President John de Ridder

John joined the Rotary Club of Nelson Bay, D9670 in March 2013 and transferred to E-Club Serving Humanity in June 2021.

John de Ridder is recognized locally and internationally as an experienced telecommunications economist. Since leaving Telstra in 2002, he has worked locally for private corporations, regulators and governments. Sometimes, this work is performed as a sub-contractor to a larger consultant (eg GQI Consulting , NERA and LECG).

John’s eighteen year career at Telstra included stints as Chief Economist, Pricing Manager and Director Strategic Studies.

These roles put him at the cutting edge of developments such as universal service costing and the evolution of competition and regulation. John writes the “Economuse” column for the weekly on-line “CommsWire” newsletter and for the Telecommunications Journal of Australia.

Before joining Telstra, John held various positions in Australia and the UK. In Australia he worked as an economist for ICI and as the research manager for IBIS Consulting. In London he worked for Shell International as an economist and for DRI-McGraw Hill as a macro-economic forecaster and in sales.

When we established our online Rotary E-Club Serving Humanity with members from different locations and backgrounds we thought it would benefit our members to build a relationship together assisting less fortunate people in countries other than where we live and work.

One of the Rotary avenues of service is International Service and KIVA allows us to contribute to small projects and entrepreneurs in many countries.

What is KIVA?

More than 1.7 billion people around the world do not have access to banks and cannot access the financial services they need. Kiva is an international non-profit organisation, founded in 2005 in San Francisco, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive.

Rotary E‐Club of Brindabella

Geraldine joined Rotary in 2013 after completing an undergraduate degree in teaching and moving to Wagga Wagga. Since then, Geraldine has held a range of Rotary club and district executive board positions, including club president in 2016‐17 and 9705 district trainer 2017‐19. In addition, she has been involved with several other non‐profit organisations, including being a member of the management committee of the Wagga Women’s Health Centre in 2018 and 19. She has led a number of community events and fundraisers for local organisations.

This article below is one of the reasons I am proud to be a Rotarian – PP John Roberson

Rotary’s strength in local communities and experience fighting polio can help get people who are still vulnerable vaccinated against COVID-19, Nigeria PolioPlus Chair Dr. Tunji Funsho said at a global summit about the pandemic that brought together heads of state, health officials, and philanthropic leaders.

Rotary shares an interest in protecting our common legacy: the environment.

PP Darcy Geale has accepted the role of representing the Environment in our Club.

We are committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment.

We empower communities to access grants and other resources, embrace local solutions, and spur innovation in an effort to address the causes and reduce the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.