Karen Purdue
Murray Kennedy
Karen Purdue
DISTRICT 9980
District membership chair Immediate-past district governor Rotary Club of Invercargill Sunrise
No sooner had the curtain come down on Karen Purdue ’ s term as 9980 ’ s district governor than she had taken up fresh new challenges within the organisation .
As well as accepting the role of chair at ROZCOM – New Zealand Rotary districts ’ communication and public image group – she ’ s also continuing in a leadership role within District 9980 , this year as membership chair .
In that position , Karen , who ’ s a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Invercargill Sunrise , is aiming to ensure the district achieves a 5 percent ( net ) increase in membership by June 2017 . She ’ s supporting clubs to achieve growth by proactively seeking out innovative ways to develop and improve membership .
As part of the support framework , a membership toolkit is being developed , and Karen is also focusing on helping clubs remove barriers to membership , while being on hand to provide advice and training to support them in their efforts to recruit and retain members .
She hopes to see more clubs chartered and satellite clubs formed , and is encouraging members to focus on diversifying to reflect their communities ’ make-up – including aiming to have a balance of genders , ethnicities and age groups .
Karen joined Rotary in 2000 , and has held numerous roles at both district and club level , including club secretary , membership director , vocational director , bulletin editor and president .
As well as serving as district governor in 2015-16 , Karen has been an assistant district governor , sat on the district Membership Committee , and chaired both the Youth and Rotary Youth Driver Awareness Committees .
She was awarded her Paul Harris Fellow Three Sapphire Pin at District 9980 ’ s 2016 annual conference , held in Invercargill .
Murray Kennedy
District treasurer Rotary Club of Cromwell
Since joining the Rotary Club of Cromwell to “ meet the locals and do something to support the community ”, Murray Kennedy has served in an eclectic array of roles , ranging from webmaster and treasurer , to conference project manager .
Co-opted on to the District Finance Committee in early 2015 , he became treasurer in January 2016 , and oversaw the transition to the Xero accounting system . His objective in his current role as district treasurer is to provide useful , meaningful and timely financial information to the district governance team .
Joining Rotary in 2006 , he ’ s been a keen hand in all local projects , fundraising and working bees , and has taken on a raft of other responsibilities .
Between 2007 and 2009 , he was a member of the District Conference Committee , including a stint as project and stage manager for the 2009 conference in Cromwell .
A year after joining , he became Cromwell club ’ s first webmaster and developed its website , and is today involved with the roll-out of the new platform , ClubRunner .
Murray became treasurer for Cromwell , a position he served in from 2011 to 2016 , and remained in a support role in the 2013-14 year , when he was club president . A regular district conference attendee since 2007 , Murray also took part in the Rotary International Convention in Sydney in 2014 .
In 2008 and 2010 , Murray was convenor of two webmaster training sessions for Central Otago clubs , and also made presentations to Queenstown , Alexandra and Wanaka clubs .
At district level , he was selected in 2009 to be Group Study Exchange team leader for a trip to Rotary District 3060 , in Gujarat , India .
Between 2012 and 2015 , Murray chaired the district ’ s International Committee , and also sat on the Group Study Exchange Committee .
Married to Alaine , Murrary has three children and two grandchildren .
Today , he is chief operating officer for VinPro , a contract winery , wine bottling , warehousing and logistics company , and enjoys golf , mountain biking and curling .
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