Message from our President

Greetings to all.  Profuse thanks to you who are here and in zoom to participate in our discussions and witness the gentle transition of responsibility and leadership in our club.  Leaders may change but our shared goals and values remain one and grow ever stronger.

Indeed, the strength of any organization lies in the diverse strengths of its individual members who unite and cooperate to pursue common, worthwhile goals, which should always be the higher, greater, long-term good of all. 

And best “orgs” are those that self-organize  to translate their ideas, their plans, into implementable actions, and monitor the performance and outcomes of their initiatives and programs.

Now I address our most valuable assets - our Zonta women:

To our Zonta beacons and dignitaries, to the immediate past and distant past leaders of our club, we turn to you for guidance and advice full of wisdom.  We stand on the shoulders of our giants! 

To our new ZCM1 officers and board members, some of whom have been our highest ranking “sages” in the district, we know that to lead is to serve. 

Good leaders serve in a very special humble way. To lead is to be a fountainhead of new ideas, to humbly listen to all members’ views, find ways to draw the group to possibly take a less travelled, but meaningful and purposeful path, towards the common good. 

Leading with diligence and dedication means balancing one’s comforts and conveniences for personal time, with our sustained and detailed efforts geared towards the good and betterment of disadvantaged communities.

True leadership results in the persuasion and convincing of the members at large to take action and join the service and advocacy projects we have chosen to pursue.

Then there are the members. You are the heart and soul of the organization. Our hearts beat and grow through you. As diverse as our knowledge, skill sets and interests are as individuals, thus can we complement one another’s strengths and work towards holistic, integrated programs to protect and advance the interests of women and children in selected communities. This way we can make a positive difference.

We spent the afternoon discussing all our ongoing and prospective projects. We seek your inputs as we wish to make our work as inclusive, participatory and democratic as possible. Needless to say, we are always focused on education and training for the upliftment of women and children. 

But currently our numbers are few. So we strive to grow our ranks by convincing others, our friends, who are present here today; show them our work is worth their while…and so dear relatives and friends of sister Gina and myself who are here today, please consider joining us in Zonta.

Top on our list are the projects Young Mothers Food and Future with Fr. Ben Nebres and the Ateneo, ASHI Nanays’ training in financial literacy and urban farming, our Tondo Kiddie School and various forms of support to many high schools. Indeed, education is the life-changer in any woman’s and child’s life. 

Since you chose me to be president, allow me to share with you some of my proposed strategies to achieve our mission and goals. Our club could be an originator of new ideas and an initiator of new projects which we would then share with other Zonta Clubs who could join our efforts. Since we are few, we should work with other civic organizations like the Nutrition Foundation, Jaycees and Rotary Clubs. We could focus on integrated programs in selected localities like Tondo in Manila and Payatas in Quezon City. Take a “whole of society or locality” approach and set KPIs or key performance indicators to monitor our projects.

Two main goals to benefit women and children - prevent harm to them and work towards their growth and development. Both can be achieved through education and training.

Once again, maraming salamat po. Enjoy the rest of the evening.

Dr. Gisela Concepcion

General Meeting, May 21, 2022

Quezon City