Who are we?

Soroptimist means "the best for women". Soroptimist International is the largest professional women's service club in the world committed to enhancing the lives of women and girls!

Soroptimist International of Raleigh, NC is a local club of Soroptimist International. Our local projects include a Professional Clothing Closet that distributes donated business appropriate clothing to women in need seeking jobs. We also support several local initiatives for ending violence against women, especially the prevention of domestic violence and human trafficking.

At the local, regional and federation levels, we award grants to female heads-of-household returning to school to improve their own lives and those of their children. At a worldwide level, we work with Hope and Homes for Children in our Project SIerra to provide a caring secure family home for children who are alone or at risk of abandonment while living in extreme poverty. The project location is Sierra Leone, West Africa.

Our members are professional women with business, management or executive skills who have a heart for service. To accomplish our goals, each member takes an active role in fundraising and hands-on service projects, all as volunteers.

SOROPTIMISTS ARE COMMITTED TO MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

Triangle Women of Distinction Celebration

Each year, Soroptimist presents awards to local women at an event open to the community. The 2009 ceremony on April 14 featured a gala reception, silent auction and inspiration!

Details of the evening's festivities:

Triangle Women of Distinction Celebration

For more information on the awards themselves, please select Awards on the menu to the left.

STOP Human Trafficking: Community Forum Series

Many communities around the world are dealing with the issue of human trafficking. From January through June of 2009, we hosted a community forum series that offered a series of interactive sessions with all attendees sharing their experiences and expertise on the issue of human trafficking and its impact in North Carolina.
For more information on our forum series click here.

The forum series was shown on the Raleigh Television Network (RTN). Forumm broadcasts were available on the Community channel, channel 10, Wednesdays starting at 3:00 pm until 5:00 pm and Sunday; at 1:00 pm and 11:00 pm; one panel at each hour.

Over 21 Years in the Triangle!

We celebrated our club's 21st Anniversary on November 21, 2008! Thank you, Raleigh, for supporting us and helping to enhance the lives of women and girls in our local community and throughout the world!

Live Your Dream Campaign

Despite much progress during the last century, women and girls throughout the world continue to face serious challenges. While they represent about one-half of the world's population, women suffer disproportionately from many social problems. Approximately 70 percent of the 1.3 billion people who live on $1 a day are women. More women between the ages of 15 and 44 die due to gender-based violence than cancer, malaria, car accidents and war combined. About 90 million girls around the world are deprived of primary education. These are but a few statistics illuminating the obstacles facing women and girls around the world. Soroptimist created the Live Your Dream campaign to raise awareness about these challenges and inspire women from all walks of life to realize their full potential.

In celebration of International Women's Day (March 8) and Women’s History Month, Soroptimist International of the Americas launched a worldwide campaign called "Live Your Dream.” Soroptimist, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, headquartered 501(c)(3) organization, is an international volunteer association for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls. The Live Your Dream campaign aims to raise awareness of the issues women and girls face and what can be done to help them. The campaign works to inspire women and girls from all walks of life to realize their full potential.