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SHAPING THE FUTURE OF SOROPTIMIST

Fall 2012

Opening Comments

1/ This presentation has been prepared by SIA to share the direction of

the organization. Today I share this presentation to help you

understand the direction, as it will require us to shift our perspective to

shape our future. (FOR GOVERNORS TO SAY TO DISTRICT DIRECTORS

AND CLUB PRESIDENTS: This Power Point presentation is available in

the member section of the Soroptimist website. It is too large to e-mail

to you. You may download this presentation along with a Word file

script to use with your volunteers.)

The Soroptimist Legacy

2a/For 91 years Soroptimist International of the Americas has been

focused on improving the lives of women and girls in society – both

locally and globally.

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2b/Today the quickening pace of society, greater access to people and

ideas worldwide, and the continued need to respect and integrate

different cultural norms into our programs all influences how we deliver

our mission.

2c/While the world changes around us, to remain relevant and vital we

must turn our attention inward. We need to concentrate on our

mission if we are to continue the Soroptimist legacy into the future.

New Strategic Direction

3/ In 2004, SIA began the Renaissance Campaign, which was built upon

the four organizational categories of Program, Membership, Public

Awareness and Fundraising. The Renaissance Campaign has provided

an excellent framework and supported our work as a woman and girl-

focused organization. We are taking what we have learned from the

Renaissance Campaign. We are shaping it to better meet the changing

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and evolving needs of those interested in our mission. And we are

moving forward with a new strategic direction.

4a/ Over the last eight months, our SIA Board of Directors has been

actively working to clarify the organization’s strategic direction. As part

of the process, the Board has reaffirmed 4b/ WHO we are, 4c/ WHY

we do what we do, and has agreed upon a direction 4d/ for WHAT the

organization will do to move forward.

Who We Are

5a/ SIA’s Board has reaffirmed we are a nonprofit women’s

organization focused on improving the lives of women and girls in local

communities and throughout the world. As such, the Board has

identified SIA as an organization concerned with 5b/ global women’s

issues – specifically 5c/ improving their socio-economic status. We

deliver our mission through 5d/ a volunteer network of members,

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clubs, regions, the federation and now, 5e/ our online platform, Live

Your Dream.org.

Why We Do What We Do

6a/ Our SIA Board has also reaffirmed why we are a women and girl-

focused organization. Both men and women, girls and boys, live in

poverty, face discrimination and have to overcome obstacles. But,

throughout history, in every country in the world, women and girls face

additional obstacles and discrimination because of their gender.

6b/ Therefore, the Board has agreed the purpose of SIA is to support

programs that enable women and girls to take control of their lives so

they can live their dreams.

What We Will Do To Move Forward: Increased Collective Impact

7a/ After many hours of thinking, discussing and reflecting, our SIA

Board has agreed the best way for women and girls to take control of

their lives and live their dreams is by 7b/ improving their socio-

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economic status through access to the education they need to move

ahead. 7c/ This is the social change we seek…bettering the socio-

economic status of women and girls locally and globally in the 19

countries and territories we serve.

To implement this social change, we wish to effect, the Board agreed

upon an overarching goal for moving our organization forward 8/ to

Increase our Collective Impact. 9/ What exactly does Increased

Collective Impact mean? 10a/ It represents a collective effort of SIA’s

clubs, districts, regions, board and staff as we work:

10b/ to improve the lives of women and girls in our local

communities and throughout the world,

10c/ using measurable evidence to indicate the level of

sustainable improvement made,

10d/ for increasing the socio-economic status of the Women’s

Opportunity Award recipients,

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10e/ to advance SIA’s recognition as an effective global women’s

organization, and

10f/ attract more resources to further increase our organization-

wide impact in improving the lives of women and girls.

11a/ In other words, Increased Collective Impact is about turning the

individual work of clubs, districts, regions, board and staff into a

cohesive action. Increased Collective Impact demonstrates the change

we are making together, in the lives of women and girls. Increased

Collective Impact is about the social change we effect, not about

increasing the number of projects we carry out. 11b/ It’s about quality

over quantity.

Access to Education as the Focus of Increased Collective Impact

12a/ In 2011, all Federations agreed through a survey by Soroptimist

International that access to education is the top issue we want to

address. In support of the Increased Collective Impact strategy, the

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Board has 12b/ reaffirmed education, which includes vocational and

skills training and access to primary, secondary and higher education, as

the single most effective way to empower women and girls.

13a/ Over the years SIA has been responsive to many good ideas to

help the lives of women and girls. And that has served us well. But the

SIA board believes focusing on providing women and girls with access

to education is our single best chance to create a sustainable change in

their lives. 13b/ By sustainable, we mean long-term, permanent

change. This focus requires our regions, districts and our clubs to

redouble our efforts to support SIA’s Women’s Opportunity Awards.

The federation is committed to growing the program to reach more

women.

14/ The Board went on to examine the organization’s core values and

directed our organization to carry out our service with a spirit of

teamwork – of women working together to help other women. The

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Board intends for this core value of teamwork to be woven into the

fabric of the organization. For if SIA is to be an effective organization,

we must put aside individual desires and actions and dedicate ourselves

to working together, as a team.

Measurable Evidence

15a/ To further demonstrate increased collective impact, the Board has

also directed the organization to measure and collect evidence of the

success of our programs. 15b/ SIA is developing a report called a case

statement. It will explain the effectiveness of our Women’s Opportunity

Awards program, supported by the hard evidence our collective impact

provides. 15c/ The case statement is a necessary tool if we are to

convince potential corporate sponsors why their investment in SIA

would be a good return on the social change the corporation seeks to

support. 15d/ The Board believes our case statement will help all of us

– members, leadership, staff, volunteers, donors – better understand

the value Soroptimists’ collective impact is making in society. 15e/ And

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further, believes the case statement will advance our recognition as a

vital global organization addressing women’s issues.

16/ In summary, the SIA board’s direction to the organization is to

create and demonstrate a sustainable, measurable, evidence-based

change in society (increased) by working together, as a team

(collective), through programs that will empower women and girls to

take control of their lives to improve their socio-economic status, and

live their dreams of a better life (impact). This is what our new

direction, Increased Collective Impact, stands for.

Shaping the Future of Soroptimist

17/ The graphic you are looking at is the model we will use to Shape the

Future of Soroptimist through Increase Collective Impact. It is

conceptualized as three building blocks, each one building on the other

for the successful evolution of Soroptimist and the attainment of

Increased Collective Impact.

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The Diamond: Increased Collective Impact

18/ The top building block, a green diamond, represents the Board’s

broad strategic direction of Increased Collective Impact. The diamond’s

top point signifies Increased Collective Impact itself; while the bottom

point represents the need to identify barriers to achieving Increased

Collective Impact. Barriers such as:

lacking the discipline to stay focused on who we are and what we

do

not having the sufficient evidence base to demonstrate our

programs truly make a sustainable difference in the lives of

women and girls

our inability to advance our recognition for its collective affect in

improving the lives of women and girls

giving to other causes, not to SIA’s cause, diminishing our

resources and making it difficult to engage more people in

carrying out our mission.

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Moving to the left of the diamond, this point represents the greater

clarity and discipline needed for staying focused on who we are as an

organization and what we need to do to achieve Increased Collective

Impact.

Whereas the point on the right represents the need for building our

numbers –our financial resources, the number of people engaged in our

mission, and the number of women and girls’ lives we improve.

The Circle: A Cycle of Change

19/ Moving down, the next building block is the orange circle. It

represents how we will accomplish our goal of Increased Collective

Impact. It contains a circular flow of five steps all building toward the

goal of Increased Collective Impact seen in the center. Here,

organizational direction at the top leads to influencing programming,

leading to better recognition, which in turn makes it possible to have

greater resources to positively change the conditions or status of

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women and girls. You see, it’s a cycle – a cycle of change that with each

iteration, refines and betters our ability to advance our mission.

The Rectangle: A Shift in Perspective

20/ And lastly, the pink rectangle, a broad and sturdy shape, represents

the foundational change needed to actualize our goal of Increased

Collective Impact. It represents the change we must manage and the

shift in perspective we must undertake if we are to achieve Increased

Collective Impact and leave the Soroptimist legacy for future

generations.

SIA Needs Your Help

21a/ Our Board of Directors has agreed the broad strategic direction of

Increased Collective Impact is SIA’s future state. And to achieve that

future, the Board needs your help.

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All Federations have agreed education is the key to improving the

socio-economic status of women and girls, creating the social change to

help them improve their lives. To actualize our big goal of Increased

Collective Impact, all levels of SIA will need to support this focus. For

when all levels of our organization focus on the same issue we will be

able to:

21b/ demonstrate our collective impact as a global women’s

organization

21c/ providing programs that help women and girls access the

education they need,

21d/ to effectively empower them to take control of their lives

21e/ to improve their socio-economic status

21f/ and inspire them to live their dreams of a better life.

The Board realizes clubs must meet the local need. The Board is not

suggesting clubs discontinue their many great women- and girl-focused

projects. The Board is simply asking clubs to consider focusing on socio-

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economic empowerment, particularly by providing women and girls

with access to education. In addition to contributing to SIA’s collective

impact, your focus of providing access to education will support SI’s ten

year theme of Educate to Lead.

22a/ The single most effective way clubs can contribute to SIA’s

collective impact is by growing their participation in the Women’s

Opportunity Awards program. What does this mean? It means

22b/ giving more awards

22c/ building long-term relationships with and providing

support to recipients beyond the cash award.

The program department at headquarters has lots of ideas to help clubs

with this.

23/ The Board also understands clubs sometimes feel it important to

raise funds and contribute financially to other women and girl-focused

organizations. However, for us to successfully Increase Our Collective

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Impact, we must focus our efforts and reserve our resources in support

of our own mission and goals. For how will we be able to effectively

increase our collective impact if we dilute our strength of focus and

resources by contributing to causes other than our own? Therefore, the

board is asking our clubs to contribute at least 10% of their funds raised

to SIA, while keeping 90% right in their own club.

The SIA Board of Directors is confident if we work together as an

organization we can successfully Increase Our Collective Impact through

focusing on the issue of education. But, as stated, to be successful, they

need our help.

24a/ I am asking you to prepare to do three things:

1) 24b/ Focus on projects that advance the socio-economic status

of women and girls through access to education. This means

participate in Women’s Opportunity Awards. Give more awards

and expand support for the recipients. It also means thinking

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about additional ways to support local projects that help women

and girls gain access to education. These two actions will help our

organization Increase Our Collective Impact and support SI’s focus

of Educate to Lead.

2) 24c/ Have all members help to build collective impact by signing

up for Live Your Dream, and asking all their friends, family and

colleagues to do the same, and

3) 24d/ Make Soroptimist your cause of choice by giving at least 10%

of your club’s funds raised to Club Giving. By redirecting a small

portion of the money clubs and regions raise, to Club Giving, we

can further our collective cause of improving the socio-economic

status of woman and girls.

That’s it!

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After all, as members, and as global citizens, you are in the best

position to Increase Our Collective Impact just by focusing our resources

both in program activity and in funds donated.

Shaping the Future: Share this Message

25/ I have been asked to begin the new club year by delivering this

message to all of our volunteers and beginning the process of change

that starts with shifting our perspective….to embrace Increased

Collective Impact.

(For Governors Only: Please share this presentation and message with

your volunteers so they can begin the new club year by understanding

how we need to shift our perspective….to embrace Increased Collective

Impact. A copy of this PPT presentation is available at

http://www.soroptimist.org/members/regiongovernor.html

for you to use in delivering this message to club members.)

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(For District Directors and Club Presidents Only: Please share this

presentation and message with your volunteers so they can begin the

new club year by understanding how we need to shift our

perspective….to embrace Increased Collective Impact. A copy of this

PPT presentation is available at

http://www.soroptimist.org/members.html

for you to use in delivering this message to club members.)

Take a Stand: Shape the Future through Increased Collective Impact

26/ Are you ready to truly make a difference in the lives of women and

girls in a way we’ve never been able to do before? Are you ready to

Shape the Future of Soroptimist to make an Increased Collective

Impact? If you are, please raise your hand to signal your support for

shaping the future of Soroptimist … Excellent!

(If You Hand Out Shaping the Future Pins Available Through SIA

Product Sales: and accept and wear the pin that is being handed to you

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as a symbol of your support in shifting your perspective to Shape the

Future of Soroptimist).

Thank you for your show of support, for together, through Increased

Collective Impact, we can improve our organization’s status and ensure

we carry the Soroptimist legacy into the future.

Review of Plans and Budget

27/ Our plans for the new club year should be reviewed and adjusted

so they align with what headquarters is asking us to do. Let’s go

through our plan now and look at our programs and projects to ensure

they support education and are sustainable in that they have made a

difference in the women or girl’s life. Let’s also be sure the four pillars

of success are fully engaged to help us move forward.

I would also like us look at our budget for the year and determine how

to give at least 10% of our funds raised to Club Giving to strengthen our

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commitment to education and collectively contribute to growing the

WOA program with more awards.

For together, with other clubs, districts and regions, by Shaping the

Future of Soroptimist through Increased Collective Impact, we can

improve our organization’s status and ensure we carry the Soroptimist

legacy into the future.