President’s Monthly Letter

International Women’s Day Tribute

On International Women’s Day and Zonta Rose Day we pay tribute to the moms, the caretakers, the wives, the organizers, the teachers, health care workers, the advocates, the artists…to all of us. Being a woman means being powerful, assertive and strong-willed. It means being compassionate, intelligent and having the strength to stand up for ourselves and those around us.

Through the words of Helen Reddy we pay tribute to us all.

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'Cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
And no one's ever gonna keep me down again

Yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I've gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman.

— Pam

IMPORTANT DATES

**March Business Meeting** Thursday, March 9, 6:00-7:30 pm, in-person at Valmont Presbyterian Church 3262 61st St., Boulder, CO 80301. Speakers will be Teresa Wroe with the CU Boulder’s Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) and Jessica Ladd-Webert with the CU Boulder’s Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) to discuss the 2021 Sexual Misconduct Survey results administered with students at CU Boulder.
**PLEASE RSVP HERE SO WE CAN RESERVE FOOD.**

Commission on the Status of Women - March 15-26 The sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations NY Headquarters.
Members can register here for the NGO CSW Forum. Registration is free.

Zing for Zonta: Boulder’s Got Talent - Friday, March 31, 6:00 pm The Dairy Arts Center

Board Meeting - TENTATIVE Thursday, April 6, 6:30 - 8:00 pm Via zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84873213280 ) All Members welcome.

Business Meeting - Thursday, April 13, 6-7:30 pm. in-person at Valmont Presbyterian Church 3262 61st St., Boulder, CO 80301.

Business Meeting - CU Update on 2021 Sexual Misconduct Survey

Teresa Wroe with the CU Boulder’s Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) and Jessica Ladd-Webert with the CU Boulder’s Office of Victim Assistance (OVA), will be our guest speakers to discuss the 2021 Sexual Misconduct Survey results administered with students at CU Boulder and answer

important questions about how sexual misconduct is addressed at the university and what innovative prevention practices they believe are necessary to reduce the prevalence and impact of sexual and interpersonal abuse and violence.

FLASH NEWS

Zonta Foothills Member Survey

Thank you to everyone who completed the survey. We had a 68% response rate. It’s not too late if you didn’t have the chance to fill it out. Just click here.
We are in the process of compiling all of the responses and will be presenting it officially back to the membership at our April business meeting.

Meet our 2023 Woman of Achievement
Dr. Patricia Romero-Lankao

We are excited to honor Dr. Patricia Romero-Lankao as our 2023 Woman of Achievement. A distinguished researcher at NREL's Center for Integrated Mobility Sciences, Paty is an NCAR scientist in the Climate

Science and Applications Program. Her training isn't in meteorology, atmospheric chemistry or solar physics. Rather, Paty is a sociologist working to understand the human dimensions of climate change, energy use, urban development, and water management and their direct impact on the lives of women and girls.

We honor Paty for accomplishments, her commitment to our planet and for her research on injustice and its impact on women. She has developed many innovative methods to examine how inequalities in income, education, and decision-making power across populations, relate to the negative impacts of transportation access,

energy, and related technological innovations. She has also developed tools to examine the energy and mobility needs of women, elders, the working class, people of color, and other underrepresented groups to inform understanding and management of these needs.

We Love You Christie

At our last business meeting we said Bon voyage to our own Christie Maurais. We are sorry to see her relocate to Boston but we are grateful for the time and energy she has shared over the years to make our club special. She will be missed not only by our club but by the women who have grown through her unwavering passion for the Flatirons Golden Z Club. To say a big “thank you” members of the club joined us at our February business meeting. Christie, you will be missed.

Marta ROCKS!

Marta is the one behind the scenes, holding almost everything together. Our January “You Rock” winner, Amanda Elsnes, passed the honor on to Marta Lindrose. We are grateful to Marta for her work with the Pantherz Club, coordination of the fund raising team (especially Zing!) and her help with just about everything else. You Rock Marta!

CSW67 is Coming

The 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) is coming soon in March. It is a wonderful opportunity for Zonta members to meet other like-minded individuals and participate in events discussing global issues that women and girls face.

Click here for a flyer containing the sessions sponsored by various Zonta entities.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Membership

Orientation for Our Two New Members

At our February business meeting we inducted Catherine Bailey and Gaby Lopez. Their mentors will be Catherine Medal and Marta Lindrose respectively.

The membership committee is hosting a new member orientation on Sunday, March 5th at Que coffee shop in Longmont. So at an upcoming meeting be sure to sit down and get to know our awesome new members! They are excited to dive into our work.

The Membership Committee - Colleen Yuskevich, Catherine Médal, Amanda Elsnes, Betty Cox, Jan Cheney

Boulder Mental Health Partners

We know that our teens are dealing with mental health challenges like never before. Especially with the isolation of covid, we are seeing national statistics on teen suicide, self-harm and elevated stress levels as teens are working long hours at after school jobs, meeting family expectations and applying to colleges, all while they are full time students.

Representatives from Boulder Mental Health Partners met with our Z Club early in the month. Their focus was on overcoming the stigma of needing help, understanding signs of stress, being a by-stander and helping friends and family navigate their own challenges, and tapping into the resources that are available.

Google Tour

After a bit of planning we made it to Google! Seventeen Z Club members spent almost 3 hours touring our Boulder office complete with a retro trailer conference room, friendly dogs, a constellation ceiling and a

climbing wall. The highlight of the tour was a panel of Google representatives who spoke to the members about careers and the diverse skills and knowledge that is important to a company like Google. Our panelists were Keith Cartledge, a Senior Software Engineer, Emily Roth, a Product Manager, Allyson Wright a Product Support Manager and Valentin Iturbe-LaGrave, Director of Inclusion, (and Boulder High alum!) A big thank you to Marissa Nordahl who was our tour guide and visit coordinator.

Dr. Amy Bonomi Explores Social Norms with Z Club

Our own Amy Bonomi met with our Z Club last week to present *Love and Romance: How Our Ideas Come to Be.* To quote a junior club member after the session: “This was the best presentation we’ve ever had. She talked about so many things that we never think about but really need to be aware of!”

Her presentation asked the members to think back to the first cartoon they ever watched. Was it a story about love, about romance? So often the cartoons we watch as kids include problematic messages about love and romance. They present female characters who sacrifice everything – even putting their own lives at risk – in pursuit of handsome Prince Charming. And Prince Charming might trap the girl he loves in a castle or a race car to claim her as his own. These are lasting impressions! The club engaged in a conversation about cartoons, movies television, and even rap/hip hop music. They discussed their notions of what’s normal and what’s not, in romantic relationships and how they are often influenced without even being aware of it! Thank you Amy for inspiring our club members! You gave them a lot to think about.

The EducateZ Committee - Christie Maurais, Marta Lindrose, Michelle Carpenter, Tommie Atanasoff, Pam Malzbender

FUNDRAISING Committee

Zing For Zonta Countdown

The countdown continues with only 1 month until our Zing For Zonta Boulder's Got Talent event. We are down to the final days and now it is time for everyone to pitch in to make our FUN event a success.

Here's the timeline for March:

Get your family and friends to buy a ticket to Zing! Ticket sales pay for all program costs. Our net proceeds go to our Zonta Foothills Foundation projects. This is OUR fundraising event supported by our members to raise the funds necessary for our projects and scholarships.

Silent Auction Donations: please write down the name, address and email of silent auction donors (not club members), estimated value along with what was donated and give to Marta so we can thank them.

The Fundraising Committee is looking for a few volunteers for the night of Zing to help with the check out process for Silent Auction items and bids on Voting. Please let one of us know that you would be available to help. Thank you.

Meet our Talent!!

WE HAVE GREAT Talent. Thanks to the members who came our two weeks ago to help make selections. It was fun to see the variety of performances that will grace the Gordon Gamm stage at Zing!
Meet them here:

Alchemy of Movement is a group of women representing the Boulder-based dance and fitness class “Deep Dive” at Alchemy. They are members of a choreography series called “Woman Up!” which combines empowering messages and strong female artists.

Maisha Diatta began formal dance training in tap, jazz, and ballet at the age of three, while also performing and receiving training in African dance, acrobatics and other Latin and afro-Cuban styles. Her performances have taken her to stages around the country. She is currently a member of the Starbound Dance Team at Dance Dimensions in Longmont

Espresso! merges two musical traditions with red-hot interpretations of American swing and Gypsy jazz favorites. The traditions of the past come alive with powerful instrumental leads and vocals in French and English. Very danceable, this music is infectious. "You owe it to your ears."

Lisa Selle is a singer/songwriter from a Colorado prairie small town. She is also an 8th grade language arts teacher, a mom, a reader of books, a gardener, and a bit of a hippie. Lisa plays where fans enjoy unexpected mash-ups, unlikely acoustic covers (for a middle-aged white lady) and originals. Her music is acoustic, organic Americana.

The Hula School of the Western Mountains was founded in Boulder in 1993 by Miriam Pumehana Paisner. They perform ancient (chanted) and modern hula (sung) and are inspired by King David Kalākaua, the last King of Hawaii who said, "Hula is the language of the heart and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people"

Matt Nicodemus, a Boulder resident since 2011, has been creating and performing since the '70s. Trained classically and a lover of all kinds of music and expressive forms, Matt composes and sings about different aspects of life and the world. A political activist/organizer, he loves bringing people together with music for social-environmental change.

TLooP (Pronounced Tee loop) is short for Tony Molina Loops. T combines the artistry of his musical background with percussion into these groovy Ambient, Chill Hop, Lofi live loops. Much of his music is played for yoga and relaxation, however you can find him Jamming out in Español as well. T is a father, teacher and innovator.

The Human Ukulele Band loves playing as a ukulele band, arranging multiple parts for instruments and voices. Like a phoenix, the ukulele has risen to popularity once again, most often in strum-along jams or as soloists. HUB’s members have created music together for years, while we welcome new talents who move to town.

Please sell tickets! Refer your friends there… Check it out here. Tell everyone you know about Zing on March 31st. Let's get everyone excited about this fun event. This is OUR fundraising event supported by our members.

The Fundraising Committee - Marta Lindrose, Colleen Farrell, Kathy Israelson, Catherine Médal and Tommie Atanasoff

Educatez Scholarship Committee

Scholarships…A Busy Time

The Scholarship Committee is busy accepting YWPA applications right now and we have some strong young women who have applied! Great news. We are also getting moving on the Jane M Klausman, our next program to kick off later in the spring.

The scholarships we will work on first are listed below. Please contact Michelle Médal if you are interested in being on one of these committees. You can learn more about our scholarships on our website at: https://www.zontafoothills.org/scholarships

The EducateZ Scholarship Committee - Michelle Médal, Colleen Farrell, Jan Chaney, Kay Meyer, and Kim Prossner-Noonan

The Advocacy Committee

Legislative Session Underway

There are a wide variety of bills coming from the Colorado State Legislature this session. Our own Sara Gillespie has been working diligently with the Women’s Collaborative of Boulder County to keep abreast of the ones that impact women, girls and families. Sara Gillespie will keep us in the loop as issues are raised.

Fast Action Fridays!

Please make sure you are still signed up for Fast Action Fridays! **Here is the link.**

If they have already sponsored or co-sponsored the bill, you can send a message of thanks. Just click here.

Testimony on the ERA

Congratulations to the Zonta USA Caucus. For the first time they have submitted written testimony on national legislation and collaborated on a written statement. Here is Zonta Advocate Bobbie Cordillo with representatives from NOW! at the hearing.

The Advocacy Committee- Ranelle Randles, Sara Gillespie, Elizabeth Freedman, Amy Bonomi