Report on the 60th ZI Convention in San Antonio, Texas, June 24-30, 2010
1. To start with…..
Zontians who have attended Zonta conventions know what it’s like – the very special atmosphere which surrounds you from the very beginning. The internationality which you can see and feel everywhere, women in their traditional costumes, meeting old friends and making new ones, the spirit of one common goal unites women from around the world and inspires each Zontian to take back that spirit into the clubs.
But a convention is not only fun, it is also hard work, especially for the delegates.  Zonta is democratic and each Zontian has a vote.
Especially in the business sessions for finance and the bylaws the discussions were tough; for many Zontians this year’s bylaw session was the longest ever - it finished after 8 o’clock in the evening.
With 1606 members and guests the convention in San Antonio comprised Zontians from 66 countries. The convention was organized by District 10 which encompasses the States of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. You could feel the Southern hospitality everywhere with the characteristics of the five states marking each day of the conference.
Professionalism and friendship were leading the business sessions as well as the convention events and the Texas-way-of-life stimulated everyone, Zontians and guests alike.
According to their biennial goals the Intl. Board strove to be transparent in all their reports and presentations.
Our D.28 was represented by little more than 20 Zontians.
As always the Opening Ceremony is considered as one of the highlights of convention. Not all of our six countries had sent delegates, therefore Dietlind Stürz (ZC Burg Staufenberg-Gießen) and myself were honoured to carry the flags of Liechtenstein and the Czech Republic.
The keynote by Carolyn Hannan, former UN’s Director of the Division of the Advancement of Women, proclaimed respect for Zonta’s ongoing commitment and dedication to work on the issue of Gender Equality. She assured that our voice is heard loud and clear through our presence and action as an important NGO at the UN.
An important accomplishment of the UN was the development of CEDAW, which complements the Beijing Policy and calls for policy change and legislative development. Nevertheless Dr. Hannan emphasized that despite all that efforts there still remain restraints and obstacles in the achievement of gender equality everywhere: Human Trafficking, the proliferation of HIV/AIDS, the large number of African women dying during childbirth remain among the main tasks to be addressed in the future.
Dr. Hannan was given the honorary membership by ZI.
The San Antonio Convention ended after 6 days with the handover of the office of the outgoing to the incoming Intl. President, the Intl. Board and the District Governors. Regula Dannecker, our outgoing Governor, handed over to me, as the incoming Governor.
At this place I want to thank Regula once more for everything she has done for our District in the last couple of years, for her concerns, her engagement, her mentoring in some difficult situations which come along with the duty of a Governor. The last District Meeting took place in San Antonio on Friday and we finished it by presenting Regula a gift to remember the Zontians of D.28.  

2. Finances and international fees
One of the most discussed points on the agenda was the financial situation of ZI and the ZIF. As always the Open Forum before the business session was a well attended meeting and a good opportunity to ask questions and to discuss in depth precarious items without being under pressure.
The biennium 2008-2010 had been one of transition – ZI and ZIF changed their organizational structure and merged ZI and ZIF into one organisation with a common, overlapping Board. Therefore a consolidated financial statement of the two entities was  required.
ZI stated that in the past costs of ZI were transferred to ZIF. Many of the operating expenses were absorbed by ZIF instead of being paid by ZI. For instance, donations to the Rose Fund were used to pay administration expenses.
The Board stressed, that the Funds of ZIF, that means the donations should be used exclusively to support the Zonta International Service Programs and Awards and that they should not be used for administrative purposes. Also the administrative expenses to run the Zonta International Organization should exclusively be covered by membership dues. The advantage of this clear partition is that contributions to ZIF can be used as they are intended. The disadvantage is that this can only be accomplished by an increase of membership dues to compensate the continuous decrease in membership and revenues over the last eight years. Presently ZI is running a deficit in spite of drastic steps to cut expenses (e.g. Board and Committee expenses, publication, mailing etc.), and in view of irrefutable investments for new technology and computer facilities which were outdated and had become unreliable.
Dues increase is always considered an unpopular proposal, but after an intense discussion of pros and cons a dues increase of $ 15 was voted for as of June1, 2011.

3. Bylaws
The proposed amendments to the ZI Bylaws were sent to the clubs with the March 2010 Mailing. I just want to mention the voting results for these articles which might influence our club life (numbers refer to the report of the proposed amendments):

6. Art.V, Sect.7 – Non payment of Dues and Fees: not adopted.
7. Art.V, Sect.8 – Emergency Assessment: adopted. In case of emergency, ZI may request a per capita per year assessment in $, which must not exceed 10% of current dues.
14. Art.X, Convention, Sect.4 – Convention voting members: not adopted.
16c. Art.XIV, Clubs, Sect.8 – Nominating Committee: adopted. An elected member of the club NC may be removed by the club members for failure to perform the duties of the position…..
18c. Art.XIV, Clubs, Sect.9 – Committees: adopted. In a club the focus is on the OMC-Committee, the Service Committee and the LAA-Committee, but the club board may authorize all other committees to achieve the biennial goals….
21. Art.XIV, Clubs, Sect.2 – Members: not adopted. To go back to a more strict term to invite to membership only women in business or profession has not found the consent of the delegates.
Proposed resolution 4: Daily registration fee at Convention: adopted.

A new edition of “Governing Documents” will be sent to the club presidents in autumn 2010.

5. Zonta International Board

Directors 2009-2012
Sonia Hönig Schough, ZC Kungsbacka, Sweden
Beryl McMillan, ZC Melbourne, Australia
Kirsi Nickels, ZC Hyvinkää, Finland

Directors 2010-2012
Susanne v. Bassewitz, ZC Düsseldorf, Germany
Jacqueline Beaudry, ZC Milwaukee, USA,
Kathleen Douglass, ZC Brampton-Caledon, Canada
Kikuko Hara, ZC Yokohama, Japan

6. 2010-2012 ZI Biennial Goals
It is the intension of Intl. President Dianne Curtis and her new Board to continue the goals, which were adopted at the Melbourne Convention in “A Course for the Future” and which ever since guided ZI on all levels: Good Governance, Financial sustainability and transparency, Credibility and visibility to achieve the mission of Zonta and an Increase in membership and retention.

7. Zonta International Projects and Goals 2010-2012

A very impressive part at the Foundation business session were the reports and updates of the representatives for UNIFEM, UNICEF and UNFPA on the ZI Service and ZISVAW Projects underlined with videos to show what has been achieved and what the funds have been used for.
In the past years Zonta members have very often requested a more continuous engagement in the same service projects. This will happen this biennium. All three service projects will be continued to ensure ongoing progress.
Equally interesting were the presentation of Angelina De Chiara, 2010 ZI Recipient of the Young Women in Public Affairs Award and Lauren Howard, 2010 ZI Recipient of the Jane M. Klausman Scholarship. Carolina A. Rickards, PH.D., a 2003-2004 AE Fellow gave an update of her career as a research physiologist.
Beryl Sten stressed once more that one of her goals - visibility and credibility - had been achieved by the partnership with UN organizations. ZI is highlighted as a co-branding and as NGO partner on the UNICEF website.

For further details on all issues of the San Antonio Convention go to the ZI website: www.zonta.org

District 28
1. 2010-2012 Goals
In alignment to the ZI goals for me there are four goals which I would like to stress for our District, the Areas and the clubs for the next two years:

• Stress Zonta’s visibility and credibility - combine service and legislative awareness and advocacy
• Strengthen Zonta’s power - sustained membership growth / recruit, retain, rejuvenate
• Support Zonta’s global mission - support the international service projects
• Use Zonta’s internationality - take advantage of the six nationalities of D.28 / unite with fellow Zontians through networking

Ad 1: In the past four years we have learned a lot how to combine our service with advocacy, how to speak up for the rights of women, if it is the “equal pay-day”, “the violence protection-law” or any other issue of discrimination. We have to move on in that direction, only then we will be able to make our visibility credible and our credibility visible.  
Ad 2: Membership increase in my mind is the bread and butter for the next years to come. Since May 2002 until May 2010 ZI had a net member loss of 7%, this is almost 2400 members. 2010 vs.2008 member decrease was 2,6%, the total membership of ZI now being 31.457. 
Without a considerable amount of new members we cannot fulfil our obligations towards our programs and service projects let alone a healthy financial base which should be fundamental for every organization. We need retention – this means to keep our members in Zonta, in our clubs. To do this we have to provide mentoring programs for our new members and we have to provide interesting and vital club meetings.  
Ad 3: We are an international organization and as such have a global mission and international service projects. We have to consider this. To make it easier for the club members to learn more about our projects and educational funds, this biennium we will have three Foundation Ambassadors, one for each Area.
But the wonderful thing about Zonta is the possibility to engage internationally and nationally. Our regional service projects give us the opportunity to step forward in our communities, to bee seen and heard and to care about problems right in front of our doorsteps.
Ad 4: We should use the internationality of our District to learn more about our fellow Zontians and about the situation on women’s rights in other European countries around us.

2. 2010-2012 Board & Chairs

Please do not hesitate to contact our Board members and Chairs, we are here to serve you and with you Zonta International and to help whenever needed. Please use the “Mini Directory” for further information on the District Board and Chairs. It will also provide you an overview on the ZI projects and our goals.

3. District 28 Diary

Please be so kind and inform me early enough about special events in your clubs and Areas, whenever possible I would like to attend.
Also please send me any news concerning your club and your club-newsletter, I am interested in all your activities to advance the status of women.

As you noticed the Governor’s letter will be in English to serve all our Areas. Please don’t hesitate to contact me for questions or uncertainties concerning the understanding of the contents of this letter.

I wish you a beautiful summer- and vacation time, and a good start into the autumn season, looking forward hearing from you.

Warm Zontian regards