Susanne named first District Governor from Three Creeks

All of us in the Rotary Club of Three Creeks knew it would happen sooner or later.

Our own Susanne Holmberg, co-founder of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks, has been named District 5100 district governor for the 2025-26 Rotary year.
 
“Being selected as district governor to serve during the 2025-26 Rotary year is an honor and I am excited to follow incredible community leaders who all have the same passion and love for Rotary,” Susanne said. “This is an opportunity to make a difference locally and regionally, to share my vision and to make Rotary more accessible and attractive.
 
“Our Rotary clubs have an extraordinary impact in our communities, and I am proud to bring experience and vision from our Three Creeks club to inspire others,” she added. “Rotary welcomes creativity, diversity and collaboration; it is a way to change lives. We are changemakers.”
 
Susanne’s appointment was announced on Saturday, Oct. 15 by current District Governor Steve Williams, and she has already begun work with current leaders. Effective immediately, she is the district governor nominee designee, and she will begin working with her three predecessors in an intense succession program that gets her involved in district leadership right away. She’ll also shortly begin formal training from the district and from Rotary International, leading up to her year as governor.
 
“After reviewing applications, checking with references, and completing an interview with each of the candidates, the nominating committee discussed the strengths of each of the candidates,” Williams said. “After deliberating for some time, the committee has made the unanimous decision to nominate Susanne Holmberg of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks Vancouver to be District 5100’s District Governor for the Rotary Year 2025-26.”
 
Susanne has been active in District 5100 since 2006 and was instrumental in the formation of Vancouver's Rotary Club of Three Creeks in 2016. She has served as an assistant governor for the Clark County region and currently serves on the district's Learning and Development committee. She has also served on the district’s Grow Rotary committee.
 
“The members of the Rotary Club of Three Creeks are so proud and excited to support Susanne in her role as district governor,” said Rotary Club of Three Creeks President Andi Costello. “Her commitment to Rotary and to ‘Service above Self’ is evident in everything she does. We look forward to her continued innovative approaches and leadership to carry Rotary forward and be more approachable.”
 
The role of district governor in Rotary is similar that of a non-profit executive director, but as a volunteer. Susanne will be the chief executive of District 5100 which includes 66 Rotary clubs and seven Rotaract clubs stretching from Seaside and Long Beach in the west along the Columbia River to Wallowa County, Oregon in the east and from Battle Ground in the north to Stayton in the south.
 
While the Three Creeks club is Susanne’s “baby”, she had previously been a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver, where she served as club president in 2013-14. She also served two terms as the founding president of the Three Creeks club.
 
She is also a Rotary Foundation major donor, bequest society member, Paul Harris Fellow and a member of the Polio Plus Society. When she officially takes leadership of the district on July 1, 2025, she will be the ninth District 5100 governor from a club in Clark County. She is also a board member for the North County Community Food Bank and serves on the Clark County Public Facilities Board, representing the lodging industry. Professionally, she serves as director of creative strategies and talent development for Vesta Hospitality, a national lodging company based in Vancouver.
 
She will be the first district governor from Three Creeks, and the first from a Clark County club since Barb Crozier of the Rotary Club of Camas-Washougal served her second term in the position during the 2015-16 Rotary year.
 
Past Clark County district governors include Ron Keil (Rotary Club of Vancouver, 1970-71), Sam Jones (Rotary Club of Vancouver, 1982-83), Ron Hart (Rotary Club of East Vancouver, 1987-88), Buck Heidrick (Lewis River Rotary Club, 1999-2000); Dave Jay (Lewis River Rotary Club, 2007-08), Dr. Dennis Wickham (Rotary Club of Greater Clark County, 2008-09), Barb Crozier (Rotary Club of Camas-Washougal, 2010-11 and 2015-16).

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