The Zonta Club of Edmonton was organized in 1953, and received its charter in 1954 from parent organization, Zonta International which was a service club for business and professional women founded in Buffalo, New York in 1919. The Zonta International club sought to improve the status of women and push for gender equity in employment; it encouraged ethical standards of business through donating time and money to various civic and social causes.

Membership increased quickly after the 1919 foundation and a Confederation of nine Zonta clubs was almost immediately formed in the United States with a first executive session of the Confederation’s officers in 1920. The American members were among the first generation of college-educated women, the first generation of North American women to vote, and a part of the growing legion of women entering the workforce. The name Zhonta was selected in 1919 and this word meaning honest and trustworthy, was derived from the Lakhota (Teton Dakota) language of the Native-American Sioux peoples. Later changed to Zonta, the word’s meaning was incorporated into the Zonta emblem.

The Zonta Confederation became Zonta International when the first European club, the Zonta Club of Vienna, Austria was organized in 1930.

The Zonta Club of Edmonton formed part of Zonta International District VIII. The club based its membership on classification by business or profession. The club also required any member of its executive to work at least 50% of the time. The Zonta Club of Edmonton is now dissolved.