SALISBURY — The Rotary Club of Salisbury recently announced that Karen Hobson will serve as the president for the 2024-25 term.  At today’s regular club meeting, Immediate Past President Cindy Fink provided President Hobson the gavel of the club, signifying the change in club leadership.  

In addition to her service to the Rotary Club of Salisbury, Hobson currently serves as the assistant scoutmaster with BSA Troop 448, and she is a member of its governing committee. Hobson has served as the Historic Salisbury Foundation executive director, and she has consulted with Salisbury’s Community Development Corporation.

In 2012, she returned to Salisbury and restored her family’s home in the West Square Historic District, which has been a part of the Historic Foundation’s annual October Tour.

Prior to returning to Salisbury, Hobson served as president of New-York-based Hobson Associates Limited, where she accumulated more than 25 years of experience developing and financing real estate projects, many of them internationally. Hobson’s body of development work includes urban redevelopment projects for Yale University, the city of Miami Beach and Canary Wharf in London. Starting in 2008, Hobson has focused on advisory work in West Africa, notably Ghana. 

President Hobson has an MBA from the University of Chicago and an undergraduate degree in architecture from North Carolina State University.  She has a long-standing interest in hiking and has hiked throughout the world, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro twice, among other adventures.   

“I believe in service and in the difference, it can make to our community and to the world at large,” Hobson said. “As the incoming president of the Rotary Club of Salisbury, I am committed to extending Rotary’s influence and continuing our efforts to make Salisbury-Rowan a better place for all.

Other incoming club leaders include Rocky M. Cabagnot, president-elect; Donnie Clement, secretary; Bill Lee, treasurer; and Leigh Ellington, membership director. At the Rotary District 7680 level, Rotary Club of Salisbury members were appointed by the district governor to positions on the district’s leadership team for the 2024-25 term. Fink will begin serving as the rotary assistant governor for Rowan County, overseeing and coaching four rotary clubs.

Club Director David Post will serve as District 7680 Chair for the CART Fund, which provides “seed” money for cutting-edge, high-impact research grants to help find a treatment or cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Additionally, Cabagnot will also serve as District 7680 Chair for Rotaract clubs, which bring together people ages 18 and older to exchange ideas with leaders in the community, develop leadership and professional skills, and have fun through service.