Ruby Award | Soroptimist NWR

The Soroptimist Ruby Award: For Women Helping Women acknowledges women who are working to improve the lives of women and girls through their personal or professional activities. Their efforts help to promote the issues that are important to the Soroptimist organization. Honorees are women who have worked in extraordinary ways to benefit women and girls.

Examples of the type of work honored include: spearheading an effort to open a domestic violence shelter, working to secure health services for low-income women, starting a mentoring program for at-risk girls, or lobbing companies to provide on-site child care. The program enables local Soroptimist clubs and the Soroptimist organization to thank these women and encourage others to explore ways to assist women and girls.

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.

RUBY AWARD NORTHWESTERN REGION
2010-2011 Honoree – Susan Moen

Susan has worked in the field of sexual assault response since the early 1990s, when she trained as an advocate with the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women. After moving to Southern Oregon and discovering there was no Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) in her county, she worked for 5 years to create the non-profit Jackson County Sexual Assault Response Team (JCSART) and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program to coordinate services and provide acute care, free of charge, for sexual assault survivors.

She served as JCSART’s first Executive Director until 2010, and currently volunteers as the Agency Manager as well as doing outreach and education for local schools and community groups. Former Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers has called JCSART “the most impressive effort of its kind in the entire state,” and in 2010, Susan was awarded the SART Award for her contribution to the advancement of SART's in Oregon. Susan is married with two teenage children and way too many pets.

Our Structure

Soroptimist International Northwestern Region

Soroptimist International Northwestern Region improving the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world.

Our region structure includes 103 clubs, over 3,000 members, and services five states in the Pacific Northwest of the Unites States of America. Our headquarters located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is Soroptimist International of the Americas" which is one of four organizations under its parent organization, Soroptimist International, which is headquartered in Cambridge, England.

Soroptimist International has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council at the United Nations and is a recognized authority on matters that women value most. Visit www.soroptimist international.org for complete information on current projects. Read Soroptimist International's magazine, The International Soroptimist

The other three organizations belonging to Soroptimist International are:

Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland Headquartered in Cheshire, England, comprises more than 11,000 members in 398 clubs in 30 countries.
Soroptimist International of Europe Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, comprises more than 33,800 members in 1,220 clubs in 67 countries.
Soroptimist International of the South West Pacific Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, comprises more than 2,650 members in 138 clubs in 12 countries.