I am excited to be your District Governor for the 2024-2025 Lionistic year. Thank you for choosing me to be your leader for what I am proposing to be a fun year! My husband and partner in service, Lion Greg and I are excited for all of the travels ahead of us. We started off in Melbourne, Australia for the Lions International Convention followed by a short tour of Australia and finishing in New Zealand. I am so pleased you have chosen us for this journey. Upon our return, we started club visits together. The roads we travel will be filled with joy and inspiration.

     My vision for this year is “Leading Lions Into the Future!” You are all leaders in some way, whether it’s inspiring someone to join you in a service project, encouraging them to join Lions or serving on the board or as an officer. Leading Lions into the Future to me looks like Lions coming up with new creative projects, serving more people and reporting that service, growing membership and most of all, having fun! If we practice all of these things, Lions will be strong into the future. I know many of you are thinking, we already do a lot of projects and fundraisers, however, when was the last time you asked your members if there is something they are passionate about and what it would look like as a service project? Don’t get stuck in the past, look to the future and what might be. Be sure to encourage new ideas; some may be great and some may fail, but it’s trying that makes the difference.

     I’m hopeful that some of you who have held the position of President, Treasurer, Secretary will consider training a replacement so that not only can you try out a new position, that person will have an opportunity to serve in that capacity as well. Encourage those who have held onto committee chair positions for many years to also consider training a person to step up and take over so they too can try something new. It’s sometimes hard to let go, but once you do, you’ll find that mentoring is a great way of staying connected to the passions you have. If you’re someone who loves to move beyond the club, please consider a position within the MD27-D2 cabinet. Please reach out if you are interested. If you’re not ready to commit fully, consider shadowing the person who is currently in the position or consider being a co-chair.

     I’d like to encourage you to attend a cabinet meeting this year and see all of the great things that happen at the District level. The date/time/location will be posted soon on our district webpage and Facebook page. Please also be sure to have 2-3 people attend your local Zone Meetings to keep up on what’s new and bring the information back to your clubs. Remember, we are an International organization, not just a local organization, and it’s up to all of us to keep the momentum going so that we can be strong together into the future!

    Thank you Lions and future Leos for your service in the past, present and future! Together we will do amazing things! And in following International President Fabricio Oliveira’s theme for this year, “Make Your Mark!”

    We all need to do our part to grow Lions to 1.5 million members to serve 1 billion people. Marketing and Public Relations, take action, be proactive, inspire others to achieve positive outcomes.

Yours in Lionism,

MD27-D2 District Governor Georgine Erickson