JLC President-Elect Jonell Logan

By: Briana Rinaldo

The Junior League’s emphasis on leadership is a long-held tradition that allows women nationwide to explore and flex their ability to lead. Whether in the community, at work or at home, leadership is a key component of service in the Charlotte community.

Fitting right into our culture of leadership is Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. (JLC) President-Elect Jonell Logan. We sat down with her to learn about her journey serving her community, navigating League roles and empowering the next generation of women in leadership.

What motivated you to join the League?

I had been in Charlotte for about two years and was meeting people, but I wasn’t finding my social needs met. I participated in the Leadership Charlotte program, which encouraged us to commit to making a difference in the community through leadership. During that time, I was having that existential moment of wondering if Charlotte was even the right city for me, but I thought, “You know what? If I’m going to stay, I need to commit.” So I started thinking about how to actually serve in Charlotte and find like-minded people with the same drive for service I had. The Junior League of Charlotte fit that need.

Where did your philanthropic drive begin?

I think my first introduction to service was through my grandmother while growing up in Harlem. She had foster kids, so I grew up watching her open up her home to young people who needed support. That was transformative to see it come so naturally to her. From that point, I could not divorce community service from my daily life because it was just something we did.

Additionally, I grew up in art spaces going to shows and seeing exhibits. When I ventured out into the world, though, I learned so many kids had never been to a museum or a show or a gallery. This is what led to my brand of service taking root in building peace for people through access to culture and art spaces. Ultimately that leads to empowering them to tell their own stories through art. That’s had a lingering impact because the work I do now has so much to do with helping people feel a sense of ownership over their voice and identity.

When was the first time you realized you had the potential to lead?

In high school, I realized I could make an impact and create change through rallying people together. That has since been my approach to leadership: bringing people together to figure something out. More formally, I think I was in my first leadership role before I realized that I was actively leading. I found myself in that role doing what I knew how to do again, bringing people together to reimagine what we were doing. I tend to call that servant leadership, finding out what the need is and working alongside a group to get to our destination.

What’s also important to remember is that while we are all capable of leadership, not everyone wants to be a change agent in the same way. We have to remember there are different ways to lead and drive change. Could you imagine a room full of people who all want to go in different directions? We’d never get anywhere! It’s the different traits and strengths in each of us that come together to make something beautiful. Part of leadership is understanding when to step in and out as needed.

What has your leadership journey looked like in the League?

Once I made my commitment with Leadership Charlotte, I was excited to find ways to lead in Charlotte. The JLC was the perfect place to start, given its established place in the community. I hadn’t planned on my first leadership role; someone saw something in me and asked me to step up into leadership. That’s been the theme through the rest of my leadership here, stepping up when people ask me to or believe I can. That’s how my role as President-Elect came to be: someone putting my name forward, believing I could lead. It’s really important for me to honor someone’s belief in me, bringing something to the table when they assert I have something to contribute.

When I’m confronted with a role, I think about the questions I have answers to and what experience I could think back on that can inform how I would push us forward. My background leads me to lean into telling our story to our community, showing how we serve and engage. Coincidentally, I’ve also mostly led in times of transition, which has afforded me a valuable skill set. I’m not afraid of change; I welcome it!

How has your League experience helped you in your life outside of the League?

Professionally, I work in nonprofit and art spaces, so the League has helped me become more aware of the challenges in our community as it relates to those spaces in which I specialize. I’ve been able to think about how to engage with, partner with and motivate different people from diverse backgrounds when I lean into what I know and am good at. Additionally, it’s easy to fall in with people we know and are comfortable with, but what does it mean to work with this larger group of women collectively unifying over an idea? This is where I’ve learned it’s so important to look for what unifies us across differences, and the League helped me build that skill.

Why is serving in internal League roles just as important as community project placements?

When working toward community impact, we have to think about the structures we have in place that support the people doing the work - it’s a process that operates inside and outside. The work in the community has to be supported by organization in the background. What that also provides is an inclusive experience. Many of us may want to volunteer but don’t have the privilege of time, so we have opportunities within the League to support the whole foundation of our work. That internal work also prepares us for the future and what it means to be an institution serving Charlotte.

How does your identity play into your leadership approach and service?

I’m a Black woman and I’ve always seen that Black women lead through changes and challenges. Over generations, we have opened our homes, schools, churches and centers to anyone who needs a place or a resource. There’s so much going on socially, politically and economically, and I still see Black women leading and moving forward despite everything happening around us. My concern, though, is that we - well, I — tend to take this work so heavily that we have to remember to save ourselves through the work of serving others. I hope that we can cultivate, inspire, and challenge each other to ensure we can thrive in community leadership and service.