Organizational Profile
Soroptimist, a 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers programs that improve social and economic conditions for women and girls. Programs include the Women’s Opportunity Awards, which provides cash grants for head-of-household women seeking to improve their lives with the help of additional education and training. Each year, more than $1 million is disbursed through this award-winning program. In recognition of the power of women and their dreams, Soroptimist also sponsors the Live Your Dream campaign. Visit the campaign's online home at: www.liveyourdreamcampaign.org. Visit Soroptimist’s main site at: www.soroptimist.org to learn more about the organization and its work on behalf of the world’s women and girls.

Organizational Mission
Soroptimist’s mission is to improve the lives of women and girls, in local communities and throughout the world.

Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award
The Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award program acknowledges women who, through their personal or professional activities, are working to improve the lives of other women and girls. Examples include: spearheading an effort to open a domestic violence shelter, starting a mentoring program for at-risk girls, or lobbing companies to provide on-site childcare. The program begins on the club level, where the type of recognition varies. Award winners at the club level are eligible for additional awards at other levels of the organization. The finalist receives a $5,000 donation to the charitable organization of her choice.

Eligibility Requirements
Women who are improving the lives of other women or girls through their professional or personal activities are eligible for the Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award. These women have identified and focused on a need in their communities, which has significantly contributed to the improvement of women and girls' lives. Although Soroptimist clubs are free to honor a woman for a lifetime of good work, the majority of the work should have occurred within the past two years.

Recipients
Past recipients include: U.S. Congresswoman Patsy Mink; U.S. Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder; novelist and former district attorney Linda Fairstein; Princess Diana; former child actor and U.S. Ambassador Shirley Temple Black; Philippines President Corazon Aquino; and renowned marine biologist Dr. Sylvia Earle.