Soroptimist, coined from the Latin words "soro" and "optima" (the best for women),
was founded in 1921 in Oakland, California.   Eighty professional women formed the first
Soroptimist Club to "foster the ideal of service".  Today Soroptimist are in 125 countries,
with over 3,000 clubs and over 90,000 business / professional members worldwide. members

Soroptimist International of the Americas is the largest of the four federations in Soroptimist International, with nearly 45,000 members representing 19 countries and territories:  Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guam, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, United States and Venezuela.