Diego Martin Rotary Club appoints new board

Lester Al­leyne has been named as the Pres­i­dent of the Ro­tary Club of Diego Mar­tin Board for 2026/2027.

Al­leyne's ap­point­ment, as well as the board's, was con­firmed at a han­dover cer­e­mo­ny at the Flamin­gle Restau­rant in Val­park on Sat­ur­day, Ju­ly 4.

The oth­er board mem­bers con­firmed were Sec­re­tary Eliz­a­beth Fos­ter; Trea­sur­er Ma­ri­na White­man; Foun­da­tion Chair Michael Austin; Club Projects Chair Ak­i­la Thomas-King; Club Ad­min­is­tra­tion Chair Aman­da McMil­lan; Past Pres­i­dent’s Ad­vi­so­ry Chair Gar­ry Dal­la Cos­ta and Mem­ber­ship Chair, Youth Ser­vice Chair and Club Learn­ing Fa­cil­i­ta­tor Shinell Thomp­son.

While ad­dress­ing the event, Al­leyne, who re­tained the pres­i­den­cy from 2025/2026, ac­knowl­edged the group had to nav­i­gate "shift­ing sands for glob­al and lo­cal economies," which had a di­rect im­pact on the club’s re­sources.

He stressed that "strate­gic adap­ta­tion" was nec­es­sary to build re­silien­cy while nav­i­gat­ing the "dif­fi­cult things" ahead. Area Gov­er­nor Veron­i­ca De Souza-Phillip al­so urged the Diego Mar­tin arm of the Ro­tary Club to re­think its ap­proach giv­en the fi­nan­cial chal­lenges, stat­ing the mem­ber­ship should think deeply about how to help com­mu­ni­ties "not just sur­vive but flour­ish through these try­ing times". She said to com­bat lim­it­ed re­sources, she ad­vised the club to fo­cus on few­er projects that are more im­pact­ful rather than many small­er, short-lived ones. The event al­so served as an award cer­e­mo­ny.

Ro­tar­i­an of the Year award - Shinell Thomp­son and Re­anne Williams

In­ez Sinanan Club Lead­er­ship Award pre­sent­ed to Michael Austin

Pro­fes­sion­al Ex­cel­lence Award - Eliz­a­beth Fos­ter

Pre­fect At­ten­dance and Life­time Achieve­ment Award 25/26 - In­ez Sinanan

Best Ser­vice Project 25/26 - Shar­ing is Car­ing Food Dri­ve

New Mem­ber Award 25/26 - Ma­ri­na White­man