Former Rotary exchange student returns to BI, reflects on journey

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 27, 2026

More than 30 years after arriving on Bainbridge Island as a Rotary Club youth exchange student, Sergei Tokmakov returned in late April with a simple purpose: to say thank you.

Tokmakov grew up in a restricted nuclear submarine base in the former Soviet Union, a place largely cut off from the outside world. There was no open media and little access to communication. “We had one radio station,” he told the club. “Even trying to change it could mean prison.”

In 1995, Tokmakov arrived on Bainbridge Island through Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island’s youth exchange program. “Rotary did not simply sponsor a year abroad,” he said. “It gave me equal access to a world of education, institutions, civic life, and possibility that had been unavailable to me. I saw transparency. I saw opportunity. I saw young people participating in decisions that mattered. That didn’t exist where I came from,” he said.

During his year on Bainbridge, Tokmakov joined student government, played on the high school football team, and experienced a level of openness and community engagement that would stay with him long after he returned home, per a news release.

Back in Russia, he carried those lessons forward, founding the first Interact Club of Vladivostok. Interact is Rotary’s service and leadership program for young people ages 12 to 18, built around community service projects, leadership, and international understanding. But Tokmakov also made a decision. He wanted to return to the United States.

Years later, he did through the U.S. green card lottery.

Tokmakov came back to the U.S. and went on to earn a law degree on scholarship at Boston University School of Law, passed the bar, and built a legal career in California, the release says.

Today, Tokmakov lives in Thailand with his Vietnamese wife, Mai, while actively practicing California law remotely. His work keeps him closely connected to the U.S. legal system – appearing in California court hearings by Zoom, drafting contracts and other legal documents, and advising clients on U.S. business law.

Tokmakov is currently in the process of applying for admission to the Washington State Bar. “In the United States, I saw that you could succeed starting from zero,” he said. “That merit and opportunity mattered.”

“Sergei’s story is exactly why Rotary invests in youth exchange,” said Michael Camp, president of the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island. “It is not just about a single year. It is about opening a door that can shape the course of a life and sometimes ripple across countries and generations.”

As for Tokmakov, the message was simple.

“The Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island opened the door, but America rewarded effort,” he said. “My life is what can happen when merit finally meets opportunity. Everything I saw here stayed with me. I wanted to come back and say thank you.”