Congratulations to Catalina Malin, the 2021 Soroptimist of the Year (SOY) for SI Peterborough. This exciting news was announced at our May 5th business meeting. Marney Horton (SOY 2020) presented Catalina with her plaque on May 27th.

Catalina has been a member of SI Peterborough since 2002. She has held various positions with the club on a number of committees and the Board including President from 2011-2013.  She is currently a member of the Public Awareness Committee. Catalina has attended many local, regional and international events over the past 19 years and co-chaired the Eastern Canada Fall Region meeting in 2018.

In the fall of 2020, Catalina initiated and led a fundraising virtual event called TASTE OF THE WORLD. She spent countless hours (along with her team members) developing and implementing this innovative idea. This was a unique social media campaign – a “Virtual Travel Experience” that brought together food, family and friends during a time when COVID-19 was impacting all of our lives. The donors heard from families around the world, saw photos and videos of their communities and culture AND learned how to make their favourite family recipe! The campaign goal was to bring people together. The beauty of this campaign was that families from New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, France, Zurich, Colombia, Panama, USA, England, and obviously Canada took the time to help build this campaign for the women and girls in the Peterborough area. This was not only about generating funds to support our programs but also to raise awareness about our organization and our Peterborough club. This fundraising event got the attention of our local media and was mentioned at the 2021 Eastern Canada Region Conference Spring Conference as a “best practice”.

As noted by the Chair of the SOY nominating committee, Marney Horton, “Catalina always has a positive attitude and a smile that lights up the room”.

Congratulations Catalina, very well deserved.