The Zonta Club of the Joliet Area (ZJCA) premiered our podcast, Zonta on the Move, in October 2022. 
 

Episode #1

For the premiere, ZCJA PR Chair and Executive Producer, Bonnie Winfrey, interviewed several guest speakers. Bonnie welcomed and introduced fellow co-hosts, Zontians and PR Committee members Pat Perrier and Lisa Pappas, as well as ZCJA President Beth Colvin. Next, we heard from ZCJA member and Zonta District 6 Area Director Mary Baudino, who explained the Zonta organization, which has more than 27,000 members in 62 countries world-wide.
 

Our featured speaker was Bram Kleppner, great-nephew of Amelia Earhart, the most famous Zontian of all. Amelia joined Zonta in the 1930s prior to her disappearance and had a profound impact as a woman in the aviation field. Because of that legacy, Zonta International established the Amelia Earhart Fellowship program in which a US$10,000 Fellowship is awarded annually to up to 30 women pursuing Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences. Since the program’s inception in 1938, Zonta has awarded 1,704 Amelia Earhart Fellowships, totaling more than US$11.3 million, to 1,275 women from 76 countries.
 

Mr. Kleppner, CEO of Danforth Pewter, delighted us with stories and history of his family, with a long line of fierce women, including his 91 year old mother and her mother, Amelia's sister, Muriel. Their mother was amazing in her own right, having been one of the first women to have successfully climbed Pike's Peak.

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Listen on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/show/6uFJVLEIANRUFajSTUKAPk

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Episode #2

The November 2022 episode coincides with Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Zonta's 16 Days of Activism campaign, Zonta Says No to Violence. Zontian Pat Perrier leads a discussion with Joliet native, Amirrah Abou-Youssef.

Ms. Abou-Youssef received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in Psychology, with a Minor in Gender and Women’s Studies in 2010. She completed her Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Adler University in 2012. She has worked in family violence for over 10 years in the Will County community,  is a Certified Domestic Violence Professional and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Certified Domestic Violence Professionals, Inc. She most recently was working with Guardian Angel Community Services and has now transitioned to working for the Illinois Family Violence 12th Circuit Court as a Local Council Coordinator. Amirrah shares her experiences with law enforcement, with the circuit court, Will County, and the many women and children she has helped in her rewarding career.

 

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4SpBfW5qRzUmaCHSwN97VX

Listen on Google: http://bit.ly/3OLtSOt

Or wherever you listen to podcasts

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Episode #3
The December 2022 episode examines the Kankakee Club's 2016 domestic violence and human trafficking campaign and partnership with Hoekstra Transportation that honored the club's 60th anniversary. Hoekstra Transportation wrapped two semi-trailers with the Zonta Says No To Violence slogan along with contact information for assistance and reporting of cases of domestic violence or human trafficking. The trucking company has been training and certifying truckers in how to spot human trafficking on the road. And the trucks are still out on the roads getting the message out today. 

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Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/12sEHB6C3UTwOGyIdsxenw?si=3z2x4wUlRIqkcWxV182VSw

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