JLC Holds Annual General Meeting - "Women as Community and Civic Leaders"

JLC members chat with guest speaker
Bobbie Sparrow at the AGM

On the evening of Monday, October 17 the Junior League of Calgary held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Holiday Inn South.  The theme for the AGM, as well as for many of the upcoming 2011 – 2012 General Meetings, was “Junior League Women as Community and Civic Leaders”.  In this regard the meeting opened with a video of the History of the Junior League, a truly impressive depiction of the accomplishments of our 110 year old organization.

Guest Speaker

Our guest speaker was Barbara J. Sparrow, better known to us as Bobbie, an extraordinary example of Junior League women as community and civic leaders.   Bobbie’s list of accomplishments is long and impressive, and most of them occurred after she was President of the JLC in 1969!

Bobbie enthralled us all with accounts of her multi-faceted career in the political, business and non-profit arenas. She was a Member of Parliament from 1984 - 1993, serving under Prime Ministers Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell. During this time she was the Chair of two Standing Committees (Energy, Mines and Resources and Industry, Science and Technology), the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and the Minister of Natural Resources – Government of Canada.  Her contributions at the local level included serving as Director, Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of Calgary General Hospital, member of the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary and Director, Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons.  Bobbie also was and is an officer of several corporations and participates in numerous volunteer activities.

Governance

After approval by the Voting Members of the minutes of our September 19, 2011 General Meeting and a motion relating to minor revisions to Policies 3.1 and 3.2 (Membership), members of the Board of Directors gave a presentation on the 2011 – 2014 Strategic Plan and the 2011 – 2012 Annual Plan.  President Alice Gardner-Boreta, Vice President - Membership Lynne Christensen, Co-Vice President - Community Marilou Mitchell and Vice President - Finance Norma Westcott in turn reviewed their respective portions of the Strategic and Annual Plans.

Finance and Community Presentations

Vice President - Finance Norma Westcott presented a review of our Audited 2010 – 2011 Financials, summarizing the year’s revenue and expenses and highlighting operational trends over the recent past.  She also made a motion, approved by the Voting Members, to retain the accounting firm of Buchanan Barry LLP to perform the JLC’s 2011 - 2012 financial audit.

Co-Vice President - Community Marilou Mitchell concluded the evening with a special slide presentation on the Community Impact Programs the JLC will be delivering during the 2011 – 2012 year: Moms U Matter (MUM), Treasure Trunk at Brenda’s House, Teen Totes, Safety Expo and Kids in the Kitchen. 

Note: Both the current Strategic Plan and the Audited 2010-2011 Financials presentation are available in the Members’ Only section of the JLC website under the Governance and Finance tabs respectively. Information on our Community Impact Programs can be found in the Public Section of our website under the Current Projects tab.