100th Anniversary Celebration
We are excited about celebrating our Bright Past and look forward to our Brilliant Future.
A Message from 2020-2021 SIA President Penny Babb
Happy 99th Anniversary! Ninety-nine years ago on October 3, 1921, women leaders led by President Violet Richardson launched the first Soroptimist Club in California, USA. President Violet said that she “never would have considered the Soroptimist movement had she not envisioned it as worldwide and dedicated to all matters of justice and quality of life.” Today, her vision has come to life in 121 countries around the world!
We are now counting down the days to October 3, 2021—the 100th anniversary of the founding of Soroptimist! Our anniversary theme, “Bright Past, Brilliant Future” perfectly encapsulates the respect for and memory of those incredible women who had the foresight and courage to become Soroptimists and pursue the best for women. Our theme also reminds us that the Soroptimists of today are acting with the same forward thinking and courage to make our Brilliant Future come alive through our 2021-2031 Big Goal of Investing in the dreams of half a million women and girls through access to education.
Let’s celebrate together!
To help our clubs begin planning celebrations of our Bright Past, our organization’s staff is preparing a virtual “Celebration in a Box” where you will find suggestions and tools to help celebrate in your club and in your community. This Celebration box will launch in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please download our anniversary logo and view our social media tool kit for ideas.
Also, beginning in January 2021 and every month until the end of our biennium convention in July 2022, part of our history will be unveiled for you to share along with new public awareness and social media content, commemorative jewelry for purchase, or historical presentations and timelines developed from our Soroptimist archives. Social media campaigns will follow the day-to-day formation of our first club, the Soroptimist Club of Alameda County, and the Soroptimists clubs that followed.
Over the past seven months, as we have all worked through the challenges of the global pandemic, you have re-imagined your community work and how to deliver our Dream Programs while staying engaged with each other. You have demonstrated that our spirit of innovation is alive and well. If your club has not yet completed its internal assessment to prepare for our 2021-2031 Big Goal, please use the Working as One resource on our organization’s website as soon as possible to ensure your work and energy are mission based. Also, if your club needs help working differently due to restrictions because of the pandemic, please, visit the resources in the Soroptimist Forward Digital Toolkit also on our organization’s website.
Additionally, as we prepare to welcome our second century, your documented mission focused community work will join our Live Your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women® and Dream It, Be It: Career Support for Girls® toward reaching our 2021-2031 Big Goal of investing in the dreams of half a million women and girls through access to education. To celebrate our Brilliant Future, please share your work and celebrations through our special anniversary social media hashtag #Soroptimist100. See the anniversary social media tool kit for more details.
What is better than celebrating with 100th Anniversary jewelry? To begin the countdown to our 100th Anniversary, we are launching two special SIA pins to commemorate and celebrate a century of improving the lives of women and girls. The first pin, item 152, is a timeless gold octagonal pin with our S logo, offset by Swarovski crystals and Soroptimist 100thAnniversary engraved on the back. Our second pin, item 153, is a highly polished silver oval, featuring our S logo surrounded by ten pearls finely interlaced around the border with sparkling cubic zirconia. Pre-order today and help us celebrate our past while we prepare for our future. Contact sales@soroptimist.org for assistance.
I look forward to the celebrations of our Bright Past, Brilliant Future starting in just a few short months! Have fun planning your club’s celebrations and remember to share using #Soroptimist100.
Enjoy as we celebrate 99 years together! And, let the countdown to 100 years begin!
Best wishes as there is more to come!
Penny Babb
2020-2021 SIA President
