Global impact of The Rotary Foundation

Marga Hewko is President Nominee 2021-2022 of the Rotary Club Chicago and has overseen, implemented and raised funds for a number of humanitarian projects in Burkina Faso, Argentina, Bolivia, Haiti, Senegal, India and other countries in the areas of water and sanitation, economic development and health.  Marga is also a frequent speaker at District Conferences, Institutes (in India, Italy, Argentina, Australia, Sri Lanka) as well as at the International Assembly in San Diego.

While living in the former Soviet Union in the early and mid-1990s, Marga was a member of the board of the International Women’s Club of Moscow.  In Kyiv, Ukraine, she worked for the Spanish news agency EFE and was a charter member of the International Women's Club of Kyiv.  She was also the Executive Director of the Project on the Oral History of Independent Ukraine, a 200 hours video archive that chronicles the process of independence of Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.  

Marga has participated five times in the “Ride to End Polio” in Tucson, Arizona, a bicycle ride that has raised over U$S 53 million for polio eradication.  As an avid fundraiser Marga has received the International project Award from District 6450 for her work in fundraising and organizing global grants. 

Marga grew up in Argentina.  She is married to John Hewko, the General Secretary and CEO of Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation.  Marga and John have lived in Russia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic and Washington, DC.  John and Marga are Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation. They have one daughter, Maria. 

Host: Mark Dewart