Soroptimists are like-minded women with a social conscience working globally to make a difference.
We are a non-political and non-religious organisation that works on projects at international, national, regional and local levels.
Soroptimist International is the world’s largest women’s service organisation. It is a vibrant and dynamic organisation, we are committed to a world where women and girls together achieve their individual and collective potential — a world where they can realise their aspirations and have an equal voice in creating strong and peaceful communities worldwide.
We have over 3,000 clubs around the world, in over 124 countries, from Argentina to Zimbabwe. We work to advance human rights and especially the status of women. We work to empower women through economic independence and greater participation in decision-making at all levels.
We are immensely proud of our Consultative Status at the United Nations, where we have twelve permanent representatives in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Paris. In 1984 we attained Category 1 Consultative Status as a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the only women’s service organisation to do so. It is only through work at club level that we maintain our national and international influence.
To find out more about SI Lancaster download the Leaflet
You can also find us on FaceBook.
A Frequently-Asked Question
So what does the word ‘Soroptimist’ mean? It was coined from the Latin words soror meaning “sister” and optima meaning “best”, and is perhaps best interpreted as ‘the best for women’.
You can read about how it all started when the world’s first Soroptimist Club was formed in 1921 in Stuart Morrow’s story.