NAIDM- Gathering North American Zonta
Every Two years, in the off year from Zonta’s International Convention, the North American Zonta districts gather informally to share tips, actions, best practices, advocacy and more, especially on topics specific to USA, Canada and the Caribbean. 2025 was a record setting attendance, hosted in Novi, Michigan, with a light hearted theme of summer camp, off setting the serious themes and messages of the status of Women in North America.
I had the privilege of attending to represent Zonta USA Caucus on the Equal Rights Amendment, and Ending Child Marriage in the USA, and to give a workshop on Social Media best practices for clubs in a rapidly changing environment. Here are some of my thoughts, and a day by day summary that is excellent from past Zonta International Board Member and Zonta Club of Billings member, Renee Coppock.
I was inspired by the Panelists and Keynote speakers that spoke so eloquently on the Topic of Human trafficking and
I personally had three key takeaways from NAIDM 2025:
1. We Zonta members are going to need all our resilience and motivation, because around the world, and in the USA, we are fighting to maintain women’s rights at current levels. At the same time, the climate is changing more rapidly than expected, progress towards the Paris accords, and participation of women in decision making positions is moving slowly.
2. We need to retain and motive existing members, and we have an opportunity to recruit members in the USA and Canada at the current moment, as many women, and some men, who are paying attention to women’s rights, are alarmed at the trends, and want to get involved to “hold the line”.
3. There is no group I’d rather be in this struggle with. Zonta women tackle difficult and complex problems, work together, explore solutions, support each other, adjust strategies, work tirelessly, and build community. Although the many topics were often discussing how the USA is moving backwards on women’s rights, I was buoyed by our community.
Renee's Insights:
by Renee Coppock
American Interdistrict Meeting was phenomenal.
We began the day hearing from the Zonta Says NOW committee
(Julie Trone, Angela Brokman, and Denise Sylvester). Julie S Trone set the tone, and Angela who showed us the impacts of severe weather-related events and how the events and higher heat levels increase gender-based violence. Displacement , food insecurity, and loss of income caused by severe weather not only increases child marriage, but femicide, as well. They also explained climate justice — social justice + climate change. Climate related issues will result in 1.2 billion climate refugees in the next 25 years. Joanne informed us that 710 million children live in high risk areas. These children suffer greater mental health issues and “echo grief.” What can we do? Define local climate issues and how they exacerbate gender-based violence. We can collaborate with others for a greater impact. We can use TED talks and prepare disaster kits in our own homes.
We then heard from the Michigan Anti-Trafficking Project.
WOW! Powerful. Program coordinator Heather McGannon gave us an overview of human trafficking in North America. Reported cases estimate 28 million trafficked, which includes 22 million in labor and 6 million for commercial sex trade. The actual numbers are much higher. The issue, sadly, is high demand. The risk for suppliers is low, with very high reward. She discussed who are the real traffickers — not what we see in the movies. It is family members, abductors, and those taking advantage of marginalized groups. It could be anyone. The annual income from trafficking is $236 billion. The growing area of trafficking is online enticement. Victims csnnot just leave. They have a hopeless mindset , trauma bonds, shame, and isolation. Heather also discussed general indicators that flag possible trafficking — doors locked from outside, razor wire facing in, etc.
What can we do? Get involved. Become an abolitionist.
The most impactful part was the panel discussion with Commander Jevon Johnson, a member of the Detroit police department, who spearheaded collaborative work to help end human trafficking, and Alice Jay, a survivor who is now CEO of The Gateway, and author of Out of the Darkness.
Day 2 began with a presentation by the Zonta International board.
President Salla welcomed us with a call to action. She reminded us of the current geopolitical challenges we are facing, the rollback of women’s rights, the decrease in foreign humanitarian aid, the climate crisis, and global conflicts. Zontians will not give up, however. We will continue to work toward the biennial goals and building a better world for women amd girls. To fully reach our goals, we need allies. While working toward our goals, remember to spread the Zonta Spirit, work for sustainability, and speak up for human rights.
We also need to focus on the 4 goals of the strategic plan — being a credible and visible voice, club success, international leadership and sustainability, and engagement of audiences and allies. President Salla also highlighted some of the many Zonta achievements over the past year, such as the world wide Zonta Says No to gender-based violence campaign. President Salla able gave us a brief overview of her site visit to Bangladesh, which is one of the countries where Zonta is partnering with UNICEF and UNFPA to end child marriage. There are 640 million women alive today who were married as a child, and the number continues to grow. 45% of child brides live in South Asia and 15% in East Asia. Accordingly, targeting child marriage in Bangladesh will have a noticeable and necessary impact.
Remember that magic happens at the club level. Engage youth members and allies in our advocacy efforts for the most impact.
Zonta International North American Inter-District Meeting, Secretary-Treasurer Souella gave us a financial update. If we want to ensure financial sustainability, we have to increase membership by retaining our membership base and attracting new members, manage expenses and investments effectively, and diversify revenue. Our financial and investment team has been busy over the past year tracking Zonta’s financial progress. We are at 54% of our biennial fundraising goals. The 40th Anniversary Campaign, launched to celebrate the Zonta Foundation for Women, continues to be successful, raising $550,000 toward our $2 million goal. A link for donations is in the first comment. Giving is a great way to celebrate Zonta while helping to build a better world for women and girls.
VP Sandy spoke about membership and stated that her team is working on a code of conduct that will be available before the end of the biennium.
Fernanda Gallo Freschi highlighted Zonta’s advocacy efforts. There were over 90 Zontians from around the world at the 69th Commission on the Status of Women in person, with over 100 attending virtually. What a great way to advocate, learn, and connect with other Zontians and allies! Kudos to Pamela Morgan and the entire UN Committee. PE Fernanda also spoke about the importance and impact of the committee members working with the UN in Vienna, where they partnered with allies to present a side event at the Commission on Crime Position and Criminal Justice, highlighting the Zonta International project, Climate Empower.The equally active UN committee members in Geneva collaborate with UN Women and coordinated an event at the Twelfth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.In addition to UN activities, the members working with the Council of Europe will give us all an opportunity to attend a webinar on September 9 relating to AI and women and girls. Watch for details.
PE Fernanda also gave a brief overview relating to Zonta Says NO and Zonta Says NOW. The Zonta Says No team reminds us that ending gender-based violence is a year round endeavor, and it is never too early to plan for our 16 Days of Activism activities.
UN and CSW and Zonta
In addition to the other UN Committe activities, we learned that the UN Vienna and UN Geneva committees often do their valuable work at the same UN events, whether in Geneva or Vienna, or even online. For instance, they have both conducted workshops on women in media at UNECE NGO CSW and work on events, when possible, at UN CSW. Zontians are so fortunate to have these teams. Clubs and districts should follow this example and advocate together for a more amplified voice.
The first workshop I attended Saturday morning dealt with “Leading With Purpose .” Through active dialogue and participation by attendees, the presenters encouraged and inspired members to serve as Zontian leaders.
The workshop was dynamic and interesting. As leaders, we need to lead with purpose, by articulating values to our members, encouraging members to purposefully live their hopes and dreams, prioritizing our goals, and respecting each other’s opinions. To accomplish our mission and goals, we must connect with and inspire our club members and focus on a positive impact in the local community.
Keynotes: Poetry and Survivor Nicole Beverly of “Finding Nicole”
During lunch, we enjoyed poetry written and read by middle school student, Lyric Jackson — what a talent she has!
The lunch keynote speaker, Nicole Beverly, was phenomenal. She lead us through her journey of domestic violence, stalking, and multiple attempts by her husband to hire people to kill her, even though he was in prison. Nicole met her husband in college, and over the course of 10 years, she found herself in an increasingly abusive and violent relationship. She stayed in the relationship because of love, fear, hope that he would change, to protect her children, and financial abuse. When she finally developed the courage to report the escalating violence, as is too often the case, law enforcement and prosecutors would not believe her. Her ex-husband was finally prosecuted and sent to prison.
The abuse did not stop after he was incarcerated. He attempted to hire multiple inmates to kill her and their children. After she was told by prosecutors that no jury would believe the inmates, Nicole took her story to social media to plead with authorities to help protect her family. Her story went viral. Nicole’s efforts paid off, and the attorney general from Michigan took up her case. Her journey through the legal system was followed by Inside Evil with Chris Cuomo. After 13 months and multiple court hearings, the abuser was given a longer sentence — 11 years. That was 6 years ago, so she may be facing the same fear and stalking in 5 years, when he is released.
Nicole told us her story in a very raw, honest, and vulnerable way. She has written a book detailing her fight for her life, “Finding Nicole”, which has been made into a film.
Nicole’s story is relevant to us all. It is estimated that 8,000 women will be murdered by their partner this year in the U.S. This year alone, 1.5 million high schoolers will experience physical abuse. A staggering 1 in 3 high schoolers are victims of dating abuse. What is equally staggering is that 1 woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by an intimate partner or family member. What are we doing about this?
We need to advocate for tougher sentences for perpetrators and greater support for survivors. We must re-write outdated domestic violence legislation. Make domestic violence a felony like animal abuse. We also need to advocate for programs in high schools related to dating violence. And, when we have a friend or family member who is a victim, we need to provide a safe, nonjudgmental support network. We can all do our part. We have to — so many lives depend on it.
UN, CSW, CEDAW – Pamela Morgan
I had the privilege of attending a workshop led by Pamela Morgan, the Zonta International UN Chair. What an inspiring and knowledgeable Zontian! Although I have been to 15 UN Commissions on the Status of Women and NGO/CSWs, I always learn from Pamela.
In addition to the work accomplished by UN Women, there are 3 key UN gender mechanisms: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The United Nations 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 established gender mainstreaming as the global strategy for promoting gender equality. The outcome document of this Conference, the Beijing Platform for Action, identified 12 critical areas of concern for urgent action to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and equal opportunities for women and men. In each of these areas of concern, the Beijing Platform for Action calls on governments and other actors to “promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programs, so that, before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effects on women and men, respectively.”
Accordingly, in 1997, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, in their agreed conclusions, defined gender mainstreaming as: “…the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programs, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality… Gender mainstreaming does not replace the need for targeted, women-specific policies and programs or positive legislation, nor does it substitute for gender units or gender focal points.”
Since then, several United Nations inter-governmental resolutions, mandates and decisions have reaffirmed the commitment to gender mainstreaming, and the goal of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The UN’s role is to provide the framework for international cooperation and influence on national policies. One such framework is CEDAW. Unfortunately, the US is 1 of 8 countries that did not ratify CEDAW. Given the US reluctance to ratify CEDAW, many US cities and communities have adopted Cities for CEDAW. This takes local implementation and input, an area where Zontians’ knowledge and expertise can be essential to implementation.
UNSCR 1325 (Women, Peace, and Security) was adopted in 2000. To promote the role of women in peace and security, UNSCR 1325 emphasizes the importance of gender equality in conflict resolution. Here are the key points:
- Recognizes the unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls.
- Calls for increased participation of women in peace negotiations and decision-making.
- Urges the integration of gender perspectives in all peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts.
- Encourages the protection of women and girls from gender-based violence in conflict zones.
- Promotes the need for gender-sensitive training for peacekeeping personnel.
- Supports the development of national action plans to implement the resolution’s goals.
- Women are essential to maintaining peace around the world.
The Commission on the Status of Women has been historically held at the UN headquarters in New York. There has been an ongoing discussion regarding the “revitalization” of CSW. One of the suggestions is to rotate the location of CSW. We will not know until September what the schedule is.
After discussing the key UN gender mechanisms, Pamela discussed CEDAW in more detail. Signing on to CEDAW requires state obligations and accountability. In some countries, it is the only mechanism for equal rights for women. With CEDAW, women can stop relatives from taking her property after the death of her husband.
The CEDAW committee is tasked with the duty to monitor progress 3 times per year. The criticisms from this review are that intersectional discrimination is ignored and that the focus is binary. Also, when adopting, many states made reservations (certain provisions will not be enforced). This undermines the enforcement.
We discussed how clubs could engage in Cities for CEDAW. Look at local issues that are addressable, such as pay scale/gender gap, lack of childcare, domestic violence sentencing guidelines, infant mortality, work life balance, and financing equity. Clubs could also consider leadership training – conduct a gender analysis for city departments and their operations. Identify the issues and address the disparities.
The session left all of us with a lot to think about and proactive ideas to solve local issues.