Sister Ann Scholz, School Sisters of Notre Dame, Representative of the School Sisters of Notre Dame to the United Nations

The SSNDs are associated with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) and have Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Going to school during a time of the social unrest of the 1960’s had a profound affect on me. My friends and I talked often of our desire to be part of a cause that was bigger than ourselves. We wanted to get involved in public service of some kind like the Peace Corps or Vista. There was just the right mixture of romanticism and activism that made me think I might have a vocation.  After I graduated from high school, I joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame and began my religious formation and my training as a secondary social studies teacher.  I was professed in 1972 and received a BA in History from Notre Dame College in St. Louis, Mo.,a year later.

During my first few years in the congregation, I had the opportunity to spend a couple of summers in Honduras and Guatemala. That experience changed my worldview and made me keenly aware of my responsibility for my brothers and sisters around the world. In many ways that experience confirmed my vocation and set me on the path that eventually took me to the United Nations.

After teaching in a number of secondary schools throughout the Midwest I went back to school myself earning an MA and PhD in International Education from the American University in Washington, DC.

I was especially interested in exploring cross-cultural learning and global education. I wondered how well we were preparing teachers to serve an increasingly multicultural student population and how well our students were prepared for citizenship in an increasingly interdependent and interconnected world. That exploration took me through my graduate work and on to 11 years of teacher-education and international programming at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.

Today, I represent the School Sisters of Notre Dame as one of the more than 5,000 non-governmental organizations that are affiliated with the United Nations. We focus on issues related to education with a special focus on the education of girls—both because it is their right and because it is one of the most effective means to eradicate poverty and promote social and economic development. If girls receive a quality education, they are empowered and their families and their communities benefit.  Educated mothers have healthier, better educated children.  They are better able to participate in their communities and to contribute to their families.  

It is amazing how many obstacles stand in the way of girls’ education, particularly in the developing parts of our world–early marriage, son preference, unequal shares of domestic responsibilities and poverty. How is a girl to go to school when she’s also expected to bring water to her family, work on the farm, sell items at market or care for her younger siblings? As educators and advocates, we try to address both policies and practices that will eliminate those obstacles and ensure every child’s right to quality education.

One of the biggest challenges in this ministry has been to be patient.  Change is slow, and progress at the international level is very slow.  I’ve learned to measure accomplishments in small increments and to count successes rather than failures.  I see so much potential in the UN because of the phenomenal men and women I have been privileged to work with these past years—men and women who focus on what is possible rather than what is not, people who focus on what unites us rather than what divides us.  .

Clearly, one of the greatest gifts of my current ministry is the opportunity to meet and work with people from around the world.  I’ve had the opportunity to visit many of the 32 countries where SSNDs live and minister—bringing the Gospel to those most in need. It is a blessing to be part of the wonderful work of these amazing women.

Ironically, as a girl I dreamed of working at the United Nations. I never thought that my journey as a religious would bring me to this place. It’s amazing looking back at my life and seeing how God has blessed me and how God’s grace prepared me for this ministry.

Founding Congregations: Sisters of Divine Providence; Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston; Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament; Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio; and Dominican Sisters of Houston.