| Debby Tewes is Asian Wisconzine's Contributing Writer in the Milwaukee area |
Renee Moe & Wes Sparkman on
Leading Downtown Rotary
Leaders in Service
their homes to us. They were so gracious and generous. I didn’t have to spend a dollar the whole time I was away because they took
care of us the whole time. To me that was Rotary, this international connection.”
For Sparkman, the connection was more local through a long-term friendship. Sparkman met former UW Dean of Students Mary Rouse
when he was a UW student in the early 1990s and the friendship continued after Sparkman entered the professional world and
eventually became Dane County’s contract compliance officer. Rouse, a Rotary member, invited Sparkman to several of the Rotary’s
Wednesday lunch meetings.
“One of the members, Melanie Rainey, said from the podium, ‘Okay buddy, you’ve come a second time. It’s time for you to pay for your
own lunch,’” Sparkman said with a laugh. “That was a good one. Mary thought it was funny. Perry Henderson was also one of my
sponsors. I told him I wanted to join the club and we made it work at my job and everything.”
While at first it took Moe and Sparkman some adjusting because the club was dominated by older white men, they soon found that they
had many values in common. And they have been sold on the Rotary movement ever since.
“To me, Rotary fits very well with my values,” Moe said. “The idea of service above self is our mantra. How do we look at the bigger
picture? How do you always try to give more than you receive? How do you always try to improve the world around you? And then there
are the ideas of the four-way test: truth, fairness, goodwill and friendship and benefit to all. I think those are very important aspects of
how to live your life, and so, those fit very well with my values and how I choose to prioritize the things that I do.”
“I like the variety of perspectives,” Sparkman added. “I’ve always felt that you need to hear multiple perspectives on things. I try to put
myself in the place where I can get different pieces of information, so that I can be better informed about my work and other things that I
do. One of the main reasons that I joined was the diverse speakers that they have. And the reason that Mary invited me was I am a big
community service person.”
Moe and Sparkman joined Rotary in the same year, 2005. And while Moe is the first Asian American to head the 500 member group that
is one of the oldest and largest Rotary clubs worldwide and Sparkman one of the first African Americans, it was the hard work that they
put in every year, participating in service projects and committee work that made them stand out among their peers.
“I had to figure out how the community service is done through the Rotary,” Sparkman said. “And one of the main things is the ethics
symposium. I just volunteered to be on the committee. The symposium is for high school students. We talk about ethical issues and the
students get to think about making ethical decisions as students in high school and as adults. I just thought that was a great community
service. I got involved. One time a speaker dropped out, so I was asked to be one of the presenters. The students had fun and we had
fun in the class. I stayed with that. That’s what I enjoyed doing.”
Moe was also attracted to the ethics symposium.
“The ethics symposium is the one I did the most on,” Moe said. “We ask high schoolers from all across Dane County, about 300
students, to come. It’s a really great day. At the beginning of the day, the kids come in and we ask them how they would handle different
issues. We call it the Oprah Effect. ‘What do you do with this issue? Call Oprah. She’ll give us money to fix the problem.’ By the end of
the day, they say things like, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize that there is no right answer; there are different points of view. And I had no idea that all
of these people around me are so smart, but we would have come up with a completely different answer.’ Just to see that initial timid,
shy response to at the end of the day, they are really thinking about how they make decisions is awesome. They realize that their
choices ultimately influence their character and how they behave going into adulthood.”
Moe and Sparkman stayed busy on several committees and the continued exposure and hard work made others notice and they were
considered for the Rotary board.
“Regina Milner, who was the past president, called me and said, ‘Hey would you consider being on the board slate,’” Moe recalled. “I
said, ‘Oh, I am so new. I don’t think you want me on the board.’ And Regina replied, ‘Ah, no one wins the first time. Just do it.’ Part of it is
name recognition, getting people in the club to know who you are. I think that was her take on it. I lost that election. But then it came
around again a few years later and I had chaired the ethics symposium and I’ve chaired the fund drive. Those are both pretty public
positions. People get to know you and see you in action and see your work. I got elected to the board this time.”
Sparkman laughed when he reminded Moe that he was elected to the board his first time out.
And once they were elected to the board, it was up to their fellow board members to elect them vice-president, who is the president-elect
of the Downtown Rotary.
Next Issue: Reflections on Rotary and being its president
care of us the whole time. To me that was Rotary, this international connection.”
For Sparkman, the connection was more local through a long-term friendship. Sparkman met former UW Dean of Students Mary Rouse
when he was a UW student in the early 1990s and the friendship continued after Sparkman entered the professional world and
eventually became Dane County’s contract compliance officer. Rouse, a Rotary member, invited Sparkman to several of the Rotary’s
Wednesday lunch meetings.
“One of the members, Melanie Rainey, said from the podium, ‘Okay buddy, you’ve come a second time. It’s time for you to pay for your
own lunch,’” Sparkman said with a laugh. “That was a good one. Mary thought it was funny. Perry Henderson was also one of my
sponsors. I told him I wanted to join the club and we made it work at my job and everything.”
While at first it took Moe and Sparkman some adjusting because the club was dominated by older white men, they soon found that they
had many values in common. And they have been sold on the Rotary movement ever since.
“To me, Rotary fits very well with my values,” Moe said. “The idea of service above self is our mantra. How do we look at the bigger
picture? How do you always try to give more than you receive? How do you always try to improve the world around you? And then there
are the ideas of the four-way test: truth, fairness, goodwill and friendship and benefit to all. I think those are very important aspects of
how to live your life, and so, those fit very well with my values and how I choose to prioritize the things that I do.”
“I like the variety of perspectives,” Sparkman added. “I’ve always felt that you need to hear multiple perspectives on things. I try to put
myself in the place where I can get different pieces of information, so that I can be better informed about my work and other things that I
do. One of the main reasons that I joined was the diverse speakers that they have. And the reason that Mary invited me was I am a big
community service person.”
Moe and Sparkman joined Rotary in the same year, 2005. And while Moe is the first Asian American to head the 500 member group that
is one of the oldest and largest Rotary clubs worldwide and Sparkman one of the first African Americans, it was the hard work that they
put in every year, participating in service projects and committee work that made them stand out among their peers.
“I had to figure out how the community service is done through the Rotary,” Sparkman said. “And one of the main things is the ethics
symposium. I just volunteered to be on the committee. The symposium is for high school students. We talk about ethical issues and the
students get to think about making ethical decisions as students in high school and as adults. I just thought that was a great community
service. I got involved. One time a speaker dropped out, so I was asked to be one of the presenters. The students had fun and we had
fun in the class. I stayed with that. That’s what I enjoyed doing.”
Moe was also attracted to the ethics symposium.
“The ethics symposium is the one I did the most on,” Moe said. “We ask high schoolers from all across Dane County, about 300
students, to come. It’s a really great day. At the beginning of the day, the kids come in and we ask them how they would handle different
issues. We call it the Oprah Effect. ‘What do you do with this issue? Call Oprah. She’ll give us money to fix the problem.’ By the end of
the day, they say things like, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize that there is no right answer; there are different points of view. And I had no idea that all
of these people around me are so smart, but we would have come up with a completely different answer.’ Just to see that initial timid,
shy response to at the end of the day, they are really thinking about how they make decisions is awesome. They realize that their
choices ultimately influence their character and how they behave going into adulthood.”
Moe and Sparkman stayed busy on several committees and the continued exposure and hard work made others notice and they were
considered for the Rotary board.
“Regina Milner, who was the past president, called me and said, ‘Hey would you consider being on the board slate,’” Moe recalled. “I
said, ‘Oh, I am so new. I don’t think you want me on the board.’ And Regina replied, ‘Ah, no one wins the first time. Just do it.’ Part of it is
name recognition, getting people in the club to know who you are. I think that was her take on it. I lost that election. But then it came
around again a few years later and I had chaired the ethics symposium and I’ve chaired the fund drive. Those are both pretty public
positions. People get to know you and see you in action and see your work. I got elected to the board this time.”
Sparkman laughed when he reminded Moe that he was elected to the board his first time out.
And once they were elected to the board, it was up to their fellow board members to elect them vice-president, who is the president-elect
of the Downtown Rotary.
Next Issue: Reflections on Rotary and being its president
| Renee Moe (l-r) is the current president of Madison Downtown Rotary and Wes Sparkman is the immediate past president of Downtown Rotary. |
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
Renee Moe, the current Downtown Madison Rotary president, and Wes Sparkman, its
immediate past president came to the Rotary through different paths, but were looking for
the same thing, service to the community.
Moe, vice-president of resource development at United Way of Dane County, was basically
introduced to Rotary 5,000 miles away from Madison through the Group City Exchange of
the Rotary International Foundation.
“They sent four young professionals abroad,” Moe recalled. “They go with a Rotarian. For
three weeks, you go to a different Rotary district. You stay in people’s homes and visit their
businesses and go to their Rotary club meetings. Rotary International paid my entire trip —
probably a $15,000 trip. So in 2005 before joining, I went abroad to Taiwan. I actually had a
personal motivation because I would get to see my family and learn more about the
culture. It was terrific. I met three other young professionals. We’re still in touch today. Our
Rotarian host was Lamont Colucci. It was awesome because we got to see Rotary from
the inside out. I saw Rotary from the service perspective right away. People opened up
Part 1 of 2
Renee Moe, the current Downtown Madison Rotary president, and Wes Sparkman, its
immediate past president came to the Rotary through different paths, but were looking for
the same thing, service to the community.
Moe, vice-president of resource development at United Way of Dane County, was basically
introduced to Rotary 5,000 miles away from Madison through the Group City Exchange of
the Rotary International Foundation.
“They sent four young professionals abroad,” Moe recalled. “They go with a Rotarian. For
three weeks, you go to a different Rotary district. You stay in people’s homes and visit their
businesses and go to their Rotary club meetings. Rotary International paid my entire trip —
probably a $15,000 trip. So in 2005 before joining, I went abroad to Taiwan. I actually had a
personal motivation because I would get to see my family and learn more about the
culture. It was terrific. I met three other young professionals. We’re still in touch today. Our
Rotarian host was Lamont Colucci. It was awesome because we got to see Rotary from
the inside out. I saw Rotary from the service perspective right away. People opened up