JLC Members Attend Organizational Development Institute Training

Christina Murez and Marie Starich represented the Junior League of Calgary at the Organizational Development Institute’s training conference held at the Fort Worth Hilton between February 10 and 12.  Both Active Members were honoured to have served as representatives of the JLC and returned home with increased enthusiasm for Junior League service, luggage filled with training materials and contacts within other Leagues.

Five concentration courses were presented by the Institute. Christina, a member of the 2010 Winter Provisional Class, attended Building Internal Capacity: Strengthening Your League’s Operating Infrastructure, facilitated by Martha Ferry, the AJLI Chief Financial Officer.  Marie, a member of the 2009 Fall Provisional Class, attended Achieving Community Impact: Identifying and Building Powerful Community Projects facilitated by Vicki Clark of Building the Capacity of Organizations.  Each also participated in four specific training sessions, three plenary sessions and the “Celebrating Voluntarism” luncheon. In keeping with Junior League tradition, new relationships were forged over food and beverages at breakfast, breaks, lunches and mix and mingles.

Proving that the Junior League is smaller than the 155,000 membership statistic sounds, Christina reconnected with a high school classmate who is now a member of the Junior League of Nashville.  Marie had spent the afternoon sharing experiences next to a Nashville Junior League member and had no clue she was speaking with someone whom Christina knew!

During the opening plenary session, Calgary was recognized as the northernmost League represented at the training.  In addition to recognition for geographic distance from Fort Worth, the Junior League of Calgary was also recognized by Vicki Clark during the first Community Impact session.  Vicki related that far-reaching community impact was not limited to larger Leagues.  She specifically mentioned that the Junior League of Calgary, a small League with very dynamic members, was the source of the Kids in the Kitchen initiative that is undertaken by 292 Leagues in the four member countries.

The theme of the closing plenary session was “Communication is Key: Bringing It All Back Home.”  Christina and Marie will be working to share their new knowledge with our Teams and our League, so the Junior League of Calgary will be an organization of community and civic leaders making great community impact.