Gordon R. McInally, a member of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry, Lothian, Scotland, is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2023-24. He will be declared the president-nominee on 1 October if no challenging candidates have been suggested.

McInally lauded Rotary’s ability to adapt technologically during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the approach should continue and be combined with the best of our past practices as Rotary seeks to grow and increase engagement.

“We have learned there is a willingness within communities to care for one another,” he says, “and we must ensure that we encourage people who have recently embraced the concept of volunteering to join us to allow them to continue giving service.”

McInally says that senior leaders’ ability to communicate directly with club members online will be one positive legacy of the changes Rotary has had to make. But, he adds, “face-to-face meetings remain important, as they encourage greater interaction.”

The best way to increase membership is engagement, according to McInally. To better support clubs, he says, Rotary International, regional leaders, and district teams all need to engage with them. Engagement through social media will reinforce Rotary’s brand and showcase the opportunities that come with it. And, he says, engagement with governments, corporations, and other organizations will lead to meaningful partnerships.

With better engagement, McInally says, “We will grow Rotary both by way of membership and in our ability to provide meaningful service.”

He adds, “Membership is the lifeblood of our organization. I would encourage the use of the flexibility now available to establish new-style clubs that would appeal to a different demographic.”

McInally, a graduate of dental surgery at the University of Dundee, owned and operated his own dental practice in Edinburgh. He was the chair of the East of Scotland branch of the British Paedodontic Society and has held various academic positions. He has also served as a Presbytery elder, chair of Queensferry Parish Congregational Board, and commissioner to the church’s general assembly.

A Rotary member since 1984, McInally has been president and vice president of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland. He has also served Rotary International as a director and as member or chair of several committees. He is currently an adviser to the 2022 Houston Convention Committee and chair of the Operations Review Committee.

McInally and his wife, Heather, are Major Donors and Benefactors of The Rotary Foundation. They are also members of the Bequest Society.

Ray Keller is a dynamic, engaging motivational speaker with an incredible ability to make any audience feel at home. His down-home personal delivery is laced with stories from his wealth of experience in business, travel, and sales.

Ray is the owner of Keller International (KI) which is a company he founded in 1975. With representatives across the country and throughout the world. KI has given Ray the opportunity to travel extensively from continent to continent. He is an accomplished international speaker and trainer. He regularly speaks to large conventions in such locations in the past year as Prague, Budapest, Johannesburg, Bangkok and Mumbai. His talks have been professionally recorded and translated into several languages and distributed worldwide.

Ray is also the owner of Keller Business Alliance and serves as a corporate coach for selected companies in North America. His forte’ is team building and personal development. He regularly consults with clients on strategies for growth and effectiveness.

Ray Keller is a native of Northeast Arkansas where his ancestral family moved in the 1850’s. He lettered in basketball with Florida College where he received his A.A. degree in 1970 and followed with a B.S. in Economics at the University of Arkansas in 1972. He is a past District Governor for District 6150 of Rotary International which serves Northeast and Eastern Arkansas.

He has been active for many years in local, state, and national organizations. He currently serves on the National Council for his alma mater, Florida College. He currently serves as the President of the ASU Indian Assist Club. He is an active member of the Northside Church of Christ where he has served as interim minister.

He married Karla Tackett from Fayetteville in 1973 and the couple have three children and eight grandchildren.

Ray’s hobbies are varied. He was one of the youngest Amateur Radio Operators in the state in the 1960’s and began his international connections through the radio. He has been a pilot for most of his adult life and counts his restored J-3 Piper Cub as a member of the family. He also collects and restores antique vehicles and enjoys playing golf and basketball.

Delivering dynamic programs for nearly 30 years, Ron brings enthusiast encouragement to every audience. His expertise ranges from personal life coaching to character education in public schools; from corporate strategic planning to church rivals; from teambuilding to disaster relief efforts. With a background firmly grounded in education, faith and family, Ron ignites excitement and action in those around him through speaking engagements, targeted training and special projects to uplift the underserved. Ron is the founder and CEO of A Level Up, Inc., and Next Level Up, LLC, providing life-changing programs throughout the United States as well as in several countries in Europe, Central America and Asia. His engaging style and sense of humor captivate his audiences, challenging them to aspire to greater heights. Ron’s passions are to motivate the best in each of us, to inspire us all to overcome obstacles and to bring hope to the hopeless.

Beth has a private practice with specialized consulting services to small business owners for managing accounting and financing matters, as well as developing exit strategies.  She has been actively involved in serving others through a variety of causes and organizations throughout her career. Beth has served the District as a Mid-South PETS trainer many times, Assistant Governor, District Conference Chair, District Annual Fund Chair, District Governor Nominating Committee, District Finance Committee, and District Foundation Chair 2016-20. District 6780 has led the way in Annual giving for many years in per capita giving in Annual Fund, total giving, and many other categories for the 27 Districts of Zones 30 and 31.

For the Rotary year 2021-22 she serves as a Zone Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator, District Leadership Development and Education Chair, District Nominating Committee member, Chair of the Million Dollar Dinner campaign, and District Finance Committee Chair.  Beginning July 1, 2023 Beth starts a 2 year term as Rotary International Director.

To further her knowledge of Rotary International, she has attended 20 international conventions, traveled to New York City for UN Day for Rotary, served in a National Immunization Day in India, traveled to Mexico for Heart2Heart, and attended various Zone meetings around the country. She serves on local non-profit boards, including Board member of Michael Dunn Center, and is Past Chair of Asbury Place, Inc.- a regional retirement community organization.  Additionally, in the past, she has served in various District officer positions in Toastmasters International. Beth is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Tennessee Society of Public Accountants.  She is very active in her church in Knoxville, Church Street United Methodist, having served as Chair of Church Council, Finance Committee, Stewardship Committee, and Program Council, the annual budget fund raising effort, and as co-chair of the church effort to raise $3M for a capital campaign. She is currently serving as the Stewardship team Chair for the second time.  Beth is married to Tony, a business owner and insurance broker, and they share three children, Tammy, Dawn, and Thomas, and 3 grand children.

Elizabeth Usovicz is principal of WhiteSpace Consulting, which focuses on business coaching, business development strategy, and market insights. She previously held leadership positions at Deloitte, Kellogg’s of Mexico, and two venture capital-funded startup companies. Formerly associate director of international programs at Bentley University and an adjunct professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, she currently is a volunteer mentor and adviser to startup company founders through MIT’s Growth Mentoring Services program.

Usovicz joined Rotary in 1997. She served as a Rotary public image coordinator for three years, a facilitator for multiyear district planning for zones 30 and 31, on the training team for governors-elect training seminars, and as a curriculum chair of the Heart of America Rotary Leadership Institute.

Her 20-year passion in Rotary is supporting orphans and at-risk children in Malawi. She has written 10 Rotary Foundation grants to help Malawi’s children and led a vocational training team that worked with local primary school teachers to develop and implement a program that encourages children, especially girls, to stay in school. Other grant projects have focused on a malaria bed net initiative in the southern region of Lake Malawi. “We helped reduce the mortality rate of children under five by 80% in that region — that’s the power of ‘we’ in Rotary,” Usovicz says. “I am not a medical professional, but when we collaborate like that in Rotary, we become lifesavers.”

Usovicz has received The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and has twice received the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award. In 2014, Usovicz was recognized at the White House as a Rotary Women of Action honoree.

A native of Salem, Massachusetts, she appreciates history and her Lithuanian heritage. She also enjoys music, classic films, and science fiction TV. Usovicz and her husband, Dean Mathewson, are both Major Donors and Bequest Society members. They live in Westwood, Kansas.

Pamela was recently recognized as a 2022 Rotary International Service Above Self award recipient at the Rotary International Convention in Houston, Texas and is the Zone 31 Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator 2022-2025.
Pamela joined the Rotary Club of Ruston in 2002 where she served in various roles, including as President from 2006-2007. After her year as Club President, she was involved in a club extension project and served as a charter member and charter Club President of the Rotary Club of Lincoln from 2009-2010. She served as District Governor from 2013-2014, as Rotary Zone 31 Assistant Rotary Public Image Coordinator from 2014-2018, as Zone 31 Endowment/Major Gifts Adviser 2018-2021, as Zone 31 Empowering Girls Ambassador 2021-2023, and as Zone 31 Global Grants Resource 2021-2023. She has served in various other club, district and zone capacities, as well as serving on the Ole Man River President-Elect Training Seminar (OMR PETS) Committee and as President’s Representative for RI Presidents Ravi Ravindran, Ian Riseley, and Holger Knaack. She is a Major Donor-Level 3, Bequest Society Member-Level 5, and sustaining member of the Rotary Foundation, and a recipient of the Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service. Her community involvement includes serving as President of the Lincoln Parish Bar Association for four (4) terms, serving on Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Hearing Committees, serving on the Louisiana Bar Foundation Fellow Northeast Community Partnership Panel, serving as Chair of the Northern Louisiana Medical Center Board of Trustees, serving on the Board of Directors of the Grambling High Foundation, and serving as President and a co-founder of Goodwill Lunching, Inc. She is a recipient of the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Citizen Lawyer Award, a Louisiana Bar Foundation Fellow, and a member of the Judge Fred Fudickar, Jr. American Inns of Court. She is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University and LSU Law School and is Senior Counsel for Genesis Energy.

Nancy joined the West Little Rock Rotary Club in Little Rock, Arkansas in 2007. She served her club in many capacities, earning the New Rotarian of the Year Award in 2008, and the Rotarian of the Year Award in 2009 and 2010. Since 2008, Nancy has continuously served as the Club’s Executive Secretary, even through her years as President and District Governor. She is a Major Donor and member of the Paul Harris Society. Nancy has served District 6150 as a member of the Youth Exchange Committee, District Trainer, 2015 and 2022 Conference Chair, Assistant Governor, and District Governor in 2017-2018. Nancy also serves Rotary as an Assistant Rotary Coordinator for Zones 30/31. In addition, Nancy also serves as the Vice Chair for BELRAG, Basic Education and Literacy Rotarian Action Group.

Jamie has been a member of the Rotary Club of Morrilton since 2011 where he currently serves on the Board of Directors and served as Club President 2014-15.  In addition, he has served on numerous committees for District 6170 including RYLA and Youth Exchange.  He served as District Governor during the 2020-21 year and served as a Zone Lead Trainer for District Governor Nominee’s in 2022.   Jamie currently serves as Zone 31 Assistant Public Image Coordinator and is a member of the 2023 Zone Insitute team.  In 2023 Jamie will serve as the Rotary Public Image Coordinator for Zone 31.  He is a member of Rotary Foundation Bequest Society and a member of the Paul Harris Society.

Jennifer’s membership in Rotary began at the Rotary Club of Russellville in 2007. She served as club president in 2009-10. At the district level she served as district trainer for six years before becoming District Governor Nominee Designate. She served as District Governor for district 6170 in 2017-18. Since that time the positions she has held in the district include: Chair of the District Finance Committee, Chair of the Nominating Committee, Club Visioning Chair, District Grants Chair, Global Grants Chair, District Heart2Heart Coordinator, General Chair of Mid-America PETS 2020, and District Rotary Foundation Coordinator (DRFC). She now serves as Assistant Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator for Zone 31.

As a member of the Ponca City Rotary Club since 2011, Angela has had the privilege to serve in various capacities in her club, from Board Member, Programs Chair, Membership Chair, and Coordinator for a new satellite club, Ponca City Rotary Downtown. At the District level, she has served as the District Director of Membership and is a Past District Governor, serving in 2020- 2021. Angela currently serves in the District as the DEI Chair and on the Zone 30 – 31 DEI Advisory Circle.  Angela has been married to her husband Charles for 20 years and has a fourteen-year-old son, Gavin. She works as a Vice President of North America Operations for Sitel Group, a leading outsourcer for customer experience solutions. Angela is a member of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma and enjoys being able to speak to others about her tribe.

Brian Rega (REE-guh) is a member and Past-President of the Rotary Club of Jonesboro, Arkansas, established in 1919. He proudly serves Rotary District 6150 as District Trainer under Governor Mike Bennage.   Brian trained under Ed Hardesty to become a PETS Facilitator, and is a member of the District Visioning Team.  He holds a bachelor degree in communications from Arkansas State University-Jonesboro, and is a certified facilitator. Brian is a member of the Paul Harris Society, and is currently PH+3.  His Rotary classification is Healthcare: Assisted Living Administration.