Best for Women
Learn more about Soroptimist
Soroptimist Raleigh: We Empower Girls & Women
Soroptimist Raleigh is a local club of Soroptimist International. Soroptimist is a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. The name, Soroptimist, means “best for women,” and that’s what the organization strives to achieve. Soroptimists are women at their best, working to help other women to be their best.
Our service projects collaborate extensively with women’s groups, governmental agencies, educators, international and statewide coalitions, and concerned citizens. In terms of our local service projects:
Live Your Dream
The Soroptimist Live Your Dream: Education & Training Awards
for Women program is our signature service project. This award aids women who are the primary wage earners for their families and are seeking to improve their economic status by gaining additional skills, training and education.
Live Your Dream Plus
In our “Live Your Dream Plus” program we follow up with our awardees for up to three years, mentoring them to afford ongoing support both non-financial as well as financial. With our Live Your Dream Plus program, our awardees know that there is a network of women who are ready to help in any number of ways.
Dream It Be It
Dream It Be It targets girls in secondary school who face obstacles to their future success. It provides girls with access to professional role models, career education and the resources to live their dreams.
Real Stories
Here are a few stories of some recipeints of the Live Your Dream Awards. Perhaps they will encourage you to take the steps to achieve your dreams, big or small.
Mia – 2024 Live Your Dream Awardee
Mia is enrolled at Wake Technical Community College, expecting to graduate in May 2025 majoring in human services. She works part-time and has a 1 year old daughter. Growing up in foster care, Mia didn’t see many individuals like herself graduating or pursuing a...
Maggie – 2023 Live Your Dream Awardee
Maggie is pursuing an associate degree in surgical technology at Durham Tech Community College. She works part-time and is the mother of 2 children, aged 7 and 2. Maggie has faced plenty of adversity but her commitment to her personal growth and her lifelong dream of...
Tiffany – 2023 Live Your Dream Awardee
Tiffany is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration at UNC Pembroke, with a prospective graduation date of December 2023. She is a full-time student while working a full-time job and raising two children as a single parent. She was also...
News and Events
Live Your Dream Awardee Earns Master’s Degree
Pictured above: Shanetta Edwards, middle, with her children, Amaranth, left, and Brantley, right. Congratulations to Shanetta Edwards (aka Chef Netta), a 2021 Live Your Dream Award recipient, for earning her Master's Degree in Nutrition Science from Meredith College....
Announcing Summer PuzzleMania Aug. 10
Get ready puzzlers! Our 6th PuzzleMania will be held on August 10 at a new location, Highland United Methodist Church, 1901 Ridge Road Raleigh, NC 27607. In this FUN-raising event, teams of four compete to assemble an identical 550-piece Masterpieces jigsaw puzzle in...
Career Day with Dream It, Be It
The Dream It, Be It program at Mt. Vernon Middle School concluded the year with a career day. 17 Soroptimist members and volunteers attended, representing a wide range of careers including construction, real estate, veterinary sciences, military service and more. The...