Holly Hanlin – Zonta’s Woman in Service Recipient

The 38th Annual Women in Service luncheon was hosted on the 25th of March and honored twenty women whose outstanding service within the community has made the Santa Clarita Valley a wonderful place to reside. Our local chapter of Zonta (the international woman’s group) was founded in 1974 with the aim of empowering women through community service and advocacy. Since that time, they have helped organize public service projects, raised money for countless grants and scholarships, and hosted events within the Santa Clarita Valley for honoring the many female volunteers in our community.
One of the honored women at the event included Holly Hanlin, whose work as a realtor over the past three decades has afforded many people the opportunity to live in their dream homes, and whose volunteering has aided thousands of young women in our community. She received the coveted Carmen Sarro Award, which recognizes extraordinary women working and volunteering for humanitarian causes. As a two-time President of the Zonta chapter in Santa Clarita, Carmen Sarro served as an example and perfect representation of the hardworking diligence embodied by this award. After her death in 2003, the Carmen Sarro Community Service Award was created with the intention of honoring her and all the women who would follow her footsteps into a life of public service.
Holly Hanlin is currently serving as the President of the Soroptimist International of Greater SCV. In much of her free time when she isn’t busy selling houses, she volunteers her time to Soroptimist International and their goals. The mission of Soroptimist International is to empower young women and girls in local communities to participate in education and volunteering, with chapters worldwide. She was also nominated in 2019 for her work with Soroptimist International of Valencia. For Holly Hanlin, nothing compares to the feeling of aiding her local community and uplifting women to believe in themselves. Her work with Soroptimist International has given her the ability to engage with communities all across the valley and provide effective resourses for young women and girls entering adulthood.
Soroptimist International is a global woman’s nonprofit organization which aims to provide programs for young girls and women recognizing the importance of economic and social empowerment. The Dream It, Be It program through Soroptimist International has been available at all high schools in the William S. Hart district since 2016; a program which mentors girls and offers career and education advice by inviting professional woman who can serve as positive role models in the community and on-campus. Since 1972 the international nonprofit has also offered the Live Your Dream Award, a cash grant given to women who are the heads of their households and looking to find resources for higher learning or vocational skills. These grants and programs have helped thousands of women in our local Santa Clarita Valley community, if not millions through the whole world.
Holly Hanlin, who isn’t just satisfied being an award-winning realtor, finds happiness knowing she can make a difference with Soroptimist International, and within her community by inspiring generations of women to follow in her footsteps. The word ‘soroptimist’ in Latin does in fact mean, the best of women, and Holly Hanlin strives for exactly that. Receiving this award serves as a form of recognition, for the thankless work Holly has done tirelessly through our community and over decades.

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