The Soroptimist International
Board meeting in Kent, UK, last weekend brought together SI post-holders from
around the world to take key decisions about the future of the organisation. These
included Presidents, Past Presidents and Presidents Elect of the four
Federations, as well as Federation Programme Directors, Committee Chairs and
Members, and Federation Executives.

So who are these committed
and inspiring women who have been elected to represent Soroptimist members
around the world? Meet some of them in this week’s SoroptiVoice blog, where
they share their thoughts on holding international office and being a
Soroptimist.

We are sharing their
words and photographs below; click on the photo to view their interview on Youtube, or you canview a full
set of video interviews with SI Officers and Post-holders from the Board
Meeting.

Cheri Fleming – Federation
President, SI of the Americas (USA)

My name is Cheri Fleming and I’m currently the President of
SI of the Americas. That also means I have the honour and privilege of sitting
on the SI board as a voting delegate. To me, Soroptimist is a personal passion.I’m a woman. I’m a woman business owner. I’m a mother. I’m a grandmother. If we
don’t work to improve the lives of women and girls, who will?  This is one of the proudest things I do, I
love our mission and I’ll do it for the rest of my life.

Ulla Madsen – Federation
President, SI Europe (Denmark)

I am Danish and I’ve been a Soroptimist since 1992. My club
is called Kastrup-Taarnby and at the moment I have the pleasure and joy of
being SI of Europe’s Federation President. Being a Soroptimist to me is a
lifestyle, it became a lifestyle many years ago. It’s good to help others,
other women and girls, making a better life for them. For me, this is fantastic
also because now I have influence in our own federation, together with the
governors, and also at SI level, together with the board, and that is very
interesting.

I always said being a Soroptimist makes you wiser because
you learn a lot of things from others, of different nationality and culture.  The diversity in our organisation is just
fantastic. As President of SIE we have many countries in Europe and also in
Africa and I have had the pleasure of going to many countries and every time
I’m amazed at what I’ve seen, projects made by clubs but also groups of clubs,
cooperating together.  So for me it is a
very big part of my life and I will always be a Soroptimist.

 

Raquel Arreola Ruiz,
Past-President, Soroptimist International of the Americas (Mexico)

I am from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, and I am so
proud to have been the first Mexican President of SIA. SIA has been a big part
of my life, especially because I am passionate about our mission to improve the
lives of women and girls. This is my last year on the SI board and I will
surely miss every one!

 

Dianne Lockwood –
Federation Programme Director, SI South West Pacific (Australia)

I’m Federation Programme Director for SISWP, which is a
position I love because I’m able to meet women from all different cultures and
nations, to learn about their lives and to see the wonderful projects that they
become involved in to improve the lives of women and girls around the world. To
me there’s international friendship, the opportunity to learn from others and a
wonderful sense common spirit.

 

Hilary Ratcliffe – International
Programme Director (UK)

I joined Soroptimist over 30 years ago because I wanted to
join an international organisation for women, working with women, and to improve
the life of women and girls around the world. That’s always been my passion: the
internationalism of Soroptimist but also the work done by clubs and members, the
amazing projects around the world. I love to read about them, hear about them
and visit a few on my travels.

I’m at a meeting now for the Soroptimist International Board,
where we will work incredibly hard to try to drive SI forward, to improve what
we do and how we deliver. That will mean a lot of big decisions but we’ll work
really hard to do that, and as we go forward into the Post 2015 agenda then
what we do will be more structured, focussed and effective. For me, Soroptimist
International is a real passion. I give my time happily,it’s what I enjoy, what
feel is really valuable. I feel this is something I can do to contribute. 

 

Caroline Leach,
Assistant International Programme Director (USA)

I’ve been a Soroptimist over 25 years. I joined because I
want to give back to the community but I was also really interested in the
international projects and being part of something international.  In my position now I can give back and be
part of a global voice for women around the world. From this board meeting, I’m
hoping to walk away with greater collaboration between Federations and making
SI a stronger voice in the world, giving our UN Reps more resources as they
advocate for all of us.

 

Rosaline Miller,
Constitution Convenor, SI South West Pacific and Member of the SI Constitution
and Resolutions Committee (Australia)

I joined Soroptimist after I started my business. I was
quite successful in my business and was looking to give back to the community.
In Townsville I was looking for a service club or community based group and I
was introduced to Soroptimist by a real estate agent from whom I was purchasing
a house! She introduced me and I had always in my life been looking to help
women and girls and that gave me the opportunity to work with women and girls
around the world.

 

Leigh Ellwood Brown, Chair, SI Organisational Development Committee

What does Soroptimist mean to me? Soroptimist has given me a
purpose of life, a depth of life. I’ve been a Soroptimist since 1980, so many
years of transforming the lives of women and girls.

 

Anne Simon, Executive
Director of Soroptimist International of Europe (Switzerland)

I’m so proud to be part of this organisation, an
organisation of women for women, though it is the best kept secret. So many
Soroptimists around the globe do projects for women less privileged than they
are and they really engage and do so much for their communities, within their
communities. I’m really proud of being part of that work.

Also our groups have this capacity to witness and tell the
world what is going on. This is what I enjoy doing. Going back to institutions,
like the United Nations to say “we have the evidence, we know what is not
working”.  We want to be witnesses and a
global voice for women.

I’m really happy to be here at this board meeting because
it’s so important for a group of women across federations, to talk to other
about best practice, what works and what doesn’t in different regions, to see
how advocacy is really having an impact and how we can have an important role.
There’s also a lot of friendship, we have so much fun here, talking, sharing
our stories.

 

Pat Carruthers,
International Treasurer (UK)

I’m here to report to the board how our funds were spent
over the last year and it’s really an important aspect of my job because we are
funded by the members and the members need to know their money was spent
appropriately.

I’ve been a Soroptimist now for over 25 years, and the reason I
remain a Soroptimist is the work we do for women and girls, it’s something that
I believe in passionately and that’s why I offer myself for service. The main
challenge I can see is to be able to continue to serve women and girls
throughout the world, to help them overcome the challenges they face, and to do
that we need funds. That is the biggest problem: funding what we do. Because
costs are going up. We can’t fail those women and girls.

You can also see the video interviews
from the International Officers in last week’s blog.