History of Zonta Club of Taipei I
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　 By Club President Lisa Shih
In 2013, the Zonta Club of Taipei I marked an important milestone in its history with the celebration of its 50th anniversary. Since the establishment of the first Club in 1963, the status of women in Taiwan has improved greatly. The first Zonta Club in Taiwan was founded by Taiwan's leading women, and our membership now includes outstanding professionals from a wide variety of fields. From our single small club in 1963, seventeen other clubs have grown in Taiwan. Our sisters have been involved in numerous charities and have established international links with professional women from many nations. Finally, through our sisters' enthusiastic work with people from all over the world, the women of the Zonta Club have promoted Taiwan on the international stage. 

Establishment and Development
In 1962, the American Women's Friendship Delegation, headed by Helen Su, visited the Republic of China (Taiwan) during Taiwan's National Day. After witnessing some of the remarkable professional achievements by Taiwanese women, she decided to lay the groundwork for the first Zonta Club in Taiwan. In 1963, acting as an Organization Liaison Committee member, she came back to Taiwan and formed a preparatory group with seventeen outstanding women. At the same time, Vivian W. Yen (head of an automobile manufacturing company) was elected as convener. By October 1963, the ZC of Taipei I was established and Vivian W. Yen was elected as our charter club president. A year later, in March 1964, the president of the Zonta International, J. Maria Pierce, arrived in Taiwan to charter our club which was officially established on October 17, 1963 and given the International Code number 17 04 0523.

The Rapid Growth of the Zonta Club in the Republic of China (Taiwan) 
The Zontians of Taipei I were outstanding women in different areas of profession and had high socioeconomic status and influence in the country. In 1971, eight Years after the Club of Taipei I was established, Laura (Hsin-I) Fei, the third club president, actively expanded and established new clubs. She established four clubs: ZC of Taipei II, ZC of Kaohsiung, ZC of Taichung, and ZC of Taipei County. Nowadays, eighteen clubs are spread around Taiwan. All these clubs are strongly bound by the outstanding professional women who devote themselves to serve society and better our world.

International Cultural Exchange 
The ZC of Taipei I was not only the first Zonta Club in Taiwan, but was also the first to interact and take part in cultural exchanges with the Zonta Clubs in Japan. It formed a sisterhood with the ZC of Tokyo I in November 1988, and another with the ZC of Takamatsu in November 2005. Nowadays, there are at least 15 sister clubs between Taiwan and Japan. These International Cultural Exchanges have offered zontians the opportunity to interact and learn from each other about their respective countries and have promoted citizen diplomacy.

International board and committee 
The great efforts and enthusiastic devotion of the Zontians at the ZC of Taipei I were recognized with the following appointments to the Zonta International.
1995-1998　Zonta International Foundation (ZIF) Director - Laura (Hsin-I) Fei
1996-2000　ZI Environmental Committee Chairman - Monica Kuo
1998-2000　ZI Nominating Committee Member - Amy Lai
2000-2002　ZI Nominating Committee Member - Monica Kuo
2003-2007　Zonta International Foundation (ZIF) Director - Amy Lai
2008-2012　ZI Service Committee Member - Amy Lai
2010-2016　ZI Centennial Anniversary Committee Member - Amy Lai

District Governor and Committee
One committee member and four Governors were elected from the ZC of Taipei I :
1990~1992　District Nominating Committee Chairman Amy Lai
1982~1984　Nancy Huang (Governor of District 17)
1990~1992　Cecilia Koo (Governor of District 26)
1996~1998　Amy Lai (Governor of District 26)
2010~2012　Sophie (Su-Hui) Lee (Governor of District 31) 

Area Director
Four Area Directors were elected from the Zonta Club of Taipei I :
1982~1984　Laura (Hsin-I) Fei
1984~1986　Cecilia Koo
2004~2006　Susan Wu 
2006~2008　Sophie (Su-Hui) Lee

Fundraising
The Zontians of Taipei I are outstanding and motivated women who have had an important influence on Taiwanese society. Beside our Rose Day Fundraising, we have organized large scale activities to raise funds through charity painting exhibitions, benefit performances, concerts, evening parties, bazaars, garden parties, donations, forums, etc. Our activities are regularly reported in the news and we have earned a reputation as an outstanding organization.

Citizen Diplomacy
Taiwan's peculiar political situation has hindered its membership in international organizations such as the WTO and WHO. It has been a great pride for Taiwanese clubs to see our club Zontian, Governor Amy Lai in Hawaii convention in 2000 and Governor Sophie (Su-Hui) Lee in Torino convention in 2012, holding our national flag and playing our national anthem in the international arena. Also, Amy Lai held Zonta flag and led flag parade into convention hall in Torino convention in 2012. The recognition of our national symbols is the result of decades of intense effort by all the zontians of district 31. Throughout the world, only the Zonta clubs honor us in this way. We appreciate the support from Zonta International and we will continue our diplomatic efforts to display our national flag and play our national anthem.

Commitment toward the future
The fruits of our half century history are an outstanding foundation and a sisterhood of prominent Taiwanese women leading our organization into the future. We will carry on our endeavors to advance the status of women in Taiwan, we will continue to serve as role model for society, and we promise to set an example for an unselfish and compassionate world for the next 50 years.