Every Delta Kappa Gamma member . . . a leader for education. The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International is a professional honorary society of women educators. The Society promotes professional and personal growth of its members and excellence in education.

Established in 1929, Delta Kappa Gamma has attained major objectives in improving opportunities for qualified women employed at every level of education as well as in advancing the status of women educators. To this end, the Purposes set forth by the Founders continue to embody the spirit of the Society. The Purposes continue to be as valid in today's contemporary world as when first adopted:

• To unite women educators of the world in a genuine spiritual fellowship
  
  
• To honor women who have given or who evidence a potential for distinctive service in any field of education
  
  
• To advance the professional interest and position of women in education
  
  
• To initiate, endorse and support desirable legislation or other suitable endeavors in the interests of education and of women educators
  
  
• To endow scholarships to aid outstanding women educators in pursuing graduate study and to grant fellowships to non-member women educators
  
  
• To stimulate the personal and professional growth of members and to encourage their participation in appropriate programs of action
  
  
• To inform the members of current economic, social, political and educational issues so that they may participate effectively in a world society

Membership is by invitation and is extended to those women educators whose distinguished contributions and achievements in the field of education and to their communities are identified as outstanding.

The nurturing environment of the Society encourages all members to grow and reach the highest levels of professional and personal accomplishments their many unique talents allow. Members are committed to fulfilling their potential for greatness, for creativity, for leadership and for service through appropriate programs of action.

By January 2004, the Society had more than 132,000 members belonging to over 2960 chapters located in Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Iceland, Mexico, Norway, Puerto Rico, Sweden, The Netherlands, and the United States of America. In 2019, the organization is in 17 countries.

Each member has access to a limitless sphere of influence. The Society through its members brings together a world of common interests and focuses the collective energies of an international organization to achieve the greatest good for everyone involved in all fields of education--students, instructors and administrators.

Those who become members of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International are offered a lifelong association with other women educators engaged in the shared pursuit of common interests, goals and ideals. Delta Kappa Gamma members include classroom teachers, college and university professors, administrators and supervisors, librarians and educational specialists, collegiate members who are not employed as educators, and others.

A candidate accepting the invitation to membership is inducted as a member of a chapter, a state organization and the international Society.

The four categories of membership are active, reserve, honorary and collegiate. An active member shall be a woman who is employed as a professional educator or has been retired from an educational position. An active member shall participate in the activities of the Society. Reserve membership is limited to those members no longer able to participate due to geographic reasons or disability. Honorary membership is extended to selected women in recognition of their significant professional and/or community contributions to education who otherwise are ineligible for active membership. A collegiate member is a woman who is in her final two years of college pursuing a degree in education and is not currently earning a salary as a teacher.

Membership in the Society carries with it responsibility as well as honor. Those who accept the invitation to join commit themselves to taking an active part in programs, special projects and organizational activities.

Members are expected to participate at chapter meetings regularly and assume certain financial obligations as well. Dues are determined in accordance with the Constitution, the International Standing Rules, state organization bylaws and chapter rules.

The rewards of membership bear a direct relationship to each individual's commitment. Programs are designed to create a stimulating environment for the professional growth of each member as well as to focus group attention on current educational issues and to allow formulation of alternatives and solutions.

Within this framework, chapters carry out their own programs and projects. Each is encouraged to develop presentations and activities that fit the needs of its members, their educational communities and the talents of chapter members. An international program manual suggests ways to implement Society-adopted themes.

Programs are further enhanced at the state and international levels through special projects and meetings. State organization conventions and workshops are held in accordance with the State By-Laws and Standing Rules. International conventions are held biennially and alternate with regional conferences.

The International Society awards a number of scholarships to members who are enrolled in advanced study programs. More than four hundred members have received these scholarships, many of which honor outstanding Society Founders and members. Many state organizations and chapters also award scholarships and study grants at their respective levels.

The Society has established a World Fellowship Fund to provide opportunities for women educators to study in colleges and universities not located in their countries. As of January 1997, grants had been received by 427 women from 78 countries.

In 1979, the Society celebrated its golden anniversary by establishing the Golden Gift Fund to advance further the Society's Purposes. This fund provides for leadership/management seminars; for travel grants to members attending international meetings where representation of the Society would help toward developing mutual understanding; for special stipends to research and offer alternatives to problems common to educators and/or education; and for workshops to address special member needs.

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International presents an Educator's Award to the author(s) of a book which may influence future directions of education. The author(s) must be a woman from a country in which the Society is established. To be considered for the award, the book must be published or translated into English within a prescribed one-year period. The content must be of more than local interest with relationship, direct or implied, to education everywhere.

Other Society programs include the Eunah Temple Holden Leadership Fund for promoting special leadership development projects; the Emergency Fund, which gives assistance to members who sustain losses from natural disasters; and the International Speakers Fund, which assists with travel expenses incurred by speakers who address gatherings in countries other than their own.

A newsletter and professional journal are published at the International website, dkg.org on a regular basis by International Headquarters. In addition, many state organizations and chapters publish newsletters. Monographs and research studies by members that are of interest to educators are also published.

The Society is governed by the Constitution, by the International Standing Rules adopted by the International Convention, and by an elected International Executive Board. The Administrative Board carries out the plans and policies of the Executive Board. State organizations and chapters are governed by policies set forth in their bylaws and chapter rules.

There are innumerable opportunities for professional growth. Each member is encouraged to participate and contribute to making the Society's programs and activities meaningful for the advancement of education. Every Delta Kappa Gamma member becomes a leader for education.

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Above information reprinted with permission from a Delta Kappa Gamma informational pamphlet.

Last updated - July 15, 2019