The University Record Staff Spotlight features Joanne Pierson, DyslexiaHelp program manager and Rotary Club volunteer

In addition to her role leading the DyslexiaHelp program at SOE, Joanne Pierson is a long-time member of the Ann Arbor Rotary Club, the largest chapter in the state. As The Record notes in its Staff Spotlight feature, “despite a career that has seen her mentor and teach youth, and combat dyslexia for decades, [Pierson] calls being involved with the club a pinnacle experience.” 

Pierson’s efforts over the 18 years she has been involved with the organization have had an immeasurable impact on the community at large. As a new Rotarian in 2004, she was one of the first co-chairs of the committee that supported the U-M Rotaract Club, a student club which works closely with the Rotary Club of Ann Arbor. In celebration of the club’s 100-year anniversary in 2016, Pierson was involved with the Centennial Playground Project at Gallup Park. “It’s accessible, it’s fantastic and it’s always packed,” she says.

Pierson spent the 2019-2020 year serving as president-elect of the club; her term as president of the Ann Arbor Rotary Club began in the height of the pandemic. The Record reports that during Pierson’s tenure as president, one of the highlights was launching an anti-racism committee, which in September will help conduct the Taking Action for Peace Conference in the Michigan League.

“My entire year was on Zoom, but I have the personality to be able to do that and drive that,” she said. “It was a challenge, regardless I loved the year. Would I rather have been at the podium in the Anderson Room? Yes, but you do what you do when that kind of stuff happens. Make the best of it, and that’s what we did.” She began her first meeting as president by telling her fellow Rotarians, “When life gives you lemons, make limoncello.”