Declaration of Appointment
For the position of the District Governor-Nominee Designate for
Rotary International District 7815 to become District Governor for 2024-25.
Following the invitations that the District Governors sent to the Rotary Clubs in Districts 7810 and 7820 to suggest names of candidates for this position, the Nominating Committee carefully considered the suggestions received. The Nominating Committee then notified the District Governors that they nominated Jillian Gibson, Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour, for this position to become District Governor for 2024-25.
The District Governors duly published notice of her nomination to the Rotary Clubs in Districts 7810 and 7820 on January 28th, 2022 according to the Rotary International Bylaws. The notice stated that clubs meeting the criteria in those By-laws could challenge this nomination on or before February 11th, 2022.
No challenging nomination was received on or before that date.
The District Governors, therefore, declare Jillian Gibson of the Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour to be the District Governor-Nominee Designate for District 7815, pursuant to the Rotary International By-laws.
Published this February 12th, 2022 by District Governors Alex Twells (District 7820) and Darren Hansen (District 7810)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jillian has always had an interest in building community, especially through education. Growing up in Newfoundland and Labrador (Grand Falls and Mt. Pearl), Jillian’s educational journey began at the University of Ottawa, graduating with a BA and BEd in French Literature and Education. Inspired by her aunt who lived in the Caribbean at the time, she moved to the Bahamas to work as a French teacher at a private school in 1994. After spending ten years in the classroom, she decided to follow another path to advance education and became the Director of Development at Queen’s College in Nassau.
After marrying Michael and having two children, the family decided to leave the sunny beaches and return to Canada. Making a home back in Newfoundland, Jillian worked at Memorial University as a Development Officer, raising charitable gifts in support of scholarships, research and infrastructure. While there, she obtained a Masters degree in Educational Leadership. Once the children graduated high school, an opportunity led her to her current role as Director of Philanthropy for Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. Here, her passion for education is shared by philanthropists who want to make a difference in the lives of the next generation of change-makers.
While living in The Bahamas, Jillian was introduced to Rotary - first as a guest speaker. At the end of the Friday lunch that day at the Rotary Club of East Nassau (home of Past RI President, Barry Rassin), she asked if she could return the next Friday. That was the start of a lifelong commitment to Service above Self. In St. John’s, she was a member of the Rotary Club of St. John’s Northwest where she served as President in 2013-14. In Halifax, she and her husband are members of the Rotary Club of Halifax Harbour where she will lead the club as President in 2022-23 while becoming the first Peacebuilder Club in this region.
Throughout her Rotary career, Jillian followed two self-declared rules: join a committee that provides service to the club (secretary, communications, fellowship…) and another that serves the community (international, food drive, music festival…). The other constant is her involvement with The Rotary Foundation. A multiple Paul Harris Fellow and current District Rotary Foundation Chair, Jillian believes strongly in the global impact of The Rotary Foundation. Her experience working with a Global Grant on a Vocational Training Team to Zimbabwe was a life-changing experience.
Like many busy Rotarians, Jillian finds little time for many other hobbies, but enjoys trail walking (especially if the trail ends at a coffee shop) and entertaining friends as her husband (“Chef Mike”) delights everyone’s taste buds with flavours from the Caribbean.
