Charles Kovess: Educating grandchildren - unlocking their passion to live wonder-filled lives
Charles Kovess graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Laws with Honours in 1973 and gained his Master of Laws from Monash University in 1980. After six years of practice, he established his own law firm which subsequently merged with Barker Gosling, a national law firm. Charles was Head of the Commercial Law Department. He has been a director of both public and private companies which has given him business experience in fields as diverse as hotels and motels, tourism facilities, restaurants, oil, gas and gold exploration, manufacturing, primary production exports, print and video media and timber milling. He has also advised a number of Australian organisations on international expansion opportunities in Hungary and Central Europe. Following a 20-year successful law practice, Charles left the law in June 1993 to pursue his passion for increasing passion! He has found that bringing out the unique and extraordinary capacities of individuals by accessing and harnessing their passion, is the fundamental key to business success. Charles graduated from the Business School for Entrepreneurs in Hawaii, and completed the ELI Super Teaching Course in August 1993. He is a successful businessman, team leader, professional speaker and executive coach. He uses these extensive and complementary skills in a dynamic and passionate way to facilitate powerful lessons. He is an inspirational speaker who inspires through his passion for life, and helps organisations build world-class teams based on integrity, trust, and commitment.
ROTARY CENTRAL MELBOURNE – MEETING REPORT – JUNE 2
President Warwick opened the Meeting at 7-40am
Herb Greenwood, the Chair for the Meeting, proposed the Toast to Rotary International
There were 48 Rotarians and Guests at the “Zoom” Meeting.
Guests were:
Tracey Tebear – President Elect, Evanston Illinois USA
Marius Hopley – District Governor Elect, Thames Valley UK (Marius had stayed with Peter and Sue Duras many years ago whilst on a Group Study Exchange.)
Jennie – eClub, Hobart
Grant Hocking – District Governor (9800)
Michael Lapina – Past Member
John Barnes - (Bearbrass Probus)
Kate Strange
Aluel Aliet
The Guest Speaker was Maria Pellicano.
Maria is a singer, voice coach and a leader.
From a young age she was interested in music, initially playing the guitar.
The song “I’d like to teach the world to sing” inspired her and she knew, even when she was young that she wanted to be a music teacher.
Participation in a Pentecostal Church gave her the opportunity to hone her singing and guitar playing skills whilst a teenager.
It also gave her the opportunity to be a leader, organising youth groups and concerts. This was the beginning of her professional journey.
Maria has had no formal music training; she leant to play “by ear”.
Her music and her leadership activities led to self-confidence and self-sufficiency.
Maria worked for some 20 years in the business world with music being an after-hours profession and a serious hobby.
The corporate world led Maria into the human development and training arena and she felt that she needed a change.
In 1998, whilst still building her business career, she started giving singing lessons to students at her home.
Initially there were 10 students but shortly thereafter she left the corporate world and with 100 students became a singing teacher full time with her own home studio.
Maria believes in “empowering people with singing being the medium”.
Maria stressed that “singing allows you to connect with your body - emotion is important, not just the mechanics of forming the sounds”
More recently Maria has become a voice coach, specialising in helping people with public speaking and communication – have a look at www.mariapellicano.com.
In summary, Maria said that “your voice is the organ of your soul’. “You take your voice with you”
Membership Chair, Neville John, reported on the activities of the Membership Committee.
All Members are part of the “Membership Team”.
With RCM there are 5 key Value Propositions for potential Members - Make a difference, Fellowship. Networking, Mentoring and the Profile/Image of Rotary
The Committee takes a strategic/holistic approach to the recruitment process.
It is critical to have a pipeline of potential Members and to highlight the range of projects undertaken by RCM.
Also, the Committee assists new Members to understand the Rotary pathway – Club, District, National, International.
RCM currently has 64 Members, down from 66 at the start of this Rotary year.
Neville raised the question – “what should be our target for Membership for the 2020/2021 Rotary year?
Importantly, all RCM Members must be involved.
Vocational Services Chair, Sarah Overton, reported on the activities of the Vocational Services Committee.
Achievements:
Business Partnership Model – allows SMEs to connect to the community.
Police Mentoring Project – very successful, operating new for 12 years.
Ambulance Mentoring Project – again, very successful, notwithstanding only started 2 years ago.
The Rotary Mentoring Platform for District 9800.
New Generations Service Exchange
President Warwick closed the Meeting at 8-45am – another well attended, successful “Zoom” Meeting.
