Joan Godfrey

Dr Joan Godfrey OBE (1922-2019) was a devoted long term member of Zonta and dedicated 48 years of her life to empowering women and girls through service and advocacy.  Her commitment to advancing opportunities for nurses attracted her to the ideals and goals of Zonta and when the Zonta Club of Brisbane was established in 1971 as the first in Queensland, Joan was invited to become a Charter Member and maintained her club membership, keen interest, and friendships until her death in 2019.

In 2018, she made a significant bequest to the Club which was used to support a valuable annual award to recognise a man or woman who is working to advance the status of women. The fund was built further by generous donations of club members Susan Hocking and Susan Davies in memory of their mothers Lesley Hocking and Anne Davies.

This led to the inaugural Advancement of Women Award presented in 2019 to Cathy Hunt, CEO, of Of One Mind who is dedicating these funds to support women from remote regions to attend WOW through the #inhername initiative.