Schley Becomes District 5950 Governor
Edina, Minn., July 9, 2009 –
With her husband, Duane, and sons Geoff and Steve at her side, Edina resident and longtime community volunteer Sandra G. Schley was recently inducted as District Governor of Rotary International District 5950, representing nearly 3,000 Rotarians in the area.
District 5950 of Rotary International is a group of 60 Rotary clubs located in central and southwestern Minnesota. These clubs represent 41 Minnesota communities ranging in size from Minneapolis to Springfield. District 5950 is one of 529 Districts in 166 countries throughout the world and totaling 1.2 million Rotarians in more than 31,000 local Rotary Clubs.
Schley is a member of the Rotary Club of Edina. She is the fourth District Governor and first female District Governor to come out of the club. The last District Governor to come from the club was John Diracles, who served in 1993-1994.
Schley was formally inducted at her club's luncheon meeting Thursday, July 9, at the Edina Country Club. Club President Ellen Kennedy, Rotary International Director Tom Thorfinnson and Outgoing District Governor Chris Holm of the Rotary Club of Minneapolis led the well-attended ceremony.
The Rotary International theme for 2009-2010 is "The Future of Rotary Is in Your Hands." Schley has set six goals for the clubs she will oversee in the new Rotary year, which began July 1: grow and sustain membership, develop a "Legacy of Leadership," implement a comprehensive communications/public relations campaign, develop and execute successful community and international service projects, make Rotary relevant and meaningful, and support The Rotary Foundation and its programs.
"Our District has a strong reputation and heritage of leadership to uphold in the wonderful world of Rotary International," Schley said. "We will do so with greater growth in membership, an enhanced public image, more collaborative local and international service projects and a commitment to The Rotary Foundation that makes a public statement about our beliefs and values."
Schley grew up and attended elementary and high school in Rice Lake, Wis. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin and her master's degree from the University of Minnesota. She completed post-doctorate work at Stanford University where she attended the Small Business Executive Development Program as a Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow.
Schley spent the first part of her career in education as a teacher and administrator and then in the computer industry as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Computer Law Systems.
She is an active Rotarian, being a past president, multiple Paul Harris Fellow and Paul Harris Society member. Since serving the Rotary Club of Edina as President in 2005-2006, she has been very involved in District 5950. Besides Rotary, Schley is involved with many service organizations. She is founder and past president of the Edina Federated Women's Club and member of the Board of the International Federation of Women's Clubs. She previously served as chair of the Southdale YMCA Board of Management.
The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service; high ethical standards in business; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society; the application of the ideal of service in personal, business and community life; and the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace.
(For more information about District 5950, visit www.rotary5950.org.)