Arlington Rotary Club To Inaugurate Its 1st Black President

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington Rotary Club has selected David Baas, a graduate of Wakefield High School and William & Mary, as its next president, making the 28-year-old the first Black president in the club’s 93-year history.

Baas will take over as club president on July 1, with the inauguration of the club's new slate of 2022-23 officers.

Based on existing club records and the recollection of long-time members, Baas also may be the youngest president in the history of the Arlington Rotary Club.

Baas' first involvement with the Rotary Club was in 2011 when as a senior in high school he participated in a Rotary International Interact club that hosted more than 40 exchange students from Pakistan.

“My high school experience was as fun as it was eye-opening and was the driving force in my wanting to become a Rotarian,” Baas said in a statement.

Soon after graduating from William & Mary in 2016, Baas joined the Arlington club and became an active member. Baas will be succeeding Tony Weaver as Arlington Rotary Club president.

“David is also ‘Arlington-through-and-through’ when you consider other dimensions of his background,” Weaver said in a statement.

Baas was born and adopted in Ethiopia, along with his brother and sister. His mother is from Spain and his father is an American who served as U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia in 1992-1994. They moved to Arlington in 1996.

He attended Key School-Escuela Key, Arlington’s bilingual Spanish immersion elementary school, and continued bilingual immersion at Gunston Middle School. He also took advanced Spanish courses at Wakefield High School. Baas served in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, until his assignment was cut short in March 2020 by the global pandemic.

Key School-Escuela Key is one of the Arlington Rotary Club's partners for community service.

Baas’ vision for the club includes expanding the club’s network of partnerships for greater diversity and inclusion. He also hopes to increase accessibility and engagement for new club members through social events, technology and other means that foster a strong and fun club culture.

“It is an ambitious agenda, but it builds on the direction the club has been taking in recent years,” said Weaver. “We are a growing club.”

Rotary International is a global network of 1.4 million members in 200 countries, with more than 46,000 local clubs, dedicated to volunteer community service. Arlington Rotary Club was founded in 1929.

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