My father, PRID Ken Collins, joined Rotary before I was born, so I grew up immersed in Rotary. My formative years were spent visiting Rotary projects and events both locally and overseas, and it completely shaped my world view. I was gifted a pen with the Four Way Test on it when I was 7 years old, and at that time I decided that I wanted to be a Rotarian when I grew up.
After being a participant at both the National Youth Science Forum and the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, I was an active Rotaractor for 10 years.
During that time, I held every position at club and district level, including a term on the International Rotaract Committee, advising the RI Board on matters relating to Rotaract. In 2003 I founded Rotaract’s biggest online community, RotaractNet, and was the first Rotaractor to serve on the board of Rotarians on the Internet. I continued providing training resources for Rotaract for several years after I moved on into Rotary.
Joining Rotary at age 31
I joined Rotary after “ageing out” of Rotaract in 2008, becoming a charter member of the first innovative Rotary Club in what was then District 9450: the Rotary Club of Freshwater Bay. I served as the club’s 2nd President, after which I served two terms as an Assistant Governor and one term as District Membership Chair.
As a web developer and digital marketing specialist who specialises in online communities and social networking, I have dedicated over 20 years to help advance Rotary into the digital age. I founded the Rotarians on Social Networks Fellowship in 2009, which I was heavily involved with until resigning from it in 2015, and regularly provided training on using the internet to further Rotary service, fellowship and communication around the world.
I was both a member of the International Organizing Committee and Promotions Committee for the 2014 Rotary International Convention in Sydney (#ricon14).
Family and work commitments (and general burn out!) had seen me prioritise and reduce my Rotary commitments for a few years from 2015, pulling back and choosing to focus at the club level. However from 2022 I returned to being active at a district and zone level.
In 2023 I was recognized for 25 years of volunteering through Rotary. At the end of the year, I left the Rotary Club of Freshwater Bay to form another even more innovative Rotary Club: New Beginnings Rotary, which is currently a satellite club of the Rotary E-Club of Western Australia.
See my full Rotary CV and Rotaract CV, and Awards and Recognitions.
Club Membership
- Rotary E-Club of Western Australia, District 9423, Dec 2023
- Lead for New Beginnings Satellite Club
- Rotary Club of Freshwater Bay (Charter Member), District 9455,
- Active Member Dec 2008 – Oct 2014
- Honorary Member (and the web master) Oct 2014 – Dec 2016
- Transferred back as an Active Member Jan 2017 – Dec 2023
- Rotary E-Club of New England, District 7930, Oct 2014 – Dec 2016
- Rotaract Club of South Perth, District 9470, Mar 2000 – Jun 2008
- Rotaract Club of Subiaco, District 9450, Aug 1998 – Feb 2000
Other Rotary Program involvement
- Attended New Zealand Science Summer School (now NYSF) – 1993
- Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kelmscott, District 9470
- RYLA Awardee – 1996
- Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mill Point, District 9470
- Handicamp Buddy – 2000
- Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Mill Point, District 9470