A blog by Aurora Daniels, SI Music City Nashville, SIA

“At the crack of ten o’clock on a gorgeous Tuesday morning in Salt Lake City, a group of Soroptimists ascended to the “attic area” of the huge Salt Palace Convention Centre to attend a session titled “Empowering Women and Girls to Build Sustainable Futures Through the Power of Innovation & Strategic Partnership.”  However, neither the speakers nor moderator showed up.

So, what’s a girl from Southern Region to do when there’s a group of folks gathered, willing to share concerns/dreams/successes/hopes for women and girls?  In this case, turn to Jim, himself a Soroptimist, to get the mic working and have an impromptu discussion with a group of about 100 new friends, including an African queen and, very importantly, a reporter named Amy Donaldson from “Deseret News.”

The opportunity to share with like-minded individuals was intoxicating for those gathered (though I am confident the chance for free press for our causes didn’t hurt)!  Being the shy, quiet Tennessee lady I am, I assessed the situation and directed our first speaker, anxious and timid, to step to the mic.  As the faces in the crowd responded with smiles, and the heads began to nod in agreement and encouragement, our own UN session began, with me moderating.  One by one, about 20 folks stepped forward to share.  Amazingly respectful of one another’s time, some hugging the one that followed her/him to the podium, our 75-minute slot expanded to 90 minutes and STILL folks stayed to network, share, take photos, laugh.

THIS is OUR United Nations.  THIS is why I travelled from Nashville in the busiest time of the year for our office to my first UN meeting of any sort.  THIS is why I am a Soroptimist and part of something so much bigger than my club, my district, my region – because our world is so much smaller than it seems when you look at a globe.

Thankfully, Sue (Jim’s mate) stepped forward to tell our story of Soroptimists – sharing both “Live Your Dream” and “Dream It, Be It.”  As I had the great honour of wrapping up our “Plan B” session, I realised I would more than likely never have an opportunity to moderate a UN session in the future – but I’m OK with that.  As George Bernard Shaw once said, “Don’t wait for the right opportunity:  Create it.”  And that my dear Soroptimists, is precisely what we did!”

The official meeting was later rescheduled for the following morning but it was this impromptu discussion that made the headlines. See below for links to a newspaper article and radio interviews about the event.

Link to newspaper article: https://www.deseret.com/utah/2019/8/27/20835702/un-panel-empowering-women-salt-lake-city?fbclid=IwAR13eA7rCQ_A-eV9NKQxKz0A34_00P5mNU_T_SMpWLorOcsX7JD_Z5QOyFE

Link to Soroptimist radio interview: https://kslnewsradio.com/category/podcast_player/?a=45205&sid=2104&n=Inside+Sources