Congratulations to Annie Navarro for winning the 2025 Women In Business Leadership Award!
A 1st year graduate student at the University of South Carolina, Annie is working on a dual Masters of Business Administration AND Masters of Sports and Entertainment! With her superb references, excellent undergraduate background and community interests, Annie gave us no choice but to award her this opportunity.
In Annie’s words: “Receiving the Zonta Award will allow me to continue developing as a leader committed to ethical conduct and empowerment. It will support my education, while fueling my mission to create pathways of financial literacy for women, families and communities often overlooked. Most importantly, it will allow me to honor the lessons I learned as a young girl translating for my parents, proving that what began at the kitchen table can grow into a lifelong commitment to service, leadership and change.”
Several members of the club attended the 27th Annual Silent Witness Ceremony on October 1st 2024 at the State Capital in Columbia. Led by Attorney General Alan Wilson, there was a survivor speech, beautiful songs of hope by USC singers and the reading of the names while the silhouettes representing victims from 2023 were carried out and held on the capitol steps. 24 women and 6 men, each represented by a silhouette. There was a 31st silhouette representing the unknown victims. Our club members were proud to be part of the ceremony bringing awareness and honoring the memories of those lost.
On May 3rd and 4th, 2024 several members of the Columbia club traveled to Beaufort SC for our Area 2 Meeting. Here they got to meet and reconnect with club members from Miami Lakes FL to Franklin NC as well as other SC state club members from Hilton Head and Greenville.
There was plenty of fellowship on Friday evening at the traditional low country boil dinner hosted by a Beaufort club member followed by some fun at a downtown waterfront festival.
Saturday was a day filled with more connections and information as we heard from a UNICEF staff member regarding Adolescent Health and Protection in Peru, Girls and a Generation for Climate and Environmental Engagement in Madagascar, and the Global Programme to End Child Marriage. We also were introduced to a local non profit working to support child victims of Human Tracking with The Helianthus Project.
We look forward to next year’s Area 2 Meeting which will be hosted by our club here in Columbia!
Please join the Zonta Club of Columbia to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024, 6pm – 8pm
Registration begins at 5:30pm at the Cathy Novinger Girl Scout Leadership Center, 1107 Williams St, Columbia, SC 29201
$20 tickets include hors d’oeuvres and wine/beer, and a silent auction
All proceeds will go towards our scholarship programs.
International Womans Day 2024 Tickets
Buy tickets online with PayPal or credit card, or with Venmo.
At the June membership meeting, a new slate of officers were installed and new members were inducted. Pictured are Melissa Clements (new member), Pam Imm (incoming president), Marilyn Matheus (incoming vice-president), Melanie Matthews (incoming secretary), Nora Hayden (immediate past president), and Dottie Munsch. New member, Saeeda Daniels, is not pictured.
The Zonta Club of Columbia was in attendance at the Attorney General’s press conference to announce a new program called TrafficProofSC to educate teens about the threats and realities of human trafficking in the state. The effort will begin with a four-part curriculum that will be specifically for high school students. The task force partnered with South Carolina Educational Television to make videos and other training material that discusses human trafficking as well as sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and the dangers of social media.
The Zonta Club continues to stay informed about Human Trafficking, advocate for victims, and keep the community aware of this important issue.
March 8, 2023, 6pm – 8pm
(registration begins at 5:30pm)
Cathy Novinger Girl Scout Leadership Center
1107 Williams Street, Columbia, SC 29201
$10 Tickets includes Hors d’Oeuvres and Wine/Beer, and a Silent Auction
All proceeds will go towards our Scholarship Programs
Location: Columbia College
More details to come…
Representatives from Zonta of Columbia are planning to attend this event.
Zonta Club of Columbia Awards Saeeda Ruffin-Daniels the Jane M. Klausman Award
December 2022 Columbia, SC – Zonta Club of Columbia, the local club of Zonta International whose mission is to ‘build a better world for women and girls,’ recently awarded the annual Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship to Saeeda Ruffin-Daniels of Lexington.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nora Hayden 518-866-2193
