Be the Inspiration as Rotary Connects the World

Posted by D. Lisle Chase
 

Changing of the Guard

 
On June 30th, 2019 we said goodbye to our truly inspirational leader, Barry Rassin from the Rotary Club of East Nassau, Bahamas and his wife Esther.  Barry and Esther have done an outstanding job at the helm of our organization and represented the Caribbean with distinction.  Barrie stepped up when then RI President Elect Sam Owori died unexpectedly on July 13th 2017.  He has served with humility and he and Esther are the embodiment of Service Above Self.  They are much loved across the Rotary world, which thanks to his efforts, now includes Rotaract.
 
On July 1st Mark D Maloney took over the helm.  He is a member of the Rotary Club of Decatur, Alabama, USA.

“The clubs are where Rotary happens,” says Maloney, an attorney. He aims to support and strengthen clubs at the community level, preserve Rotary’s culture as a service-oriented membership organization, and test new regional approaches for growth.

“With the eradication of polio, recognition for Rotary will be great and the opportunities will be many,” he says. “We have the potential to become the global powerhouse for doing good.”

Maloney is a principal in the law firm of Blackburn, Maloney, and Schuppert LLC, with a focus on taxation, estate planning, and agricultural law. He represents large farming operations in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States, and has chaired the American Bar Association’s Committee on Agriculture in the section of taxation. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Alabama State Bar Association, and the Alabama Law Institute.

He has been active in Decatur’s religious community, chairing his church’s finance council and a local Catholic school board. He has also served as president of the Community Foundation of Greater Decatur, chair of Morgan County Meals on Wheels, and director of the United Way of Morgan County and the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce.

A Rotarian since 1980, Maloney has served as an RI director; Foundation trustee and vice chair; and aide to 2003-04 RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe. He also has participated in the Council on Legislation as chair, vice chair, parliamentarian, and trainer. He was an adviser to the 2004 Osaka Convention Committee and chaired the 2014 Sydney Convention Committee.

Prior to serving as a district governor, Maloney led a Group Study Exchange to Nigeria. He also served as Future Vision Committee vice chair; Foundation training institute moderator; Foundation permanent fund national adviser; member of the Peace Centers Committee; and adviser to the Foundation’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Schools Target Challenge Committee.

Maloney’s wife, Gay, is an attorney in the same law firm, and a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Decatur Daybreak, Alabama, USA. Both Mark and Gay are Paul Harris Fellows, Major Donors, and Bequest Society members.