Tisch to lead Rotary exchange visit
Matamata Rotarian Leonie Tisch is preparing for the trip of a lifetime, leading a team of young professionals on an exchange to the United States and British Colombia.
Mrs Tisch was chosen ahead of seven other candidates from around the Central North Island to lead the team on a Rotary-sponsored programme called Group Study Exchange (GSE).
“I am really excited and feel very honoured to have been chosen as team leader for this trip,” Mrs Tisch said.
“It was a day-long selection process and the calibre of applicants was very high.
“GSE is a programme that takes young professionals aged between 25 and 40, offers them the chance to travel to another country and undertake cultural and profession-based exchange,” she said.
“This is an excellent way for Rotary to help develop young business and professional leaders – the experiences they have and the contacts they make can prove to be invaluable in their future employment.”
The programme has been running throughout the world for more than four decades and Mrs Tisch is just the second Matamata Rotarian to be chosen to lead a team, following in the footsteps of Merv King who took a team to England 25 years ago.
Mrs Tisch said the programme for the sixweek exchange had yet to be formalised but it would take the team between the United States and Canada.
“I am very much looking forward to the chance to help the young people we select develop both professionally and personally,” she said.
“This is a unique opportunity, not only for them but for me as well, to experience firsthand another culture. Being a Rotary team will open doors for the team that would otherwise remain closed.”
Mrs Tisch, a Matamata District Councillor, said she hoped to be able to discover a little more about the workings of local government in North America.
“It will be very interesting to find out how they work and what things they do differently to us,” she said.
“I feel very lucky to have been selected to lead this team and would like to thank the Rotary Club of Matamata for putting me forward for this opportunity.”
Members of the team will be selected by Mrs Tisch and a Rotary District committee in September and then spend the next six months preparing for the trip.