00 (30:30):
a...
No, no.
First of all, there is...
a misunderstanding.
The theme, the theme...
There is
SPEAKER_01 (30:38):
no more themes, correct.
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
Yes, it is a message, but it is decided by
the board.
It is not written by thepresident.
Oh.
So this is not the message ofthe president.
It is the message of the RotaryWorld.
And my job is to...
(31:03):
to bring this message around theworld.
SPEAKER_01 (31:10):
So then what does that message mean to you?
SPEAKER_00 (31:14):
What are those
SPEAKER_01 (31:15):
three words?
SPEAKER_00 (31:16):
For me it's a very simple, very short, but it's a
wonderful message.
Unite for me is one, together isone of my favorite words.
we have to work together becausewe alone, we cannot go in any
(31:37):
place.
We always remain where we are.
Alone we cannot do anything.
Unite together, unite and uniteas I said, that means only that
we have to work all together.
This is unite in the spacebecause you have to unite the
(31:59):
clubs, you have to unite thepartners, you have to unite a
lot of people around your dream.
But unite in the time that isimportant as well as unite in
the space means that you have towork in continuity with people
(32:21):
before you and with people afteryou.
So it is not my year.
It is always the year of Rotary.
So I have to work very closelywith Stephanie and with Sanku
now.
Because only if we worktogether, we have an enduring
(32:42):
dream.
We have something veryimportant.
If we change our dream everyyear, it is never over.
a big dream.
It is always a very small dream.
It's not so important.
So we need to dream alltogether, but for a long time.
And we have to work because thisdream can be real for several
(33:11):
years.
SPEAKER_01 (33:12):
So I know you...
Please, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (33:15):
It is not essential for me to reach a goal during
this year.
If possible, of course, I willbe very...
I would
SPEAKER_01 (33:28):
like you to reach the peace goal.
That would be lovely.
SPEAKER_00 (33:32):
I hope to reach some goals.
But if the goal is very big andit is not possible to reach it
in one year, I am very happy towork for Sanku to begin
something that he can...
can continue after me.
(33:53):
And when we, the run that I amrunning, I apologize for my
English that is very simple andnot so sophisticated.
It's perfect.
We are running, in my opinion, Iam running a relay.
I am not running for myself.
(34:13):
It is a relay.
And I am one of the relay.
I will pass the the job to theother runner after me.
But when we, after one, two orthree years, we reach the goal,
it is the goal of everybody, ofall of us.
(34:35):
It is not important whopersonally reached the goal.
The important is that we allhave worked for the goal.
SPEAKER_01 (34:47):
I love it.
So I know you are an incredibly,both of you are very incredibly
busy men.
So I just have one or two morequestions and I'll let you go
because I assume you have a fewthings to do today.
Let's go into the future.
And it is now, let's see, we'rerecording this on the 9th of
(35:09):
July, but it's 2026.
You're done.
What do you think people areremembering about your year?
In other words, how did peoplelike your year?
What do you think happened?
Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00 (35:31):
But the English says that the most elegant man is
able to walk through all London,from east to ovest, without
being noticed by nobody, buteach of them remembers him.
(35:57):
And in the same way, I am notinterested to do something
exceptional remembered for mystrange things.
Grandness.
(36:18):
You don't want to be
SPEAKER_01 (36:19):
remembered for something grand.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (36:21):
But I will be really very happy if every Rotarian can
remember something of a smallabout my year.
One can remember the humility,another can remember that I was
(36:42):
very, very open with people andready to speak with everybody.
And I hope to be remembered forthe small things, not for the...
The grand, the
SPEAKER_01 (36:59):
grand
SPEAKER_00 (37:00):
thing.
For a great...
But he was a good man.
He was a good president.
SPEAKER_01 (37:07):
Yeah.
As easy as that.
John?
Are you ready?
Francisco has no choice.
Are you ready?
SPEAKER_03 (37:16):
Yes, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_01 (37:18):
And we'll put you in the time machine too.
What are you thinking about inJuly 9th of 2026?
What do you think is going to begoing through your mind?
Besides that you could use arest.
SPEAKER_03 (37:33):
Yeah, I'm sure we'll need a rest by then.
It is very impacting as a rolealso.
But I think there areinteresting things, actually,
that we need to work on.
I think every Rotarian thinks,ah, Rotary should do this or
Rotary should do that, as ifRotary was a person.
(37:57):
We are Rotary.
And every one of us, perhaps atdifferent levels of influence,
but every one of us can make adifference.
Francesco has been thrust intothis position where he has the
ability to make a difference.
He's asked me to come along thejourney to help him in some ways
(38:19):
to achieve that.
And, you know, we are, orFrancesco is at least, in a
position to bring about somechange, maybe some change that
we have as simple Rotariansalways thought of as, wouldn't
it be great if this changed orif that happened?
Now, Francesco is in a positionto perhaps bring about some of
(38:43):
that change.
Certainly not all the thingsthat need to be changed, because
there's always evolution.
SPEAKER_01 (38:48):
Don't send him a list.
He doesn't want a list.
I am
SPEAKER_03 (38:53):
creating a list, by the way.
Anyone out there want to add tothat list?
So really, what I would like,come a year's time, is to look
back at this year, and one, havestrengthened this...
bond of friendship thatfrancesco and anna have with
monique and myself which i'msure will occur it's an amazing
(39:15):
opportunity that we have beengiven we've all been given but
hopefully we'll also have made adifference and rotary makes
making a difference was actuallythe theme in the year that i was
district governor so making adifference is built in to our
way of doing Rotary, andFrancesco and I have the same
(39:37):
vision for Rotary, founded on asolid platform of ethics and
integrity.
SPEAKER_00 (39:45):
I think that next July the Rotarians could say,
oh, the president was verynormal, wasn't so good, but the
aid was really very good.
SPEAKER_03 (40:02):
I doubt that.
I doubt
SPEAKER_01 (40:04):
that.
All right.
Mr.
President, is there any closingwords that you have to a
worldwide audience who are superexcited to meet you?
Any last words, sir?
SPEAKER_00 (40:16):
Yes.
I say to the Rotarians all overthe world that I, but not I, we
are living for a for aninteresting, long, but also
short trip for a journey that isvery exciting.
(40:37):
But this journey to besuccessful needs to be done all
together.
And we all have to give a handto the president because the
president alone is not ableto...
(41:00):
to do a good job.
I need all the Rotarians.
Even the single Rotarian thatdoes a small thing, even that is
so precious for me and is soessential for our success.
So we have to work all togetherand then it will be a great
(41:24):
success.
SPEAKER_01 (41:26):
And dream big.
SPEAKER_00 (41:28):
And dream big, of course.
SPEAKER_01 (41:30):
And dream big, of course.
Gentlemen, President Francisco,John, thank you so much for
joining me on the show.
It was an absolute honor.
Thank you for stepping inliterally last minute and taking
your friends and family withyou.
And I, for one, will not stopdreaming.
So I thank you, sir, for beingon the show, both of you.
SPEAKER_00 (41:54):
Thank you, everybody.
And thank you to you, Ben, ofcourse.
Ciao, John.
Ciao, Francesco.
SPEAKER_01 (42:03):
Well, what do you think?
Keep dreaming.
Huh?
What do you think of Francisco?
What a joy to have him on theshow.
I really wanted to know thestory of the phone call.
And I was so happy that both heand John were so gracious to
tell me about what it's like topick up the phone, to be over
(42:26):
it, to think, I'm not going tobe Rotary President.
Gosh, it was fun to go throughthe exercise of trying out to be
Rotary President.
Oops.
Now I'm rotary president.
Oh, by the way, I'm bringing mybest bud with me and their wives
on this adventure.
Drop everything.
Here we go.
Wow.
(42:46):
I mean, think about it, youguys.
Think about it.
Could you do it?
I mean, I consider myself a blueblood do anything for rotary.
But could I drop everything?
To go on an adventure like that?
I kind of hope so.
(43:07):
Oh, well, thank you, John.
Thank you, Francisco.
Thank you for a wonderful yearin advance that you're going to
have.
And thank you out there forlistening.
I do adore, adore doing thisshow.
If you'd like to hear my moremusical side, of course, check
out Rotary Radio UK.
And until next week, take careof yourself and the world around
(43:33):
you.
And we'll hear you next time onthe Action to Impact podcast.
Thank you out there.
Take care.
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