Governor 2025-26

Presentation of the DG

District 1410’s new DG comes from Turku, born in Heideken in 1961. My family includes my wife Sirkku and my children and grandchildren, who have already flown away and live in the capital region. I myself have been a Rotarian for about 15 years and have been involved in almost all club activities since I joined the club. My home club is Turku Aboa Nova, the youngest club in Turku, which has been an evening club from the beginning and a club where the DEI principles were in use even before they were talked about. The presidents have tended to alternate between both sexes, which has brought a lot of rotation and variety to the programmes.

I have been president 2 times and have been AG for the Turku area and pj of the Environment Committee for a few years. Many people also know me as Mr. Watermark, which is probably a familiar name. I am familiar with youth exchanges from my club years, I was closely involved in club activities.
In my work I have been involved in the hygiene industry in Finland and abroad. For the last 20+ years I was based in the Netherlands. I have also been involved in the development of several Swan and European Eco-label criteria and have been the founder and for many years chairman of the Environmental Committee of our sector. More recently I have moved into business networking to support the well-being of micro-enterprises through Business Networking in Southwest Finland. My hobby used to be cruising and sailing, I am a former seadog. In addition, I have been involved in ball sports club activities for over 35 years in the Turku area. This continues to this day. My current hobby is archipelago and cottaging, I live about ½ of the year in our 2 flats in the archipelago.

To me, Unite for Good means doing good together. It has been one of our guiding principles for 120 years and still is. By doing together we get more done, more interaction, more attention and more future opportunities and members. There are challenges to doing things together, but I believe that a good purpose will guide us smoothly forward towards new successes in our changing environment. This also involves taking into account and listening to the opinions of others and building consensus together. In this global political and social environment, there is a strong prevalence of personal egoism and goal-seeking. This is being exemplified right now, even by international leaders. I think that sits a little badly with the spirit and philosophy and principles of Rotary. So we need to think about how we all, in the whole district and in the clubs, can openly, together, develop our activities further.

Let’s also remember to take care of our older and less active members, include them too and give them their own space to get back involved. TKM – Bring a Friend In – at all levels: regions, clubs and members. Unite for Good!

There is a huge amount of excellent work being done in the district through our community. These are often only known to your own club or region, but it would be relatively easy to replicate great projects for other regions, clubs to do together if it makes sense. This would give us action, visibility and the power to get things done throughout our activities – Together in Action.

Similarly, it would be easier to take advantage of Rotary Foundation grants and District support opportunities when we do things together. One club doesn’t always have the resources for a project, but 2-3 neighbouring clubs could work together to do new things in a proactive way in their area. To make this activity more effective, we have strengthened the Foundation Committee and project support within the district organisation. Similarly, the new regional division aims to bring clubs that are close to each other closer together, especially in the areas around Salo and Turku and in Vakka-Suomi. I hope that from these we will have a smoothly functioning active boom throughout our district – working Together.

The supporting materials and publicity materials provided by the District, mainly roll-ups, beachflags and presentations have been updated for the new year. I hope that all our district activities and clubswill make ample use of these at various events in markets and villages. That’s where our work is done.

I believe and trust that by continuing on the path of activism paved by previous governors, we are on the right track. It is good for us to continue in this direction.

UNITE FOR GOOD 2025-26.
DG 2025-26 Matti Hakoila D1410