Carolyn Jones made history in 2005 when she became the first female trustee of The Rotary Foundation. And as proud as she is of her appointment, she'd be the first to admit it wasn't a goal she set out to achieve. She simply worked hard at what she believes in and someone noticed. That someone happened to be then-RI President-elect Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar. "Carolyn's dedication to the children of Russia and her ability to raise money for The Rotary Foundation were two extremely impressive [accomplishments] that made me believe she would make a super Rotary Foundation trustee," says Stenhammar. "Paired with my interest in promoting women within Rotary, she was the perfect [choice]. However, it was her skills and talents, not her gender, that made me suggest Carolyn."

Since joining Rotary in 1987, Jones has demonstrated her leadership skills and fundraising talents through a variety of humanitarian projects. Many of these efforts have centered on Russia where she has traveled 27 times in her service to Rotary, four of those as a Rotary Volunteer.

"Once I got into the district governor pipeline, I knew I'd be going to Russia," says Jones, who served as governor of District 5010 in 1997-98. This is Rotary's largest district, comprising Eastern Russia along with Yukon Territory, Canada, and Alaska, USA.

During her year as governor, Jones raised more than US$620,000 to fund 30 humanitarian projects for needy children in Russia. The plight of these youngsters, many of them orphans, came to her attention during a 1997 visit to the pediatric cancer ward of a neglected hospital in the Siberian city of Tomsk. So inspirational was her experience at the hospital that it became a chapter in the book, Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul (Health Communications Inc., 2002).

"Looking back, I now understand that meeting the children in Tomsk was no accident," says Jones. "It was destiny, theirs and mine. They had the courage to fight and to live. I had to find the will and the way to help them."

And help she has. In addition to fundraising for these and countless other disadvantaged children living in Russia, Jones has organized team visits to the country, including a trip in 1997 with the bluegrass band McLeod. Under Rotary Foundation Trustee Carolyn Jones, outside the Arch C. Klumph Gallery at Rotary World Headquarters Jones's leadership, the group of five musicians visited Russia for 12 days, performing at orphanages, hospitals, hospices, schools, and before the public — a total of 28 concerts in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, and four other cities in Siberia.

In 2001, she accompanied six Rotary Volunteers to the Eagle's Nest Orphanage in Tomsk. A strong believer in the importance of early intervention, skills development, and vocational training, Jones and fellow Rotarians devised an educational program for the orphanage's 110 children that included early child development, commercial sewing, and English classes.

This was Jones's second visit to the orphanage as a Rotary Volunteer, having spent four weeks there as a Head Start teacher in 1999. As a Rotary Volunteer, she also taught law and English classes at Tomsk State University in 1998 and at Irkutsk State University in 2004.

Jones's humanitarian efforts have garnered accolades both in and out of Rotary. A recipient of Rotary's Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation's Citation for Meritorious Service, she was named "Volunteer of the Year" in 2002 by the Russian Children's Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Moscow.

"I didn't map out a political or Rotary agenda," says Jones."I just did the things that meant a lot to me in Rotary and along the way a lot of good has come back.

"My advice is be the Rotarian you want to be. Aim for the things you want to do. Enjoy yourself, and if you're really good at what you're doing, if you're passionate about what you're doing, other people will notice and talk and sometimes great things happen."