Ken Walsh, 35, will assume the presidency of the Rotary Club of Capitol Hill on July 1.
What do you do for a living?
I am with a group called Partner Concepts, in the travel and tourism field. We develop marketing programs for international destinations and airlines, anyone looking to promote travel and tourism in the United States.
Are higher fuel prices affecting your business?
In the United States there’s some tough times, but people are just going to different destinations. There are some great deals in Asia and Africa. People are not going to stop traveling.
What is the Capitol Hill Rotary Club?
It’s a professional network of business professionals who get together for international and local service projects. We have 30 members.
What is the rotary doing locally?
Locally we’re doing a lot of literacy projects. We’re working with Eastern High School, Tyler Elementary School and Two Rivers Public Charter school. We’ve donated money and books to their libraries. With Eastern we have a little bit more of a hands-on role where we have mentored some students, sent them to rotary leadership seminars.
How about internationally?
Our club is actually sponsoring to build a number of water wells in Bolivia. I believe we’re sponsoring 14 of them.
Why Bolivia?
We have a member who works for [the Organization of American States]. She’s Bolivian. She knows some people down there who she can coordinate this project with.
How are you paying for these efforts?
Everyone in the rotary is encouraged to give $100 every year. There’s 1.2 million members of rotary. That’s $120 million every year. A lot of that’s available for matching grants, and we’re trying to develop some fundraising campaigns.
