“I have always felt that the more you give to Rotary, the more Rotary gives back to you.”
– District Governor Kathy Schulte, 2026-2027
Kathy Schulte has been preparing for three years to take over as governor of Rotary District 5390 on July 1 of this year. Reading her lengthy bio, one might say that Kathy has been preparing for it her entire life.
“I am truly honored to have been chosen by my fellow Rotarians from across Montana to serve as district governor this year,” Kathy said. “I love Rotary and everything it stands for. The opportunity to serve others, strengthen our communities, and make a difference in people’s lives is incredibly rewarding. I have always felt that the more you give to Rotary, the more Rotary gives back to you.”
MEET DG KATHY
A native of New Jersey, Kathy graduated in 1970 from Ridge High School, Basking Ridge, NJ. She was active as a teenager playing guitar in a church folk band and participating in gymnastics. Kathy was selected as her high school’s Prom Queen and given the “Most Polite” award.
In Fall 1970, she moved to Missoula to attend the University of Montana (UM). After completing two years of college, Kathy married, postponing her degree for 20 years. During that time, she earned her real estate license, worked as a real estate broker and trainer, and transitioned into the banking industry. She also became active in the community. When Kathy later returned to UM, she completed her degree in Business with an emphasis in Finance in 1990.
Kathy began her banking career in residential mortgages as an originator and trainer specializing in federal housing programs. She developed a training program for Western Federal Savings and Loan, which the bank later purchased. After earning her degree, Kathy established a residential mortgage department for a local bank president in exchange for learning commercial lending and continued her banking career until 2016, later earning her Certified Valuation Analyst designation focusing on business evaluation.
Following personal challenges, including the loss of her parents, her husband’s health, and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kathy retired. She remains active in volunteer work today, including Rotary.
DG KATHY’S ROTARY STORY
A Rotary member for more than 20 years, Kathy explained that her first experience with Rotary in 2001 was walking a downtown Missoula sidewalk where she happened upon Betty Wilkins, a member of the Rotary Club of Missoula. When Betty asked where Kathy was headed, she told her she was going to lunch. Betty promptly said, “No, you’re not. You’re going with me to Rotary!” And thus began Kathy’s love affair with Rotary.
Betty sponsored Kathy to join the Rotary Club of Missoula in 2005. Since then, Kathy has taken on countless leadership roles, serving in both 
her Missoula club and District 5390. She was club treasurer, Foundation chair, club president in 2010-2011, ZAVIT (Zoom-AV-Information Technology) Committee, In Tune Missoula Fundraiser Committee, and participated in countless other community and international projects. A guitarist and singer, Kathy is routinely asked to perform at the Rotary Club of Missoula meetings which offer live music each week.
Making friends through Rotary is one aspect of membership that Kathy relishes most. Not only meeting new people around Montana, she and her husband Bob hosted a Rotary International Youth Exchange student several years ago and attended his wedding in Pakistan last year.
“Asad is just like a son to us and a member of the family,” she said about her Rotary Youth Exchange host son, now living in the St. Louis area with his wife, Dr. Farah Chohan.
At the district level, Kathy joined the District Training Committee and helped craft and present PELS workshops for emerging leaders in Rotary clubs throughout Rotary Zones 26/27, which includes a multi-state area of the North American west coast and Canada. She served as secretary of District 5390 and was then tapped in 2023 as a future district governor.
Kathy is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and a member of the Paul Harris Society, charitable giving categories of The Rotary Foundation named for Rotary’s founder.
In addition to her Rotary volunteer work, Kathy has served as board chair for a local housing nonprofit for many years. She is the author of the book Pathways to Heaven: 21st Century Words of Jesus.
Kathy is the mother of two adult children and grandmother of seven. She says she divides her time between Missoula, where her daughter Jodi lives and works as nursing director of a surgery center, and Columbia Falls, where her son Jesse, a financial advisor, lives. In addition to singing and playing guitar, she enjoys walking, hiking and drying herbs. Kathy and her husband Bob celebrated 26 years together in February 2026.
Our thanks to Betty Wilkins for first introducing this marvelous Rotary leader – District Governor Kathy Schulte -- to Rotary.