“May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.”

— Mary Anne Radmacher

Table of Contents

  1. President’s Letter

  2. Zonta Events Coming Up

  3. Committee News

Holiday Social

Hosted by President Nancy Rowe

Thursday, December 11

5:30- 7:30 pm

Pot Luck and White Elephant Celebration

All you need to do is:

  • Bring a festive dish to share.

  • Bring one wrapped, anonymous gift that is a humorous, impractical, or unwanted item. It can be regifted, found at thrift stores, or in your closet!

  • You do not need to buy anything! The crazier, the more fun it is.

A Year of Gratitude

As we reflect on the year 2025, I’m constantly impressed by the devotion of our members. Because of your dedication, the Zonta Foothills Club achieved a lot this year. Every day, you bring compassion and generosity to our programs, projects, and events. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone of you. 

Think of all that we accomplished! We increased the number of scholarships, along with an increased scholarship amount for each one. I feel this action alone has a profound impact on our community. 

We launched a third mentorship program at The Watershed School. Our ZClub and GoldenZ Club demonstrate a commitment to advocacy that’s inspiring to all of us. This year’s Product Drive on November 15th brought in a record-breaking amount to EFAA: over 1,600 pounds of donations!

Our Club’s focus on Advocacy has produced important results. We held our first-ever Climate Justice Forum. The Advocacy Committee kicked off our speaker meetings with elected officials from the Colorado State Legislature. The unique perspectives from each one of us allow us to discuss and debate amongst ourselves. It’s very motivating. 

Service continues to be a major focus of the Club. Our committee looks for new and innovative ways to give back. From our ongoing libraries to the annual projects such as Share-A-Gift, you should all be proud of this work. 

Thank you for being part of our Zonta community. I am deeply grateful to you. I wish you and your loved ones a warm, peaceful, and joyful Holiday Season.

My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you. 
— Nancy

Zonta Events Coming Up

Access Complete Zonta Foothills Calendar HERE

Zonta Foothills Club of Boulder County Committee News

Fundraising Committee

Colorado Gives Day is HERE!

It’s t-minus three days and counting. Now is the time to get out the message to everyone! As they make their Colorado Gives Day selections, please remind them to pick the Zonta Foothills Foundation.

Visit our Colorado Gives Page HERE
Listen to Sheila Here
Listen to Ranelle Here
Listen to Kay Here
Listen to Lily Here

The Fundraising Committee - Co-Chairs Colleen Farrell and Pam Malzbender, Ann Herrmann, Debbie Nasta, Kathy Israelson

Listen to Casey Here

Advocacy Committee

Commemorating Domestic Violence Awareness Month

The Advocacy Committee was pleased to host the November club “speaker” meeting as part of our Year of Legislative Advocacy initiative, which we launched with a July breakfast meeting. It was a fascinating kick-off that included seven elected officials and twenty-five members from the PantherZ, GoldenZ, and Zonta Foothills Clubs.  Our second step in this initiative was sponsorship of the PantherZ Club’s very successful second voter registration drive in October. This event was just in time for new high school voters to participate in the November election!

At our November Club meeting, we hosted State Senators Janice Marchman (CO District 15) and Katie Wallace (CO District 17). It was an informative evening that gave Foothills Club members and a number of ZClub members first the opportunity to meet with the Senators during dinner.

We kicked off the formal part of the evening with Advocacy Committee member, Sara Gillespie presenting our committee’s strategic approach to legislative advocacy and highlighting its relevance to Zonta’s mission.  Advocacy Committee member Lisa Lesniak then moderated an interview with Senator Marchman who overviewed of “How a Colorado Bill Becomes Law”. (You can find this handout in the HUB.) Lisa and Senator Marchman provided a fascinating insight into not just the process but also the “politics behind the politics,” and the coalition building and citizen input needed to get a sponsored bill through the process. 

The biggest news we have to share is that two Colorado Legislators, Senator Nick Hinrichsen of Pueblo and Representative Junie Joseph of Boulder, are co-sponsoring a “no-exceptions minimum age of 18” Child Marriage Bill for the 2026 legislative session! Lisa has taken a leadership role on this issue and has been meeting with both legislators as well as a representative of the nationwide anti-child marriage advocacy organization, Unchained at Last, to include Zonta’s support for this important issue and ensure momentum toward passage in 2026. (See details in the HUB.) Stay tuned for more on legislative advocacy next year!

More exciting news…the 2026 Climate Justice Forum will convene on the afternoon of April 25th at the East Boulder Community Center. Save the Date!! This is a club-wide event and we welcome your ideas and support. We’ll keep you posted on next steps.

The Advocacy Committee - Co-Chairs Sheila King and Jan Cheney, Elizabeth Freedman, Sara Gillespie, Sharon Goodman, Lisa Lesniak, Pam Malzbender, Ranelle Randles, Dana Rae Vaughn

Service Committee

Join us for Our Annual Tradition - Share a Gift is Coming on Saturday, December 20th

We have been Share-A-Gift volunteers for many years, helping clients select toys or assisting them as they navigate the “departments” of the “toy shop”. Once again on the 20th, we will volunteer as a Club for the morning shift from 7:45-12:15. The event will be held at 5777 Central Avenue, Boulder. (You are welcome to stay later or volunteer with setup earlier in the week if you would like.) We will have a sign-up at our December meeting. For more information about Share-a-Gift visit their website.

They also need help setting up on other days before the December 20th event. especially on: November 19, 20, AND December 15, 16. If you would like to volunteer on these set-up days, CLICK HERE: https://signup.com/go/wesChuW.

Share-A-Gift has been helping Boulder Valley School District families in need with holiday gifts since 1972, providing gifts for almost 1,400+ children representing over 600+ families in 2024.

The Service Committee - Co-Chairs Kathy Israelson and Carol Smoot, Sheila Cohen, Ann Hodgson, Marta Lindrose and Joan Siebenaler

Thanks in advance to Kathy Israelson, Carol Smoot, Sharon Goodman, Kay Meyer, Debbie Nasta, Casey Giron, and Lily Beacom for helping our committee that day!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Help us Gift Wrap Free Books for Visitors at the Our Center

The Service Committee will be gift wrapping free books for the patrons at the OUR Center in Longmont on Wednesday, Dec. 10th. We will need volunteers to help us set up, and then the fun starts! Patrons will select their books, and then while they visit The Our Center, we wrap their holiday gifts! It’s fun and a wonderful way to spread holiday cheer.

Finance Committee

At our latest Finance Committee meeting, we reviewed year-end finances and discussed goals for CoGives as well as our development plan for 2026. Ranelle Randles will help to structure this effort. More information to come.

We also discussed our current partnership with the Community Foundation of Boulder County and plan to house our Zonta Educatez endowment with them for the foreseeable future. Our current arrangement gives us total control of the fun, and it has realized substantial growth since its inception more than 15 years ago.

The Finance Committee- Chair Nancy Rowe,  Pam Malzbender, Michelle Médal, Ranelle Randles, Sheila King, Kim Prosser-Noonan

Educatez Scholarship Committee

Introducing Our Newest Scholarship - Women in STEM

We received 25 applications for our first Women in STEM Scholarship. The women that applied are extraordinary! From Quantum Information Scientists to Mechanical Engineers, from Aerospace Engineers to an English/Biology major, each one of these individuals was compelling to read about. We are excited to announce that we picked a winner and also, a close second place.

Anya Grafov is our first-place recipient of the Women in STEM Scholarship. She will receive $5,000 from Zonta Foothills and has the opportunity to win an additional $2,000 from District 12. Then she can compete for one of 16 international awards of $10,000 each from Zonta International.

Josephine Meyer came in as a very close second, so the Scholarship Committee awarded her $2,000 for second place. 

You will learn more about both of them in next month’s Flash. 

Thank you to each of you who spent the time reading these fascinating applications. Your time is appreciated. 

The EducateZ Scholarship Committee - Co-Chairs Nancy Rowe and Michelle Médal, Kristi Celico, Ann Herrmann, Kay Meyer, Amanda Eisnes

Zonta Educatez Committee

November was a Month of Impact for Educatez!

Educatez Calendar

No wonder they collected so much…who could resist this crew?

Hard work for EFAA as they sorted our deliveries

Zonta members delivered the donations with the help of Lily and her awesome dad.

ZClub members from Boulder High and Watershed School held a productive product drive at Safeway on November 15! Together, the Clubs collected more than 1600 pounds of personal hygiene, non-perishable food, baby items, pet food, etc. All items were donated to the Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA). Then at the meeting the following week they wrote thank you cards to the staff at EFAA to thank them for the tremendous impact that they are having in support of our community at this challenging time. Big thank you to those Zonta Foothills members who came out to support the Z Clubs and make this all possible.

Recently, our Goldenz C;ub members created thank-you cards for Community Food Share workers and volunteers to show appreciation to them as well for their efforts during a difficult month.

  • Monday, December 8, 4:30 - 5:30 pm via Zoom: EducateZ Committee Meeting

  • Tuesday, December 9th: ZClub Holiday Party

  • Saturday, December 20th: Share-A-Gift

Writing note cards to EFAA

Zonta Educatez Committee - Co-Chairs Gaby Lopez & Claudia Ibarra, Tommie Atanasoff, Michelle Carpenter, Kay James, Marta Lindrose, Pam Malzbender

Governance and Engagement Committee

Great News! 3 new members are being inducted in January!!!

Welcome to Sue Stapleton, Suzi McVoy, and Kathryn Hundman will be inducted at our January business meeting. We would like to welcome them into the Club and look forward to working with them in the months to come!

Governance and Engagement Committee will be hosting the January meeting…more on our plans in the coming weeks.

The Governance and Engagement Committee - Co-Chairs Colleen Farrell and Pam Malzbender, Claudia Ibarra, Nancy Rowe

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