Zonta Club of New Rochelle
President’s Report
2009-2010
Our Membership:
22 members; of these, about 10 were the “active” members this year who did the major work of our club.
Our Service:
· Zonta Women’ Community Radio entered its 4th season continuing to raise awareness of issues that impact women locally and globally. See below for a description of the topics and guest.
· Feed the hungry. We continued our once a month service project of helping to make lunch and distributing information about domestic violence and fee legal services at Trinity St Paul Church.
· Zonta Club of New Rochelle and Area 1 Director Leslie Wright team up to help make New Rochelle Public Library a stop on the September Global Peace Tour-bringing "Pray The Devil Back to Hell" a film by Abigail Disney. The film tells the triumphant story of Muslim and Christian women in Liberia employing satyāgraha to confront the repressive Taylor regime and to put a stop to the decades long civil conflict by agitating for peace.
· We had a great turn out for our Zonta Informational and Networking Gathering (ZING). The results of that September 2009 ZING was five new members, three of which have become officers in the club.
· In October 2009 we celebrated the 80th Anniversary of the club with a Gala honoring women who were making a difference in our community.
· November we sponsored a seminar entitled the ABC’s of Talking to Your Kids About Money at the New Rochelle Public Library.
· In December 2009 we inducted 5 new members and had 20 guests at our end of year holiday and induction celebration.
· January 2010 we kicked off the year with a Women and Wealth seminar at the New Rochelle Public library.
· In February 2010 the Zonta Club of New Rochelle joined with Girl Scout Troop 2981, New Rochelle High School Science Honor Society and the Remington Boys and Girls Club in sponsored a three day Cornell CE Educational Science Workshop for girls. At the workshop the girls conducted experiments that focused on environmental science, biology and geology. Our members were not only able to help with these experiments they were also able to share their professional experience with the women for the New Rochelle High School Science Honor Society. We had such positive feedback from this program that we arranged for another workshop in summer.
· April 2010 we hosted a luncheon to honor Kara Mahon, our Young Women in Public Service Award winner. We had as our guest speaker Martha Lopez-Hanratty, the voter education coordinator for Village of Port Chester.
· New officers were formerly inducted in May 2010.
Fundraisers:
· We were able to raise money from ticket sales at our Gala and luncheon as well as with a 50/50 raffle at the Gala and scholarship luncheon. We are focusing our efforts at pursuing advertising opportunities to sponsor of the Radio show.
Areas to work on:
· Membership. We have lost a number of members who have moved out state. We are looking to grow our membership especially our membership in the under 50 age group.
· Focusing on increasing our fundraising efforts so that we can increase our contribution to the mission of Zonta International
· Promote ZI Scholarships
· Increase community awareness of the mission of Zonta
Radio Show summary:
· Irene Kabot talked to ZWCR about the technical challenges of building wells, sustainable and ethical issues in assistance projects and the joy she has found in working to support this international service project.
· Girl Scouts of USA Troop 2981 completed workshops on bullying and, together with Zonta Club of New Rochelle produced their own PSA (public service announcement), which was broadcast world-wide on May 6th on ZWCR.
· ZWCR talked with Terri Jackson, a recruitment specialist with Family Services of Westchester, http://www.fsw.org/. Terri works to train parents who provide a home for children with special emotional needs.
· In July we welcomed Barbara Reguero a former high level executive with Bear Stearns, and Anne-Marie Ditta, our newest Zonta member , career coach and writer http://www.mycareercoach.net/ to talk about how women at the highest levels of the finance industry are reinventing themselves and reshaping their careers.
· We also introduced a new series on ZWCR/ International Service Projects. The first podcast covered Obstetric Fistula, and bring to our audiences worldwide Zonta's important challenge to reduce its occurance in Liberia.
· In November is all about methods women use to foster peace in their homes and writ large -the context of peace as social action. ZWCR featured storyteller Koketso Ferriera, , who shares a folktale about how one woman sets about making peace within her home with a retelling of a Ghanian tale"The Lion's Whiskers".
· Highlights from the Zonta District 3 Conference "Women: Moving Forward in the 21st Century" featuring past Zonta International President Mary Ellen Bittner, Governor Ellen Karo, Lt. Governor Lisa Fraser, Zonta DC President Diana Garcia, and US State Department/ Bureau of African Affairs' Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Outreach Coordinator Nicole Peacock.
· Guests from the Utility Workers of America Local 1-2: Shop Steward Linda Lesnewski, an underground cable splicer in training, Jennifer O'Keefe and Business Representative Bruce Farina explore the economic issues facing women workers in low wage industries and ask why there still aren't more women in the rank and file of non-traditional employment.
· Show explored how successful non-profit organizations reach new audiences even in a tight economy. Norman Reiss of Non-Profit Bridge helps us to look squarely at the use of social media to communicate the non-profit message and fundraise.
· Assistant Westchester County District Attorney Barbara Egenhauser talks about her 30 year commitment to bringing justice to offenders who commit gender violence crimes and the evolution of the law over the years in response to local activism.
· Dr. Karen Siegal, founding member of the Zonta Club of Greater Queens, UN Committee Chair of her club, and delegate to Zonta International's NGO at the United Nations. Dr. Siegal shares her thoughts regarding gender perspectives of the mental health committee.
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· We participate in a live United Nations UNITE event on-air as Dr. Siegal reiterates Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's (반기문) campaign to galvanize UN efforts to prevent and punish those who commit violence against women.
· The ongoing debacle in global financial markets has been reported on widely in the US press. Less covered is the particular impact this unwinding economic downturn has had on women homeowners and women who have used equity in their homes to finance small businesses. Today we highlight a small part of the story with Patricia Henderson, a housing advocate and new member of the Zonta Club of New Rochelle.
· Zonta Women's Community Radio reports the loss of three Haitians who were champions defending Haitian women’s rights: Myriam Merlet, Anne-Marie Coriolan, and Magalie Marcelin.
· Episode give an update on the Say No to Violence Campaign and Zonta International ZISVAW $100,000 contribution to the United Nation's Trust Fund in support of actions to eliminate violence against women.
· ZWCR host Roxanne Neilson interviews Martha Hanratty-Lopez, whose new post as a voter education advocate in NY helps to highlight the years of work she has done in the community advocating for housing, education and health care access for immigrant families.
· Zonta Women's Community radio producer Roxanne Neilson speaks with Stacey Thompson, Outreach Coordinator for the Women in Prison Project of the Correctional Association of New York http://www.correctionalassociation.org/. Ms. Thompson describes the challenges faced by women who have served their time - and how these women work hard to put their health, families and homes back together.
· ZWCR notes the passing of Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller who was born on November 18 1945 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and died of pancreatic cancer April 6th 2010. In Mankillers autobiography she wrote, "Friends describe me as someone who likes to sing and dance along the edge of the roof. I try to encourage young women to be willing to take risks, to stand up for the things they believe in, and to step up and accept the challenge of serving in leadership roles."
· Join us as we update the status of women workers in the US; share an important a call to action sent to us by Zonta District 3's Legislative Awareness and Advocacy Chair Brenda McEoin who calls listeners to telephone their senators and voice your support for funding the Violence Against Women Act in the US.
· Zonta member Anne-Marie Ditta http://www.mycareercoach.net/ gives us three things we can do today to increase stock in our own careers. We have a really interesting conversation about how women and Zonta members can safely use social networking tools to enhance our personal and club brand identities.
· Millennials Jessica Massa and Becky Weigand of http://www.wtfisupwithmylovelife.com/ share the deck on Zonta Women's Community Radio with producer Roxanne Neilson to talk about young women's relationships in the post-dating age, and the business of media.
Submitted by,
Lisa Louis Burton
President, Zonta Club of New Rochelle
District 3 Fall Conference
October 1-3, 2010, Atlantic City, New Jersey