“Winning is about having the whole team on the same page and working for one goal.”

—Pat Summitt

President’s Letter

As we watch women achieve never-before levels on the courts of March Madness 2024, even in the face of harsh misogyny and racism, it is appropriate that we hear the words of Pat Summitt, the legendary women's college basketball head coach who accrued 1,098 career wins, the most in college basketball history at the time of her retirement. She revolutionized women’s basketball as the head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team from 1974 to 2012. Often viewed as a ligthning rod, she taught young women how to unify both on and off the court to win at basketball and at life.

Women working together, using their talents to hold one another up, is what she instilled in her players. Now as we reflect on the last few months, as members of the Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County, we can feel sense of unity…and victory. As Summitt explains, a winning team goes beyond individual achievements or talents, they work cohesively and are dedicated to a shared goal. Our amazing work and vision put together the most successful Zing for Zonta Boulders’ Got Talent ever, our support of our Z Club is teaching them to use their voices to Build a Culture of Respect in the community, future leaders like our 2024 Young Women in Public Affairs Award winners have been validated for their impact on our community. This is all part of our own “Zonta Foothills March Madness.”

Together we have come to realize what Summitt imparted to her players…that regardless of the field or the competition, the outcome relies on a collective effort, collaboration, and a common vision. In a world where individualism seems to be all too prevalent, Summitt's quote is a powerful testament to us all for our commitment to teamwork as we work together to Build a Better World for Women and Girls.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support and passion for our shared vision!

-Pam

IMPORTANT FOOTHILLS CLUB DATES

• Boulder Valley Schools Art Exhibit, Title IX Display - April 5-May 5 at The Dairy. Come see the Pantherz Z Club’s Culture of Respect Silent Witness Display.

• Women's Empowerment Day at the Capitol - Tuesday, April 16 Bus leaves the YWCA at 7:15 returns at 2:30. Registration Women's Empowerment Day at the Capitol

• “Take Back the Night” - Thursday, April 18 at Front Range Community College Longmont to commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

• Zappy Hour - Thursday, April 25th 5:30 pm. Bring a friend to learn about Zonta! At the home of Pam Malzbender.

• Advocacy Committee Meeting - Monday, April 28, 11:30-1:00 Pica's Boulder Mexican Taqueria

• Board Meeting - Thursday, May 2, 6:00 pm via zoom.

• Book Sorting - Saturday, May 11, 10 am- 2 pm. Sign up available at April business meeting.

• May Business Meeting - Thursday, May 9, 5:30-7:30 pm. Meet our 2024 YWPA winners and nominees. Zontian of the Year award and Induction of 2024-25 Officers.

• Club Social - Thursday, May 16th to see What the Constitution Means to Me. Meet in the lobby at 7 pm for drinks and conversation. The play begins at 7:30 (Please RSVP by April 8th at 5:00 to Elizabeth Freedman at Freed007@comcast.net to reserve your seat.)

• District 12 Governor’s Conference, October 4, 5, 6, 2024 at beautiful Chautauqua - Zonta Foothills Club will be hosting so SAVE THE DATE!

Our 2024 Zontian of the Year

It’s that time of year. We are all committed to our Zonta mission of Building a Better World for Women and Girls. But each year we ask our members to nominate a member who has demonstrated a unwavering committment to the success of our club. This Club member will be honored at our May meeting. So please submit your nomination to me (Pam) by Friday, April 26.

2024-25 Officers and Committees

It’s also that time of year! Please be thinking about how you would like to serve next year. You will be hearing from Pam Malzbender and Nancy Rowe in the next few weeks as they put together next year’s board and identify committee chairs. Please consider helping out in whatever way interests you. Try something new or stick with what you love. We have a wide range of choices and so many amazing new members. We hope that our more experienced members will reach out to create some strong partnerships to run our Club in the years ahead,

FUNdraising Committee

It’s in the History Books - Zing for Zonta 2024 was a Huge Success!

Thank you everyone from the FUNdraising Committee for your work on Zing! WE DID IT!!! We had an exceptional emcee, 3 judges that became part of the show and 6 talented acts for an evening of enjoyable entertainment. And to top it off our net proceeds of approximately $37,000 was more than any prior Zing event!  

A big thank you to our performers; without them there would be no show. Special congratulations to our Judges Choice winners Jesse Arnt and Kayla Uemura. Their beautiful string duet was a memorable performance. We are so excited for our Fans’ Choice Award Winners México Lindó whose grace and joy lit up the stage! Our emcee Erica Sodos was a critical part of our success! She was the auctioneer extraordiniare helping us to sell the Zany Chefs at a price higher than ever before and she sold 3 trips to Africa! WOW.

To our judges, Penny Axelrad, Debbie Pope and Jeffrey Kash, thank you for offering your time and support of our event.

Finally, thank you to our members. You were a hardworking team, helping to make our event a great success.

Zervice Committee

from the 1 storage locker 10 X 10  to 3 lockers (1-5 X 5, and 2-5 X 10) which will save us over $100 a month.

Finally, we need some additional shelving for our new space, so keep your eyes and ears open to see if someone might have one they are not using.

To close out the year, we will work together with the Z Club, the GZ Club and Advocacy on The Culture of Respect. To start we ask everyone to sign the Culture of Respect pledge here.

Zonta Zervice Committee - Co-chairs: Marta Lindrose and Cheri Magin, Kim Prosser-Noonan, Joan Siebenaler, Catherine Bailey 

Advocacy Committee

We have reserved a block of tickets which require confirmation by Thursday, April 11. So Please RSVP by April 8th at 5:00 to Elizabeth Freedman at Freed007@comcast.net to reserve your seat.

Originally an award winning Broadway play, it tells the story of fifteen-year-old playwright Heidi Schreck who earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. The movie is described as “a hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human show…tracing the relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.”

Hope to see you there!!

Passage of the ERA is a top priority for the Zonta USA Caucus. If you are so inclined, please sign this petition. If you need a refresher before signing , there are links in the document. 

The Advocacy Committee- Chair Ranelle Randles, Sheila King, Elizabeth Freedman, Sara Gillespie and Sharon Trumble

Educatez Scholarship Committee

Katherine will go on to run in District 12 and Zonta International’s YWPA Scholarship which will be announced by July 1st.

Soon we will announce our Z Club Scholarship recipients and begin promoting our Zonta EducateZ Scholarship for a woman needing finanacial assistance to return to school. The timeframe will be in May. Following that, we will move right into the Jane M. Klausman Women in Business (JMK) Scholarship with outreach to CU Boulder and other Boulder County institutions,

The EducateZ Scholarship Committee- Co-Chairs Nancy Rowe and Michelle Médal, Kim Prosser-Noonan, Catherine Bailey

Zonta EducateZ Scholarship Committee - Nancy Rowe, Michelle Médal, Jan Cheney, Kim Prosser-Noonan, Catherine Bailey

Membership Committee

Zonta Membership Committee  Co-Chairs Colleen Farrell and Ann Hodgson, Amanda Elsnes, Kathy Israelson, Catherine Médal, Kay Meyer

Zonta EducateZ Committee

Pantherz Z Club Calls for a Culture of Respsect

The Pantherz Z Club has launched a campaign at Boulder High School asking their community to help create a Culture of Respect. They will be creating a Panther TV spot promoting the effort and then collecting signatures from classmates. teachers and others in the community who are signing on to their cause. We are so proud of the club’s leaders Co-Presidents Nataly Villa and Andrea Herrera, Vice President Lily Beacom and Board Member Zoe Cardenas who have worked hard meeting with school administrators, planning their activities and putting it all together!

"How does Title IX contribute to empowerment and belonging. To have a voice at this important event our club created a diplay to educate viewers about Sexual Assault Awareness Month which is in April and to promote a Culture of Respect. Please visit the show which runs through May 5 at the Dairy.

Julie discussed the 5 critical aspects of investing and reviewed the options for both long- and short- term investing. The group’s questions were very indepth covering everything from 401Ks to equity accounts. Thank you Julie for such an informative session.

Zonta EducateZ Committee - Tommie Atanasof, Michelle Carpenter, Sheila Cohen, Gaby Lopez, Claudia Ibarra, Sheila King, Pam Malzbender, Marta Lindrose.

Zonta Says Now

However, this presentation was really not on the climate crisis, but on other BIG global problems, such as biodiversity loss and the human ‘carrying-capacity’ of the earth.  (Check out ‘Half-Earth Project’).  My takeaway from what was not actually said:  Women are biologically, psychologically, and economically critical to bringing humans into balance with the rest of nature.  (Email me if you want to discuss or have questions…) Now for some less catastrophic Earth Month connections:

• Check out this  delightful CPR interview with gardener and poet Camille Dungy of Fort Collins – (I would love to meet her!):

• Thanks to former ZFC member, Leena Bhagat, for some simple ways to observe April 22nd (Please send me the name(s) of your favorite BoCO thrift stores, plus what especially good merchandise is there or other reasons why you like to shop there.  I’ll will share a list these good resources in a future section of the Flash.) :

• I just re-found this piece by Dr. Mary Pipher, and think you’ll love it, ‘Grandmothers of the World, Unite’.    

This, the latest in our Online Bookclub series, brings together the concerns of the Zonta Says NOW movement and of all of us rethinking our priorities, from our own households and local community, to national and international policy. All are welcome to attend, and we encourage you to read the book, as well!

Our chat is cosponsored by the AEGE (Action for Environment and Gender Equality) Committee of Zonta District 12 and the Women's STEM Careers Committee of Southern Colorado. #zontasaysNOW to Gender-Equal Climate Action  

Zonta Says NOW Advocate- Kay Meyer

public Relations

PR Committee - Pam Malzbender, Sheila Cohen, Sheila King, Sara Gillespie