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Soroptimist International of Coronado - Women Empowering Women
By LAUREN CURTIS
Photos courtesy of CAROLYN MUEHLENBECK
Founded in 1921, Soroptimist International is a global volunteer organization of over 60,000 women working to aid other women and girls across 120 countries. When the first Soroptimist Club was founded in Oakland, women were prohibited from joining service organizations. The women behind one of the first female service organizations in America would not let this stop them; rather, this limitation would only fuel the Soroptimist mission, empowering women to step up for each other on a global scale. Soroptimist International is unique to other service organizations in that it has a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, which oversees U.N. activities and policies promoting and protecting human rights. The organization’s name comes from a Latin word that translates to “best for women,” which perfectly encapsulates its mission.
The international organization aims to provide the education and training women and girls need for economic empowerment. This is done via the consultative status focusing on issues such as human trafficking, elder abuse, female genital mutilation (FGM), women in the workplace, women in the economy, education, gender equality, and water.
The organization, which is growing annually, focuses on four core values to reach its goals: gender equality, education, empowerment, and diversity and fellowship. Soroptimists realize that “when women and girls are educated, they have [the] opportunity, choice, and power to make healthy decisions for themselves and their families.”
As of 2024, Soroptimist International has expanded to include over 1,000 individual Soroptimist Clubs, including one right here in Coronado. In 1947, 21 career women signed the charter to create the Soroptimist International Club of Coronado. These women ranged from school teachers to photographers, nurses to store owners, cosmetologists, and more.
In its first year, the club immediately got to work fulfilling national and international Soroptimist needs while also dedicating time to helping the local community. In their local efforts, the club raised money to support the Coronado Hospital’s Building Fund and the Coronado Library, as well as money for scholarships, local school sports teams, and Girl Scout troops.
As the women’s rights movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s welcomed the second wave of feminism across the United States, the Soroptimist Club of Coronado and the international organization shifted focus to whole-heartedly fight against the discrimination women faced daily. This theme has continued for decades, consistently growing the number of women and girls positively affected by the club.
Currently, the club does this by splitting its efforts between scholarships for girls and women to further their education, organizations that serve women and girls, and projects and organizations that educate about prevention or assist survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence.
The local scholarships are awarded in two categories: high school girls who have demonstrated leadership and the ability to positively impact their community and women who are the sole support for their family and are working towards training or an advanced degree and financial independence. In the latter category, two scholarships are awarded to students at Southwestern College, along with the club’s signature scholarship program, the Live Your Dreams Awards. Recipients of these awards are often survivors of domestic abuse or human trafficking who need assistance paying for books, tuition, transportation, and childcare.
The recipients receive much more than just financial assistance, as Coronado Soroptimist members step in to help through every step of the higher education and career training process, helping with anything from mentoring to transfer applications, career coaching, housing assistance, and even providing these women with furniture and appropriate workwear. “Our club provides women with access to all kinds of programs and groups that are doing work on behalf of women,” said Genevieve Rohan, 2023-2024 President of Soroptimist International of Coronado. “We get to hear from people who are doing amazing work in the community, and if one of our members writes up a grant, we can give that organization funding. All the money we raise each year is used to fund our programs and scholarships.” Rohan has been a Soroptimist member since 2009, when she met some current members and immediately realized their overlapping goals. “I could tell the group was full of a lot of fun, successful, hardworking, and dedicated members,” Rohan explained. “I was impressed to meet a few 30-year members who were passionate about the club and its mission to help improve the lives of women and girls… At the end of the meeting, the ladies suggested I join.” Within a year, Rohan was Club President, then moved on to the role of the District III Director, where she was the point person for all the Soroptimist Club Presidents in the Desert Coast Region along with the clubs in Alpine, Brawley, Borrego Springs, El Centro, Holtville, La Jolla, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Mission Bay, Mission Valley, San Diego, Valley De Oro, and Yuma.
“We have at least one program a month where we learn about ways we can help,” Rohan continued. While the number of people and programs benefitting from the work of Coronado Soroptimists is too long to list, a few include victims of domestic violence, veteran women, human trafficking, transitional housing, foster girls, inner-city youth, Generate Hope, Coronado SAFE, Monarch School for homeless students, Casa Hogar Sion Orphanage, Camp Able, Soroptimists Together Against Trafficking (STAT), San Diego Youth Foundation, Voices For Children, Clean Water projects in Mexico, San Diego Family Justice Center, United Through Reading, Ronald McDonald House, STARS program for women and children escaping human trafficking, and many, many more.
Coronado Soroptimist Club is an integral part of the Coronado community, and its members are proudly involved in local events and fundraisers, passing their selfless message along to others. “We like to get out into the community to let people know who we are. We have enjoyed participating in the Halloween event hosted by the city,” started Rohan. “We let children pick two of their favorite candies, then we ask them to give one to kids in an orphanage in Mexico…The children are so generous that we have had kids try to give us all their candy. We do this as a fun way to model generosity and sharing from a young age.”
In the seven-plus decades since its inception, the Soroptimist Club of Coronado has become a staple in the community and the gold standard for humanitarianism. To honor the club’s endless impact, April 28, 2018, was declared Soroptimist International Day in Coronado, complete with a proclamation by the City.
If you are interested in joining the Soroptimist Club of Coronado’s mission to help girls and women locally and globally, you can visit https://coronadosoroptimist.org/.
