Island Zontians attend North American conference
Recently, seven members of the Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva attended the Zonta North American Inter-District Meeting (NAIDM) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Reports from the largest-ever contingent of members will help guide future goals and activities of the club, which is a leading contributor to Zonta International for its global initiatives.
The NAIDM is held in the United States or Canada on the year when there is no Zonta International convention. Titled “Challenges and Opportunities for Zonta’s Second Century,” the 2021 conference featured sessions ranging from effective training and women’s issues, such as ending child marriage, to member recruitment. Zonta San-Cap reported that the islands’ steady influx of new-resident retirees provide a source of potential members. However, International Membership Chair Karen Pati reported that clubs must also focus on attracting and retaining young working women and making membership accessible to them.
The NAIDM is an opportunity to meet other Zontians, share ideas and gain new knowledge. Club President-elect Erika Steiner compiled a comprehensive report using input from every attendee. The San-Cap Zontians said they learned strategies for influencing legislators, effective conflict resolution, fundraising, service and more. They noted that their club had significantly more active local service projects than most other clubs represented, excluding the impact of the pandemic.
In addition to advocating on women’s issues, Zonta International is working to expand advocacy in formerly non-traditional women’s fields such as space and environmental issues. The keynote speaker on the last evening was scientist, astronaut and executive Dr. Kathryn Sullivan. She was one of the first six women to join the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1978 and was the first American woman to walk in space, completing three space shuttle missions during her 15 years at NASA. Sullivan also participated in a dive into the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench. She left the assembled Zontians with this inspiration: “If you have the opportunity to make a difference and change the world, take it.”
The Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva is a service organization of professional women working together to provide hands-on assistance, advocacy and funds to empower women and girls on the islands, in Lee County and worldwide through Zonta International. For more information, visit www.zontasancap.org.