Oakville's newest Rotarian presidents for 2023/2024

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With the start of the new Rotary year, Rotary Oakville is pleased to announce the new presidents of each of the five Oakville clubs. They are:

  • Mahendra Shah - Rotary Club of Oakville
  • Co-Presidents June Oliver and Lauri Asikainen - Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar
  • Susan Sheppard - Rotary Club of Oakville West
  • Norma Gamble - Passport South Rotary Club
  • Co-Presidents Romeo Mitchell and Ben Rudnick - Halton Rotaract

Mahendra Shah - Rotary Club of Oakville (RCO)

A resident of Bronte for over 40 years, the new president, Mahendra Shah, joined the Rotary Club of Oakville (RCO) in 2017. Since joining Rotary, he has taken on many leadership roles in the club, including treasurer. A member of various fundraising and service committees, he is also on the board of all RCO entities.  

A CPA by profession, Shah had a long career with a major Canadian bank in its executive office before retiring.

June Oliver - Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar (RCOT) (Co-president)

June Oliver, new co-president of the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar (RCOT), is a retired CPA, though actively involved in volunteer positions, including treasurer for Amistad Canada, as well as a school for the deaf in Mexico and her HOA in the neighbourhood she lives in each winter in San Miguel de Allende.

As a snowbird, she is sharing the presidency with another traveller, Lauri Asikainen, who will step in on November 1. Oliver is looking forward to a very exciting summer as RCOT re-introduces the in-person Oakville Family Ribfest July 28-30 at the Sheridan campus.

Lauri Asikainen - Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar (Co-president)

A Rotarian for almost 20 years, Lauri Asikainen looks forward to his co-presidency of the Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar. He will bring his interests in fundraising, international and environmental projects to the members developing opportunities for community engagement that help the environment.  

Born in Canada, he was raised in Finland and spent his summers there.  

Though he has international sales and marketing experience and is a leadership coach and mentor, the gifted handyman in him shines when building birdhouses and beautiful saunas.

Susan Sheppard - Rotary Club of Oakville West (RCOW)

The new president of the Rotary Club of Oakville West (RCOW) is Susan Sheppard, who chose Oakville as home over 30 years ago. She believes in serving her community, completing three community projects that initiated lasting legacies for Oakville, including the Heritage Trails, Oakville's Millenium Clock and enhancing the Bronte Waterfront Heritage Park. She is also a Director of the Canadian Club of Halton.  

Sheppard joined Rotary in 2011 and has chaired RCOW communications for several years, co-chaired the annual Rotary Golf to Give Tournament and sits on the Oakville Awards for Business Excellence Committee with the Oakville Chamber of Commerce.  

With a community and media relations background, she collaborated with other Rotary clubs to build awareness of Rotary and raise funds for local organizations during Covid. Her term as club secretary will end as she enters her second term as RCOW president for 2023-24.  

Norma Gamble - Passport South Rotary Club

A South African immigrant to Canada, Norma Gamble, the new president of the Passport South Rotary Club, settled in Oakville 40 years ago. She was one of the first women to join Rotary at that time, and in 1997 Gamble led a Rotary Group Study Exchange team to Austria and the Czech Republic, which still meet annually.  

In 2003 she received Oakville's prestigious Athena Award for social entrepreneurship, business excellence and mentoring and in 2017 received Halton's "Honouring 150 Years of Exemplary Women" Award in celebration of Canada's 150 birthday.

As a social entrepreneur, Gamble remains passionate and committed to "affordable housing for all" and has initiated multiple social housing programs in Halton and Caledon. 

Romeo Mitchell - Halton Rotaract (Co-president)

Romeo Mitchell, the new co-president of Halton Rotaract has been volunteering with Rotary since he was eleven years old.  

He officially became a member of both the Milton Rotary Club and Halton Rotaract four years ago. Since then, he has volunteered as Media/Marketing manager for Rotaract and Technology/internal communications for the Milton Club.  

With a bachelor's degree in legal studies, he will attend law school at Toronto Metropolitan University in the Fall. As co-president, he will work towards advancing Halton Rotaract while continuing to promote Rotary values.

Ben Rudnick- Halton Rotaract (Co-president)

As co-president of Halton Rotaract, Ben Rudnichopes to increase his club's engagement and membership.  

He studied History and Psychology at the University of Guelph and is currently working in the Information Technology field with cybersecurity in his future plans. 

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