AJLI Winter Leadership Conference - Houston, Texas

It was my privilege to attend The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc.’s (AJLI) 2012 Winter Leadership Conference in Houston, Texas at the end of January as one of 340 delegates from 197 Junior Leagues across the Association.  Continuing with this year’s theme of transformation, the focus was on assisting Presidents Elect and Presidents Elect Elect in their personal transformation to League Presidents, the transformation of individual Leagues and the transformation of the entire AJLI.

My schedule included informative and often very lively workshops titled:  Becoming the Chief Governance Officer, Deliberating Differently as a Board, Moving Towards Greater Social and Cultural Inclusion, Creating an Effective Communications Plan, Tapping the Potential of All Members and Creating Successful President/President Elect Teams.  For a number of the sessions workshop participants were divided by league size, which allowed us to share challenges and solutions that were most applicable to our individual leagues.

Our group plenary sessions focused on our rights and responsibilities as members of AJLI, governance structure recommendations, the Junior League’s single sex policy and an update on AJLI’s continuous learning and development process.  As this process is rolled out over the next year, members will have access to professional learning tools to assist in our development as community and civic leaders.

Of course the women of the Junior League of Houston were wonderful hosts, beginning with a lovely reception in their gorgeous and Texas-sized facility.  They also treated us to two outstanding luncheon speakers in Dr. Mark Kline, an international leader in pediatric HIV/AIDS and global child health and Kathy Cloninger, Chief Executive Officer Emeritus of the Girls Scouts of the USA.  Ms. Cloninger related the journey she recently led to revitalize the Girl Scout brand as the premier leadership experience for girls.

I’d like to thank the members of the JLC for affording me this opportunity to learn and experience the power and motivation of an incredible group of women.

Lynne Christensen

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.

JLC Members Gather for Winter Social

Winter Provisionals Penny Walker (L)
 and Kalynn Crump

(L to R): Norma and Ron Westcott, Alice Gardner-Boreta

Active and Provisional members and their spouses/guests gathered at the home of Lynne and Bill Christensen during a wintery evening on Friday, February 26.  The chill was chased away with delicious goodies organized by Erin Ferguson and Brenda Christensen of the JLC Social Committee and of course, by the warm, lively conversations.  The evening provided the perfect setting to further connect with fellow members and to meet and get to know their spouses and partners.

Winter Provisional Jennifer Kavalinas with her

husband, Michael 

Marilou Mitchell (L) and Susan Cruess

enjoying the evening

February 21 - Moms U Matter (MUM) Program at Highbanks Society

JLC members Melissa MacRae and Julianne Lorehn
 at the MUM Program

Our February 21 MUM session was very well-received by Highbanks residents.  We were delighted to welcome our two new JLC MUM participants, Julianne Lorehn and Melissa McRae, who helped in planning and preparing for the February session. The evening’s theme was Time Saving Meals: How to Make "Planned Extras" versus Leftovers. The recipes demonstrated were Make-Ahead Meatballs (Three Ways) and Lemony Caesar Salad, and Melissa graciously donated her time to pre-make the Oreo Ice-Cream Dessert. 

We have five permanent residents (Kaitlyn, Lauren, Jasie, Rain and Alejandra) participating  in our monthly  MUM sessions.  Vaniety, an alumna, and her niece Shanee, who is 13 years old, will also be regular attendees. It is really nice to see a young person so engaged in preparing healthy meals and learning about Healthy and Active Living. The three other magnificent JLC volunteers were Cyndi Cox, Tammy Figol and Marie Starich. With space-saving in mind, the gift for this session was a collapsible salad spinner. Extra meatballs were also made so that the moms could bring home the "Planned Extras".

Cyndi Cox (L) and Shanee

The three future MUM sessions scheduled for this program year will continue to be delivered at the newly remodelled kitchen at Highbanks Society.

February 8 - Treasure Trunk Program at Brenda's House

Our February 8, Treasure Trunk at Brenda's House was a great success! It was a busy night with lots of children, all of whom seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.

Babies in the Story (BITS), led by Tammy Figol and assisted by Cyndi Cox, had the mothers and babies on their feet singing and dancing in between some engaging stories and rhymes.

Kids in Motion & Music (KIMM), led by Emily Roback and Nikki Stephenson and assisted by Robyn Ketchey and Jennifer Cox, had 13 children enthralled in a version of 4 square and "freeze".

Kids in the Arts (KARTS) rounded out the evening, led by Melanie Tewksbury and assisted by Lily Mioc and Philippa Gear. The 13 children assembled kaleidoscopes out of materials that can be found around the home - paper towel rolls, wax paper and rubber bands to name a few. The kids loved the craft and clean-up was a snap with all the JLC volunteers pitching in.

Our seventh Treasure Trunk session, delivered on February 22, was a night filled with great stories, lively activities, and fun food creations in the kitchen.

BITS, again led by Tammy Figol and Cyndi Cox, offered reading and the singing of a variety of nursery rhymes with four babies and parents.

Elaine Tsekouras, Lily Mioc and Jocelyn Egden worked with ten children during the KARTS story time, where they read “How Do Dinosaurs Eat?”.  While creating bracelets, which the children loved making, another three children showed up and joined in.

Kids in the Kitchen (KITK) was very lively with 13 children and three babies with parents making Pizza Pita’s.  Robyn Ketchey and Carla Gustafson couldn’t tell what the kids loved more, creating the fun faces or eating the delicious fruits and veggies. All leftovers stayed at Brenda's House for the staff and families.

Several of our JLC volunteers who had attended our January 28 Brenda’s House Training Event commented on "how the training helped make the experience of working at Brenda’s House smoother".

Sign up to be a part of this terrific program!  The five remaining sessions of Treasure Trunk for this year will be delivered at the Brenda’s House facility located in the Southwest neighbourhood of Killarney in Calgary.

Community Advisory Panel Continues Great Service to the JLC

Six members of the Community Advisory Panel (CAP) met with the Junior League of Calgary Board, plus Active Members Kristin Briard and Sharyl Madigan, on Tuesday, February 7.

CAP members are respected community and civic leaders who twice-yearly offer an invaluable service to the JLC by contributing their time and talents to the JLC.  Board, Membership, Finance, Community and Sustainer issues are presented.  For each issue, the CAP members have given suggestions for community resources that may be of assistance to the League.  Most recently, the CAP members have provided great insight as the JLC begins the process of developing future programs. 

Members of the Community Advisory Panel for the 2011-2012 League year are:

l Janet Burstall - Director Learning and Development, Volunteer Calgary

l Barb Francis - President, Stillwater Coaching Ltd.

l Dian Goods - former Calgary Board of Education educator and administrator

l Mimi Harris - fund raising professional and consultant for the Canadian Women’s Foundation

l Alison T. Love - Vice President, Corporate Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer, Enbridge Inc.

l Sarah Walker - Executive Director, Hospice Calgary Society

l Lois Wozney - Community Involvement Advisor, EnCana Corporation

l JoAnne Gibson – Director, Calgary Learning Village Collaborative (1/2 year - moved to Ontario in 2012)

JLC’s “Kitchen Safety” Booth at Calgary Safety Expo March 20 and 21

JLC Members demonstrate Safety Expo activities
at the February General Meeting

On March 20 and 21 the Junior League of Calgary will again be participating in Calgary Safety Expo, which teaches students in grades four to seven about safety and injury prevention. This is the ninth year the City of Calgary will host this event, designed to promote safe environments for children at home, school and play. This is also the third year the JLC will be participating with our own Kitchen Safety booth.

We are still looking to fill volunteer spots for Wednesday, March 21. There are two volunteer shifts available from which to choose - the morning shift running from  9:00am - 12:00pm and the afternoon shift from 12:00 - 3:00pm. Training for each shift will be provided on site.

For a full list of exhibitors, check out the Calgary Safety Expo website http://calgarysafetyexpo.ca