Rose Nakibirango – Nominated Candidate for Division K Director

Toastmasters member since

October 2017

Education

BA with Education
MA in Adult Education
MSc Database Systems

Toastmasters offices held and terms of service

2019 – 2020: Treasurer, London Public Speakers
2020 – 2021: Assistant Area Director, K3
2020 – 2021: Division K Administration and Finance Lead
2021 – 2022: Secretary, Excalibur Speakers
2021 – 2022: Area Director, K3

Toastmasters honors and recognition

Triple Crown: 2019 – 2020; 2020 – 2021; 2021 – 2022
Pathfinder: 2019 – 2020; 2020 – 2021; 2021 – 2022
3rd Place in D91 – Club Ambassador Programme, District 91 (2019 – 2020)

Relevant work experience and how it relates to Toastmasters and your role as a District leader:

Currently working as a Programme Manager in the health sector. Responsible for planning and implementing programmes of change that require a high level of organisation, working with different levels of stakeholders and leading people through difficult situations such as change to job roles and ways of working. This experience is useful in my role as Area Director as I have been able to plan and complete Area activities in good time and to a high standard. An example was completing and submitting all my Round 1 Area Director visits by the end of August, giving myself plenty of time to focus on renewals and contests in September and October.

What experience do you have in strategic planning?

As a programme manager, I work with teams in developing annual business plans and programmes of change. I am experienced at facilitating workshops to identify opportunities for organisations to thrive and mitigate against weaknesses and external threats. I have recently helped draft a business plan for a new team of 22 staff that will be supporting the recruitment and retention of temporary staff in NHS Trusts (Hospitals and Ambulance organisations). The plan will enable Trusts to manage supply of staff during peak periods such as Covid waves, while providing the agility to have fewer staff in quiet periods. I have applied this strategic planning experience in my Toastmaster leadership roles as a club officer and Area Director. In the latter role, I have set an example for Presidents to prepare their club Success Plans in the summer by working with Area Council to draft the Area Success Plan in July. I have ensured that the Success Plan is a living document by making it a reference point for the rest of the year on Area objectives. As a Division Director, planning is even more important as I would be supporting around 25 clubs to achieve Distinguished status, without the benefit of direct control. I am aware that this requires strong people skills to inspire and support Area Directors in building relationships with their clubs despite the lack of engagement they may experience.

What experience do you have in the area of finance?

As a programme manager, I am responsible for writing growth bids and business cases for allocation of funds. This involves estimating the cost of activities and resources, usually over periods of 6 to 24 months and creating a budget. I typically manage programme budgets of 600K to 2m, with responsibility for ensuring that amount spent on running costs roughly corresponds to work completed / value created.

I have served as a club Treasurer, preparing the club budget and forecasting revenue from membership. As an Area Director and formerly a Division K Administration and Finance Lead, I am familiar with Toastmaster guidance on eligible spending for Area and Division budgets.

What experience do you have in developing procedures?

As part of my responsibility for setting up a new function of 22 staff, I am leading the drafting of procedures such as the on-boarding of new staff and off-boarding departing colleagues; records management; and the management of information requests from the team, some of which are from high profile offices in central government.
As the club secretary at my second club, I have set up a new electronic filing system on our Google drive with folders that officers would find intuitive to use when saving and searching for documents. I have organised officer meetings for the whole year, with invites sent to officers to avoid clashes. Meeting documentation is well organised and filed for ease of retrieval. I have also set up a one-page club calendar with key events for the year, including contests, educational sessions, AGM and membership renewal periods. This will keep us organised during the year and avoid clashing of events.
I have done similar activities while serving as the Division K Administration and Finance Lead (2020-2021), making sure that records were well organised in our Dropbox folder; that meetings were planned in advance and minuted; and actions recorded.

What lessons did you learn from previous leadership positions?

As a club officer, I have learned that it is natural for a team to have different views and ways of doing things. The team can work through these differences if focus is placed on the shared goal of maintaining a supportive learning environment for members. As an Area Director, I have seen the benefit of planning activities and events well ahead to avoid working under pressure to meet deadlines. I learned from last year, the benefit of starting Area Director visits early. I completed Round 1 visits and submitted visit reports before September. This gave me and my clubs the space to focus on September renewals, speech contests and growing membership. I have learned not to take some club officers’ lack of engagement personally. I do my best to serve and take pride in my contribution. Finally, I like to lead by setting positive examples as an active Toastmaster at club and other levels. This includes attending my club meetings regularly and vising clubs in my Area unofficially; delivering prepared speeches; and volunteering at other clubs, especially during contest season.

Why do you want to serve as a District leader?

I am keen to expand my experience as a leader by taking up opportunities that come up in Toastmasters, professional life and my community. I see myself making progress as a leader, from being a club officer to Area Director and challenging myself to take on the role of Division Director, that requires more advanced leadership skills.
I look forward to the growth that this role would give me, and the new experiences I would be exposed to.
I am an active Toastmaster and so taking up a role to serve members at a different level is a privilege I would be honoured to fulfill.

In your opinion, what are the District mission’s major objectives and how would you work to achieve them?

The District’s main objectives are to build new clubs and support all clubs achieve excellence. As a Division Director, I would support the first objective by encouraging members to look out for opportunities for new clubs. These could be in their places of work (corporate clubs); geographical locations with little or no Toastmaster presence; or where clubs serve a niche, for example, weekend meetings for members who can’t make morning or evening meetings. I would help members with organising demonstration meetings to give guests a flavour of Toastmaster meetings. I would support existing clubs to achieve excellence through recognition schemes of educational and other accomplishments such as level and path completion. I would also give shout outs to clubs for achievements and progress made, for example, new member sign-up; high member retention rates; and organising successful events such as educational sessions. For clubs that are struggling with numbers, I would work with Area Directors and Presidents to help with organising Open Houses and themed events to attract guests. I would encourage clubs to take advantage of social media and local radio stations to advertise their Open House and other special events to attract guests.

Additional information about yourself

I would describe myself as a toastmaster enthusiast. I like to:

– Take part in Toastmaster activities, taking on a role at each club meeting and attending events outside my club, for example contests.
– Stretch myself through prepared speeches and evaluations (currently doing my 4th Path as a TM for 4 years).
– Regularly attend D91 webinar series – learning different aspects of growing as a speaker and leader.

Outside Toastmasters:
– I work to a high standard and in a timely manner – often going above the expected, for example, when organising events.