Trained volunteers. That’s who the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) depends on to fulfill its mission to promote voluntarism, develop the potential of women and improve communities worldwide. For four leaders of the Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. (JLC) training began at the 2020 Organizational Development Institute (ODI) in Orlando, FL.
ODIs are leadership development meetings hosted by AJLI. They provide current and future Junior League leaders with mission-based training in key areas that are critical to the healthy functioning of a League. These key areas include community impact, diversity and inclusion, governance, fundraising, marketing and communications and membership development.
Read on to find out how these leaders plan to take what they learned at ODI and transform the Junior League of Charlotte:
Eugenia Brown
Board Member at Large
My biggest takeaway from ODI is realizing that we have to have a strong plan in place — at all levels. One of my goals next year is to work collaboratively with the Board of Directors and Management Team on all that we want to accomplish. I want to make sure that we’re not making assumptions and asking the questions we need to ask. One of the things we talk about is, “What does it look like to be an engaged member?” Well, let’s ask the members what they think!
Walker McLear
Incoming Vice President of Finance
I’m excited to bring back a lot of the ideas that I got from the Diversified Fund Development track on structuring the fundraiser for our 95th anniversary and how to do it effectively. One idea that I’m really excited about is trying to get 100% member participation on our 95th anniversary fundraiser. 100% participation would make us eligible for a grant for organizations with full participation in fundraising. I’m excited to collaborate with other committees to get members excited.
Paris McAdoo
Incoming Vice Chair of Training and Development
I’m excited to revamp what training looks like. I think there needs to be training specifically for leaders on doing the job effectively, engaging committees, and managing up and down. That includes soft skills like conflict management and effective communication. Those are skills that we have to make sure to incorporate in the curriculum for our leaders. And we have to make sure that once we’ve done the training, we’re consistently following up and offering support.
Tramayne Osbourne
Assistant Communications Council Manager
I learned to keep it simple. During the Marketing and Communications track, I learned about all of the ready to use resources created by AJLI and how to use them in our communications strategy. I loved brainstorming creative ideas with other League Communications Managers. We all followed each other on social media and promised to leave encouraging likes and comments on each other’s Leagues social media profiles.
Training for these leaders began at ODI. You can begin your leadership training exactly where you are. Reach out to your membership advisor for in-house training opportunities or visit www.ajli.org for information about AJLI’s offerings.
