52. Evelyn Sommer

Evelyn is the Founding President of WIZO USA.
Born in Parana, Argentina in 1937, she graduated in Latin American Studies from Columbia University, New York.

In 1967, Evelyn was appointed director of the Latin American Department of the Jewish Agency for Israel in New York, a post which she held until 1983. Two years earlier, she became the official representative of the WIZO at the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York and its Commissions on Human Rights and on the Status of Women.

Evelyn Sommer has acted as Vice President of UNICEF’s NGO Committee. She headed various WIZO delegations to international conferences and co-chaired the Jewish Organizations Committee in Nairobi. Her role as WIZO representative to the United Nations took her to communities in the furthest places even meeting twice with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

In 2002, she was elected Chairman of the Jewish Organisations’ Caucus at the UN. A year later, she presided over the 23rd World WIZO Conference attended by 1,000 delegates. Since the outset of her activities, she undertook a wide range of speaking engagements throughout the world. In 1990, the American Section of the World Jewish Congress elected her as Chairman, a post she held until January 2007.

Evelyn is an inspiration to all generations of WIZO women throughout the world. A better ambassador for WIZO and for Israel could not be found.

Kol Ha Kavod to a strong WIZO woman!