Get to Know Paige Havens: Change Agent, Healthcare Champion, International Volunteer, Rotarian
By Barbara Myers Myers Mason APR
This month we invite you to get to know a Rotarian from our district who isn't always out there in the front making big headlines, but she is constantly found somewhat behind the scenes working, doing good, and making an impact. She is not simply 'in Rotary,' but rather, 'Rotary is in her!' She is well known in her home community of Gwinnett County for her work on numerous public initiatives, and she has served on several healthcare organizations and boards. Read more about this Rotarian of 19 years, whose passion for taking action to create lasting change continues to grow in leaps and bounds. This month we present Paige Havens.
Paige Havens views herself as a “Rotarian,” rather than simply being “in Rotary.”
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Paige Havens
2023-24 D6910 Community
Service Co-Chair |
“There’s a difference,” she said. “It’s a commitment to a way of life. A commitment to ‘Service Above Self,’ both personally and professionally.”
She added, “Surrounding myself with others who are committed to the same ideals and objectives keeps me focused on what really matters. Our learning and collaboration together with others grows me.”
Havens continued, “Rotary has taught me to channel our vocational service for good, just as well as our volunteer hours. We share our knowledge and expertise, our life experiences, successes and failures so that we can push ourselves to do better, be better. Rotary International’s global scope opens doors of opportunity to serve with people around the world.”
Known as a change agent, Havens recently returned from India where she joined Rotarians to administer polio vaccines and learn more about the impact of Rotary’s global grants. Last summer, Havens joined a team of Rotarians on a medical mission trip to Vietnam for Alliance for Smiles to transform the lives of children needing surgery for cleft lip and palette. She is currently helping to lead a collaborative international service project in Nassau focused on Youth and Women Empowerment.
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| Paige making friends with an Alliance for Smiles paitient. |
She said, “Seeing the results and impact Rotary has on our community here at home and around the world continues to motivate me. Rotary delivers time and time again. When Rotarians put their hearts, minds and service to accomplish something together, there’s nothing we can’t do. Our efforts to lock arms to eradicate polio is proof!”
An independent marketing and community relations consultant, Havens has engaged in countless community development and policymaking efforts. Highlights of her work include leading SPLOST and transit referendums, advancing public health initiatives, and founding Gwinnett’s Great Days of Service.
At the outset of the COVID pandemic, Havens helped power Gwinnett Cares, a grassroots community initiative launched to care for the Gwinnett community through COVID-19. Most recently, she brought the website, GwinnettHealthFinder.org, online to connect Gwinnett’s un/underinsured population to quality, affordable healthcare.
A healthcare champion, Havens serves as vice chair of Gwinnett Medical Center Foundation’s Board of Directors and is a member of the Northside Gwinnett’s Women’s Leadership Council. She was a strong proponent in helping to bring healthcare resources to Gwinnett such as open-heart surgery, concussion care, a NICU ambulance, the Concussion Care-A-Van, digital tomosynthesis breast imaging, and more.
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| Paige shown here participating in a fundraising & awareness event for the homeless. |
Here is Paige at the Gwinnett Cares display table. |
She has served as an advisor to Georgia’s Injury Prevention Council, Shepherd Center’s SUCCESS Advisory Board, Emory University’s Injury Prevention Council, the Brain Injury Association of Georgia, and Georgia’s Brain & Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission.
As a member of the Rotary Club of Gwinnett County for 19 years, Havens served as Club President in 2013-14, two terms as a Trustee for the Georgia Rotary Student Program, and is currently District 6910 Service Co-Chair.
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| Engaging with children at the Rotary sponsored Kashitand Village School on the outskirts of Dhanbad, India, Paige commands their undivided attention! |
Havens has received many accolades for her change-making work through the years, including Volunteer of the Year by the Gwinnett Coalition and the JM Tull Gwinnett Family YMCA, the Barbara King Community Hero Award, and a United Way Women’s Legacy Award. The Gwinnett Chamber has honored Havens with a Public Service Award, a Healthcare Excellence Award, and the “Pay It Forward” Moxie Award.
Havens’ service has also been recognized by the Gwinnett Medical Center Foundation, Georgia’s Brain & Spinal Injury Trust Fund Commission, Healthcare Georgia Foundation, Good Samaritan Health Centers of Gwinnett, and The Primerica Foundation.
She said, “Through the years, I’ve learned true service should not be about quantity but quality. More and more, I’m focusing my energy on volunteer opportunities that really matter to me and are really impactful.
A proud Bulldog, Havens earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia. She is an art lover, learner, collector, and teacher. She actively creates across multiple mediums, including pottery, sculpture, painting, photography, and more. Havens has a working art studio at home where she also teaches a weekly art class for homeschoolers.
At the end of the day, Havens considers her greatest life’s work to be an ever-present wife and mom. She and her high school sweetheart, Reagan, have been married 33 years, and they have two grown children, Mason and Rhys. She’s eagerly awaiting the arrival of her first grandchild in 2024 and can’t wait to add to her bio the title of “Glamma!”
