A New Global Alignment

On July 1, the first day of the 2024–2025 program year, Toastmasters International’s global structure changed. The shift reflects the organization’s evolving demographics, as more and more members from outside North America have joined the organization in recent years. Consider: Toastmasters’ total membership is now almost equally split—50.5% in North and South America, 49.5% outside that area of the world.

Thus, the new alignment, which equally divides the 14 Toastmasters regions, making seven of them inside the Americas, and seven outside. (See the map on the next page for the geographical breakdown.) Before this latest change, nine of the regions were inside the Americas (two more than now), and five were outside (two less than now).

The 2024 alteration better balances the distribution of the more than 14,000 Toastmasters clubs in the world. According to the organization’s bylaws, no single region can represent more than 15% of all clubs. As part of the realignment, certain Districts will be reassigned to new regions. You can view the region maps and District list to see if your District has been reassigned to another region.

The updated alignment, designed to anticipate future growth as well, means there will be more equality for members across the globe both in terms of representation on the Board of Directors and opportunities to serve on the Board.

Toastmasters International President-Elect Radhi Spear, DTM, says the move will be a boon for the organization.

“With an even split of clubs in the Americas and abroad, our Board will have more diverse representation, which is fantastic! A diverse Board broadens our perspective, as members with different backgrounds and experiences contribute a wider range of ideas and solutions,” says Spear, of Piscataway, New Jersey. “This enhances problem-solving and decision-making processes.”

Spear and Morag Mathieson, DTM, 2023–2024 International President co-chaired Toastmasters International’s Region Alignment Committee, which studied the alignment issue for about six months in 2023 and recommended the new structure to the Board of Directors.

Alignment History

In Toastmasters’ first decades of existence, the organization’s membership was primarily centered in North America. In 1960, Toastmasters was composed of eight regions, all in North America. There were two International Directors from each region, 16 in all.

Over the next half-century or so, Toastmasters became more and more international, reaching into dozens of countries outside of North America. Yet the regional structure remained the same: eight regions, all in North America. In 1980, the organization added the Director-at-Large position on the Board, which would be held by someone outside of North America. However, the regional structure remained entirely in North America, with Toastmasters in all other parts of the world grouped into the category of “Districts Not Assigned to a Region.”

That all changed in 2009. That’s when a hotly debated realignment plan called Global Representation and Support—Proposal A—was put to members for a vote at that year’s Annual Business Meeting at the International Convention. The proposal called for a new global structure of 14 regions: 10 of them in North America, with one also featuring some clubs in South America; the other four regions outside of North and South America.

Advocates of the proposal wanted equality for all Districts around the world, rather than a structure that favored Districts in North America. Others wanted the longtime alignment maintained, including the traditional regional conferences (which didn’t exist for members outside North America).

Supporters of Proposal A prevailed—barely. Two-thirds of the votes were needed for the proposal to pass; at the convention’s Annual Business Meeting, 8,912 votes were cast in favor of the realignment plan, representing 69% of the total.

The region realignment, which took effect in 2010, included a new number of International Directors: 14, one from each region, providing more representation on the Board than before for members outside the Americas.

More Demographic Change

Toastmasters growth in the 2010s surged around the world, with a major increase in clubs in places like Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. This led the organization to add another region outside the Americas in 2018 (to five of the 14 in all).

And now, the latest alignment: seven regions inside the Americas, seven outside.

“Seeing this evolution brings the realization
of the dedication and commitment of so many members over the years building clubs and bringing the benefits of Toastmasters to an ever-increasing population all around the world,” says Mathieson, a longtime Toastmasters leader in Europe and a resident of Bavaria, Germany.

The number of International Directors will remain the same: 14, one from each region. But the geographical composition of where Directors are from will change because of the new structure.

“A diverse Board can better represent and understand the needs and interests of our diverse membership base,” says Spear, “leading to more relevant and effective strategies that increase our global reach.”

Toastmasters’ continued expansion into other countries has been one of its greatest successes. As Past International President Tim Keck, DTM, wrote on the occasion of Toastmasters’ 75th anniversary in 1999: The organization’s mission has always been to bring “the Toastmasters gifts of communication and leadership to diverse groups of people around the world.”

With this alignment, the organization fully embraces its international evolution.

To learn more, visit the Toastmasters webpage on the 2024 region realignment.

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