Aug 10, 2022
Marty Helman, RI Foundation Board Member
The Value and Mission of RI Foundation: Why Essex Rotary Should Play an Active Role

Once again this year, Dave Johnson has found an excellent spokesperson for the Rotary International Foundation - in preparation "Foundation Month" in November. 

Please check your latest issue of "Rotary" (your monthly magazine) for a write up on new RI Foundation Board members.  You will find Marty Helman there - front and center.  If you review her bio below, you'll see why she was appointed to the Foundation Board - impressive resume!!  Marty will be joining us virtually.    

 

Martha Peak Helman

Zone 32 Innovative Club Advocate

Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club - District 7780

Non-profit Executive

Martha and her husband Frank joined the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club in 2003, and in 2012-13 she served as Governor of District 7780 (southern Maine and coastal New Hampshire). 

Marty is the 2020-21 chair of The Rotary Foundation’s Peace-Major Gifts Initiative. She has served on this committee and its predecessor committees since 2015, and she conceived of and chaired the Sakuji Tanaka Endowed Rotary World Peace Fellowship Committee, which raised $1 million for the Rotary Peace Centers. This is reportedly the largest sum ever raised for a Rotary Presidential fund.

Marty is currently Trainer for Zones 28/32 (2019-21).  She served as International Training Leader at the 2018 and 2019 International Assemblies and will serve as Training Leader Support for the virtual 2021 International Assembly.  She has been a Trainer for the Governors-elect and Governors-nominees at Zone 24/32 Institutes for a number of years, as well as for District 7780 Governors-elect. She has facilitated at the Rotary Leadership Institute since 2009 and Northeast PETS since 2013, and she has presented in breakouts at the Atlanta, Toronto and Hamburg International Conventions. She has served as President’s Representative and is a popular speaker on The Rotary Foundation, the Rotary Peace Centers, and membership topics.

During her Governor year, Annual Giving across District 7780 rose 25 percent, and it increased another 33 percent while she was District Foundation Chair (2015-18).  As District Foundation Chair she wrote and implemented the first online Grants Management Seminar in the Rotary world to be made available via RI’s Learning Center.

Marty is a Zone 32 Innovative Club Advocate, and previously served as her District’s Growth Chair. In 2019, she was instrumental in chartering the D-7780 New Voices Rotary Club, made up entirely of young RYLA graduates.

Marty helped conceive and edited A String of Pearls, a book authored by PDG David Forward which tells the stories of Rotary Peace Fellows.  Earlier, she used a Rotary Foundation Volunteer Service Grant to research, write and publish Rewriting the Future, a book designed to promote awareness of educational needs in Guatemala.

Marty and Frank started their club’s Veterans Appreciation Night in 2006, the year she served as club President. Since then, this evening has grown into one of the most significant events on both the club and community calendar.

Marty and Frank are Paul Harris Society members, Major Donors, and charter members of the Legacy Society of The Rotary Foundation. Through the corporate support of the Otto and Fran Walter Foundation, they are also Arch Klumph Society members (Foundation Circle).