Teresa Valdivia joined Rotary in 2004 as a 31-year-old credit union branch manager, the youngest member of her club by fourteen years. She served as club president in 2011 and as district governor in 2019–20, a year in which her district chartered four new clubs and posted its first net membership gain in nine years.

Her approach began with a spreadsheet. As district membership chair, she asked 38 clubs to log every guest for twelve months and record whether each one came back. Of 611 first-time guests, 212 returned for a second meeting and 94 joined. Teresa concluded that most clubs did not have a recruiting problem but a second-visit problem, and that the fix cost almost nothing: a named host, a follow-up call within 48 hours, and an invitation to a service project rather than another lunch.

She later led a working group that drafted a flexible meeting model for new clubs, including a satellite format for members who cannot attend weekday lunches. Of the clubs she helped charter, two meet in the evening, one meets monthly, and one meets entirely around hands-on projects.

Teresa now works with districts and clubs across the southern United States and presents in English and Spanish. She lives in Austin with her husband and serves on the board of a local adult literacy nonprofit.