Lunchtime Speaker – District Governor – T J Olaleye

Our speaker this week was Olatunji Olaleye our District Governor, otherwise known as TJ. TJ was
born in Nigeria, but now has Irish citizenship. He is a qualified Anaesthetist and he also has Masters
Degree in Healthcare Informatics and a Law degree. He currently works in the Healthcare sector. TJ is the
first person of Black African descent to be a Governor of District 1145 (Rotary South). In 1984 he joined
Rotaract which laid the foundation for his commitment to Rotary. In 2007, he joined the Rotary Club of
Navan, Ireland, where he made history as the club’s first African and non-Irish Vice President and
President-Elect. He later relocated to the United Kingdom, becoming a member of the Rotary Club of
Wallington. He served as the club’s first African and non-British President. He has volunteered in Rotary
medical outreach programmes across multiple countries and has championed gender equality. Outside
Rotary, he advocates for regulatory improvements in transnational fertility access, particularly concerning
patients from Africa and the Global South seeking advanced treatments abroad. TJ thanked our Club for
everything that it does. He said that in general Rotarians do not thank themselves enough for what they
do. He stressed the importance and value of Rotary fellowship. He also stressed the importance of
diversity. The latter is not without its challenges for some clubs, where it has caused internal differences.
TJ said that there are lots of different membership models for clubs. For example Weybridge & Byfleet
Rotary Club has many younger members. TJ said while we invite many charities to talk at our meetings,
we rarely send speakers to other organisations to tell them about what Rotary does. He suggested that
we should do more of this. Carol gave the vote of thanks and thanked TJ for his very interesting and
inspiring speech. At the meeting we agreed a budget of up to £1,000 to finance equipment and other
things that help with fundraising activities such as cash machines.