Rotary Club of Flagler Beach Welcomes Guest Speaker Deepa Willingham

FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. - Oct. 27, 2020 - PRLog -- The Rotary Club of Flagler Beach is pleased to welcome Deepa Willingham, Past District Governor D-5240, Founder/CEO of PACE Universal. as a guest speaker to their virtual club meeting on November 12 at 5:00pm. The public is invited to attend. Deepa was featured in a six-page article in this month's Rotary International Magazine, which is distributed to over one million Rotary members worldwide, on the girls school she founded and developed, named PACE, in India to counter-act child trafficking, through education of the girl child and empowerment of women.

"Our club meetings are usually scheduled at 8:00am on Thursdays, but Deepa Willingham's passion is encouraging younger people to get involved in Rotary, and wanted to have the meeting at a later time so any students would have a better chance of being able to attend," said club President Roseanne Stocker. Those interested in attending are asked to email Roseanne at rstocker1@outlook.com for the Zoom link.

Deepa was born and brought up in Calcutta, India. She is a naturalized citizen of the United States. She earned graduate degrees at Miami University in Oxford, OH and the U of Wisconsin. Prior to her entrepreneurial endeavors in the energy sector, Deepa served as the Administrative Director of Ancillary Services in the hospital industry.  Deepa Willingham, residing in Solvang, CA, is a naturalized citizen of the United States, was born and brought up in Calcutta, India where she obtained her primary (under the stewardship of Mother Teresa, who was her teacher), secondary and undergraduate educations in Calcutta and graduate degrees in the US. Prior to her entrepreneurial endeavors in the energy sector, Rotarian Willingham served as the Administrative Director of Ancillary Services in the hospital industry.

Deepa is an active Rotarian and served as the District Governor for Rotary District 5240 in 2010-2011. She is the Past President of the Rotary Club of Santa Ynez Valley, being named the Rotarian-of-the-Year during her year as President and has been the winner of many humanitarian awards including the winner of Santa Barbara's 'Gutsy Gals You Inspire Me Award' in 2013; one of the "Women of Action" Honoree at the White House in 2014; Time Now – Global Amazing Indian awardee from the Times of India in 2015; one of three Inspiring Women of Action at World Bank's celebration of International Women's Day in Washington DC, 2016; and the recipient of the 2018 United Nations Association (UNA) Peace Prize.

PDG Deepa believes that PEACE is not just the absence of war. It is for us to actively create a lack of poverty, injustice, non-human environment, and hopelessness for our fellow citizens. Thus, in her dream to create peace, she founded PACE Universal – www.paceuniversal.org, an US not-for-profit organization spearheading programs that are eradicating poverty, injustice, non-human environment/condition including trafficking through the education of girls and women, providing adult education/vocational training/micro-loans and upgrading the living conditions through holistic village rehabilitation. It is her aspiration to make the first PACE Learning Center be a model for duplication around the world on our pathway to peace.

To learn more about the Flagler Beach Rotary Club, visit www.flaglerbeachrotary.org.