When Janna Haas attended her first Rotary meeting in Farmington, New Mexico, she faced one immediate obstacle: It was a breakfast meeting, and she is definitely not a morning person.

Fortunately, the experience was worth the early wake-up call.

“I absolutely loved it and quickly joined the club,” Janna recalled. Her first Rotary home was the Tres Rios Club, which she visited at the encouragement of her boss. After moving to Colorado Springs in 2008, she joined the North Colorado Springs Rotary Club the following year—and was pleased to discover that it met at lunchtime.

Today, Janna serves as District 5470 treasurer, drawing upon her professional experience to support clubs and strengthen Rotary throughout the district. Her responsibilities include serving on the District Finance Committee, assisting with the budget and processing reimbursement checks. She also helps incoming club treasurers prepare for their new responsibilities through District online assemblies.

Janna was inspired to serve beyond the club level by a desire to learn more about the larger world of Rotary while putting her professional experience to work for the organization.

District service has shown her just how extensive Rotary’s influence is.

“What surprised me most is how vast the reach of Rotary truly is,” she said.

She wishes more members understood that the district is not a separate entity removed from club life—it is a resource created to support clubs and their members.

“The District is truly there to help the clubs,” Janna said.

For Janna, Rotary is also a meaningful way to repay a community that has given her family an exceptional place to call home.

“This community allows my family to live and work in an amazing and beautiful place, and giving back is the least I can do,” she said.

Her favorite part of Rotary is the camaraderie she experiences at meetings and while working alongside others on service projects. Through Rotary, she has developed friendships with people whose paths she might never have crossed otherwise.

“If I am having a hard day or my mood is down, attending my club meeting instantly puts me in a good mood,” she said.

One of Janna’s most memorable Rotary experiences took place shortly after she joined the North Colorado Springs club. She participated in a literacy project at a local high school where students worked through ethical dilemmas using The Four-Way Test. At the conclusion of the project, Rotarians distributed Four-Way Test coins to the students.

One student in Janna’s small group shared that she had found one of the coins years earlier. Although she did not know where it came from or fully understand its significance, its message resonated with her, and she had kept it all those years. She told Janna she planned to give her new coin to her sister.

The encounter demonstrated how a seemingly small gesture can carry a meaningful message far beyond its original moment.

Outside Rotary, Janna is a wife, mother, business owner, animal lover—and someone whose taste in music may surprise her fellow Rotarians. She has been married for 25 years and has a 12-year-old daughter, along with two “crazy but amazing” golden retrievers.

After helping operate and ultimately sell her husband’s medical practice, Janna used that experience to establish her own bookkeeping business. She now assists small-business owners with their bookkeeping so they can devote more time and attention to the work they do best.

Janna is also licensed to practice law in three states, although she has not actively practiced since 2008.

When she is not working or serving through Rotary, she enjoys spending time with her daughter and attending as many concerts as possible. Her musical preferences lean toward hard rock and heavy metal.

“I can’t explain why,” she said. “It is just the music that speaks to me.”

In fact, when asked to name her favorite place in Colorado—or anywhere else—Janna did not identify a city, mountain or vacation destination.

Her favorite place is at a concert.

“Live music is my self-care,” she said, although she admits that standing for more than four hours at a show is getting a little harder. She also treasures time with her daughter, who is approaching her teenage years.

“I need to get every minute I can with her,” Janna said.

Her advice for Rotarians considering district service is direct and enthusiastic: “Do it!”

“There are so many roles in Rotary beyond the club level and so many new things to learn,” she said.

Above all, Janna’s Rotary experience continues to reinforce her faith in people and the difference they can make together.

“Rotary has taught me that there is so much good in our world,” she said, “and that there are amazing people who truly want to help make our world a better place.”

Rotarians may contact Janna at jannahaas.rotary@gmail.com.