Winter 2013 Volume 1213 Issue 2. The Journey Continues Table Purchase Deadline Friday, January 11th. Journey Co-Chairs: Alyssa Hartman and Ali Crist

Transcription

1 Winter 2013 Volume 1213 Issue 2 A publication of The Junior League of Denver. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The Journey Continues Table Purchase Deadline Friday, January 11th Journey Co-Chairs: Alyssa Hartman and Ali Crist

2 Grow: to increase in size, number, or degree. The Importance and Benefits of JLD Training President-Elect Lisa Lumley listens intently to a speaker at the May Annual General Meeting. By Alexandra Lee, ink Reporter By Megan Maddocks, Training Council Vice President What is the purpose of the Training Council? The Training Council focuses on providing women with development opportunities that will aid in impactful voluntarism in the community. Our goal is to train members on a specific set of leadership skills that are unique to the League experience. We re focused on providing missionrelated and community-based training and education opportunities for our members. JLD Leadership Institute We currently have 15 participants enrolled in the Leadership Institute, which is a nonprofit leadership mini-mba program. Participants are required to submit an online application and complete interviews with the Training Council in order to be selected for this elite leadership program. JLD University League The University League Committee (formerly JLDU) provides a full calendar of workshops focused on the professional and personal growth of our members. In Spring 2013, a panel featuring Denver s top educators will provide insight on our school system as well as offer guidance on how we can make a difference in Colorado literacy efforts. In March, Robyn O Brien, a former food industry analyst and strategist on Wall Street, will heighten our awareness around the health hazards of the chemicals and pesticides in our global food system. Additional events include a Whole Foods cooking class, Pure Barre sessions, and a Baby Talk series, and more. General Meetings/Training Council Special Projects Committee The Training Council Special Projects Committee assists with coordination of General Meetings, which attract the largest attendance of League members providing an excellent opportunity to train on our JLD focus of literacy and education. The committee is also addressing training needs such as Spanish classes and conflict resolution. We continue to strive to meet the training needs of our organization so our members become and are portrayed as capable and empowered leaders in the Denver community. We believe there is great value in training and are therefore committed to investing in the growth and development of our members. Questions? Megan Maddocks, Training Council Vice President at training@jld.org. JLD Donates Space to New Reading Program in Denver Reading Partners, a nonprofit corporation founded in 1999, is dedicated to transforming struggling young readers into confident readers who are excited about learning. The Reading Partners program focuses on children from low-income communities who are struggling with reading. Working with partner schools, the program offers children grades K 3 one-on-one tutoring with a caring volunteer who is dedicated to one child s success. Reading Partners is currently operating in Colorado as well as six other states. Reading Partners recently received a grant through the Mile High United Way allowing the nonprofit corporation to establish a presence in Colorado. The JLD Board of Directors made the decision to donate space to Reading Partners at JLD Headquarters. The collaboration has allowed Reading Partners the flexibility to use its available funds to serve more kids and make a greater community impact. Reading Partners vision is that all children in the nation will have the reading skills they need to reach their full potential. The mission is to help children become lifelong readers by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction with measurable results. The goals clearly align with the JLD s literacy initiative, and partnership between the JLD and Reading Partners made perfect sense. Mike Turner, the regional executive director for Reading Partners states, Our tutoring program fits really well with the goals of the Junior League of Denver. Moving forward, we re excited to find more ways to collaborate. Reading Partners and the JLD will be working together to strengthen the partnership moving forward. A JLD member is joining the local board of Reading Partners, and Reading Partners will be working with our Community Council to collaborate in the same schools. The spring edition of ink will contain an update on this exciting partnership! Please visit and click on COLORADO PROGRAM for more information about Reading Partners and how to become a volunteer. Make a difference in the life of one child! From left to right: Kara VanderPol, Regional Site Coordinator, Susan Andersen, Denver Outreach Coordinator, Whitney Hiner, Program Manager, Denver/Aurora and Michael Turner, Regional Executive Director, Colorado. Welcome Reading Partners!

3 Give: to present voluntarily and without expecting compensation. Leigh Anne Tuohy Event details: The keynote speaker is Leigh Anne Tuohy, the inspiration behind The Blind Side. Chris Parente, entertainment reporter and co-anchor of The Everyday Show on Fox 31, has graciously agreed to emcee the evening. The event is cocktail attire. Find the perfect cocktail dress, dust off the fancy shoes, invite your friends and family, and enjoy an evening out. Purchase a Patron ticket for only $25 more to receive preferred seating and a Meet & Greet with Leigh Anne Tuohy. Join Us On a Remarkable Journey By Alexandra Lee, ink Reporter The Journey: Honoring Our Past Looking to Our Future The Journey is just around the corner! The inaugural fundraising event has generated excitement within the League, and we are asking all members to consider serving as a Table Hostess. Can you fill a table of 10? Invite your significant other, friends, colleagues, anyone in your life committed to increasing literacy rates in the Denver metro area. Your attendance ensures the JLD can provide high-quality reading materials to children, and provide parents with the tools and support they need to read with their children at home, opening a world of imagination and lifelong learning. The Table Hostess payment deadline is Friday, January 11, Date: Thursday, February 28, 2013 Time: 6 pm cocktails, 7 pm keynote speaker and dinner Location: Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center Tickets: $125 (includes speaker and dinner) Patron Ticket: $150 (includes speaker, dinner and Meet & Greet with Leigh Anne Tuohy) Table for 10: $1,250 Patron Table for 10: $1,500 If you are interested in becoming a Table Hostess or a Sponsor please visit or call We look forward to seeing you at the event! Questions? Co-Chairs Alyssa Hartman and Ali Christ at journey@jld.org. Help Us Reach 100% Member Participation By Destin Sims, ink Editor As the end of the JLD year approaches (May 31st), please consider giving a gift of any amount to the JLD Foundation. The Foundation s Annual Campaign goals are to achieve 100% member participation and raise $172,000. The JLD encourages you to make a contribution to the JLD Foundation this year to help the League remain strong for many generations to come! Brief Foundation History In the late 1980s, an endowment fund was established by the JLD Board as a method to create a secure funding base to assure the JLD s ongoing financial stability. The endowment fund was derived primarily from excess fundraising income and reached its $1 million goal in In 1991, a special committee of the JLD recommended the establishment of a supporting foundation to better meet the long-term needs of the JLD and the Foundation was incorporated in 1992 within the State of Colorado. Its sole purpose is to support the mission and programs of the JLD. The JLD Foundation represents a long-term development strategy to assure the continued vitality of the JLD in its mission of promoting voluntarism, addressing vital needs in the community and training nonprofit leadership. Each year the JLD Foundation makes an annual distribution to the JLD to support the overall operating budget. For information about or to give to the JLD Foundation, please contact: Crissie Snow, Foundation Director of Development at ext 103 or csnow@jld.org. In Her Own Words... As an Active Silver member, I have been giving my time and financial support to the JLD since my Provisional year in My mother, Marcia Hafemeister, was a member of the Junior League of Colorado Springs (JLCS) beginning in 1980, and lends her support as a Sustainer to this day. Fostering a relationship with philanthropy and community in our family and seeing my mother s relationship with her life-long Junior League friends led to my decision to become a member of the JLD seven years ago. It s interesting to me that despite the 25-year difference in our membership dates, the goals of the Junior League have remained the same: advocacy and support for women, children and families around literacy and education. I recently had my own daughter, Whitney, in April of By supporting the Junior League of Denver Foundation, I can continue the legacy my mother created for me and help pave the way for Whitney to become an advocate for those in need. My hope in contributing to the foundation is to follow the League s mantra to live the legacy by giving and growing. Becky Schaub, Active Silver and Foundation Major Donor

4 Get connected: join together to provide access and exchange. A Sustainer Gives Back I learned from my family that being part of a community means committing your time and talents, but I also know that not everyone embraces involvement in their community. That is why I gravitated to the Junior League and began my involvement in Chicago, continued in Houston and now many years later here in Denver. I ve been incredibly fortunate and wanted to do something to improve the lives of others, said Louise Douglass, Junior League of Denver Sustainer. Ms. Douglass started her professional career in Denver, then moved to Chicago and finally Houston. She co-developed a national Junior League pilot corporate retiree program and worked on community assistance. For employment, she ran a corporate contribution and volunteer program for a Houston bank holding company and won President Reagan s Private Sector Initiative Award. After Ms. Douglass relocated back to Denver, she realized her daughter needed a sister, and adopted Kristin from Vietnam in This past summer, Ms. Douglass traveled with Kristin to Vietnam to both search for Kristin s birth mother and to give back. Ms. Douglass and her friends raised over $6,000 through an event and a direct appeal. Through the generous donations of members of the Junior Leagues of Denver, Houston, Midland, TX, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco, as well as other friends of Ms. Douglass, she and her daughter were able to donate life-improving items while in Vietnam. This was a special opportunity for those who give to know that every penny meets vital needs for real people, Ms. Douglass said. They were able to provide supplies to the hospital where Kristin was born, donate blankets to the elderly, donate supplies to the orphanages where Kristin lived, and underwrite a program where 200 girls received rubella vaccinations and lectures on women s health. They met her caregiver for her first month, as well the doctor who delivered her before she was moved to the first orphanage. Although Ms. Douglass is now home, her efforts continue as she is currently raising funds for one more rubella vaccination program for another 200 girls outside of Hoi An. I want to keep doing this and help others in Colorado as long as I can, she said. But more importantly, Junior League allows you to do a lot of important things that improve your view of the world and the community. You can go out there and do things that make a difference. How the JLD Changed My Career Path Advocacy is a very important part of being involved in the community, stated JLD member Sara Odendahl. Mrs. Odendahl is currently employed at Aponte & Busam, a place she ended up almost as a direct result of her work on the Public Policy Council. Aponte & Busam Public Affairs Consultants is a full-service government affairs firm with expertise navigating the legislative and regulatory policy arenas on behalf of a wide variety of clients. After spending her first three years in the JLD working on community projects, Mrs. Odendahl became interested in public policy and was granted a placement on the council. She was on the council for a couple of years, and then took on a leadership role, Assistant Chair of the council. Mrs. Odendahl sat on the JLD Board twice: first as Public Policy Vice President, and then as Secretary. I ve had the privilege of representing the League for the past four years as a political consultant, Mrs. Odendahl said. When I first joined the League, I thought it was so incredible that we could go to the Colorado State Capitol and testify on a bill. Now I m able to do it in a professional capacity, and I find it extremely rewarding and fulfilling. I credit the League for the training I received that eventually propelled me to the public policy arena. In Fall 2012, Mrs. Odendahl was asked to attend The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI) Fall Conference and give a presentation on advocacy and how Junior Leagues can use advocacy to help promote their mission. I was honored to attend and train other women how to navigate the advocacy process, she said. After all, training women is a vital part of our mission, and I m proud to be a part of it. Sara Odendahl, Aponte & Busam Public Affairs Consultants Did you know? In 1987, the Junior League of Denver was the first League in the United States to hire a government affairs specialist.

5 ink Committee Destin Sims, Editor Zoe Laird, Reporter Alexandra Lee, Reporter To submit content for consideration (article ideas, pictures), please to JLD Staff Jennifer Jones, Managing Director, ext. 102 Karen Mayo, Controller, ext. 109 Vanessa Banker, Communications Manager, ext. 114 Laura Stenovec, Development Coordinator, ext. 107 Crissie Snow, Foundation Director of Devel., ext. 103 Bella Konikova, Business Support Specialist, ext. 100 JLD Headquarters Junior League of Denver, Incorporated 6300 East Yale Avenue, Denver, CO phone: fax: web: hours: Monday-Friday 9 am 4 pm Mission The Junior League of Denver, Incorporated (founded in 1918), is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Our purpose is exclusively educational and charitable East Yale Avenue Denver, CO Address service requested Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Denver, Colorado Permit No. 134