Perspectives Autumn 2018

MAGAZINE OF THE JUNIOR LEAGUE OF CINCINNATI

Perspectives AUTUMN 2018

From the Archives Curious how the Junior League gave back to the community in 1960? Learn about the Cincinnati Art Museum’s Docent Program and how it’s still a vital part of the museum in 2018!

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Award-Winning Women How do these women do it all? Check out several of our outstanding members and how they are contributing to our Cincinnati community.

PAGES 10 & 12

In this issue 3 4 5 6 7 8

President’s Perspective New Member Welcome Transfer Welcome & Spotlights From the Archives: What Exactly is the Cincinnati Art Museum Docent Corps?

Catching Up with Sustainer Sara Celi Happy Fall Y’all!: Photo Review

10 This One’s for the Girls: Recognizing the Junior

League of Cincinnati’s “Forty Under 40” Honorees 12 Spotlight: 2017-2018 Annual Award Winners 13 Checking in with Sweet Cheeks 14 Member Milestones 15 The Junior League of Cincinnati’s Endowment Fund

Your Perspectives Team

Managing Editor Kailen Nowik

Assistant Editor Charlotte Eichman

Writer Andrea Buschmiller

Writer Raquel Cannon

Writer Elizabeth Longaberger

Thank You The Perspectives Committee would like to extend our gratitude to the many women who volunteered their time, knowledge, opinions, and experiences to make this issue possible.

VP Communications Chelsea Zesch

Contributors: Andrew Palamara, Assistant Director of Docent Learning, Cincinnati Art Museum Photographers: Mike Bresnen; Jess Robinson; Mary R. Schiff Library & Archives, Cincinnati Art Museum

The Junior League of Cincinnati is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

Perspectives is the magazine of the Junior League of Cincinnati, published multiple times throughout the year. Past issues and advertising rates can be found online at www.jlcincinnati.org.

For more news and events, follow us on social media.

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Junior League of Cincinnati, 3500 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226 • 513.871.9339 • www.jlcincinnati.org

President’s Perspective Happy Fall!

The members of the Junior League of Cincinnati have kicked off our 99th year with a bang! From the get-go this year, we’ve been focused on how we can harness the collective power, wisdom, and sparkle of the 890 women who make up our membership. Individually, each one of you brings so much to our work and the League is strong because you are part of it. This will truly be a year of celebration and preparation, of building and deepening friendships and partnerships, of working to better understand our community’s complex and pressing issues.

To all of our New Members and Transfers, welcome! I am so glad you’re here and can’t wait to get to know you better.

To our returning Active Members, welcome back! Your hard work on our committees makes up the heart and soul of the League and I’m so grateful for all that you do. To our Sustainer Members, what we are doing this year is possible because of you—your legacy, your mentoring, and your financial support.

Together, we are One League. A lot has changed over the past 99 years, but the most important things have stayed the same. Our members are an amazing group of women who are so committed to bettering our community and making a difference. We are working together to make that happen, recognizing that while individually we can do a lot, together we are unstoppable.

The reasons each of us joined the JLC are as different as well are, and while the reasons we join are important, even more critical are the reasons we stay. Why do I continue to be a member of the Junior League of Cincinnati? Because of the women who make up our membership. Women who came to my wedding, who have served as job references, mentors and confidantes, who taught me how to fundraise. These are the women who have made space at tables not only for me, but for my daughters—I can’t tell you how many pictures I have of a Junior League woman snuggling one of my sleeping babies while we worked through a project plan together.

Junior League women believed in me and encouraged me to seek leadership roles—both inside and outside of the JLC— long before I ever believed in my own ability to do so.

Next year is our Centennial celebration. For 100 years, Junior League women have dedicated their time and talents to making our community a better place. Some of our city’s strongest and most impactful nonprofit organizations started right here at the Junior League, and the way that we train our volunteers has ripple effects throughout our region.

But it’s not all sunshine and happiness, either. We’ve done amazing things, yes. And there are things that we can do better—frankly, there are things that we need to do better.

The Junior League, at its core, is a training organization. Our organization is not perfect and for all of the amazing and wonderful things about our work, you’ve also given us some hard feedback about things that we need to do better and

differently. While our projects and mission have grown and flourished, many of you are feeling burned out. You’ve told us that the JLC doesn’t always feel like an open and welcoming environment, especially for newer members. You’ve been frustrated that things are often harder than they need to be and that sometimes, it’s hard to see how your work connects back to our mission.

I want you to know that I hear you. Your feedback matters to me and we’re going to do something about it.

Over the next few months, we’re going to push ourselves to grow.

Through the work of our Diversity & Inclusion committee, as well as GMM experiences in February and March, we are going to talk about our inclusivity and the steps we need to take to improve that. We are actively having conversations about how we can use our own privileges to advocate and amplify the voices of those we serve without speaking for them or overpowering them. And we’re taking a hard look at our membership retention. While we say that the Junior League flexes with you during your membership, the number of women leaving us each year and the reasons why tell a different story. There are small things we are already doing—like making it possible to attend GMMs remotely!—but also, many larger cultural shifts that need to happen to make this an authentic reality.

Junior League women are so incredibly and amazingly different, and yet, we share some special things in common.

We all care deeply. We love hard. We want to do big things.

We recognize the benefit of working together. We believe that this world can be a better place and we are going to work hard to make it that way.

I promise you that the Junior League won’t shy away from tough conversations this year. We won’t make excuses for things that could and should be better—we’ll fix them, instead.

I’m focused on making this a place that you want to give your time, talents and treasure. The collective impact when we can turn the brightness and passion and the energy of 890 of us toward our community’s most pressing challenges—that is where magic can happen.

Warmly, Tara B. Noland JLC President

#JLCincy | 3

WELCOMe to our 2018 new member class MEGAN ANACKER

EMILY ENGERT

JESSICA JEFFERY

GINA RYAN

NICOLE BECKETT

BRIANNA EVE

EMILY KELLER

MELISSA SANDERS

JACKIE BROWN

LAUREN FERRELL

JESSICA KNAB

ANDI SAYLOR

KOURTNEY BRUECKNER

ELEANOR FINN

JESSICA LUEGERING

ABIGAIL SCHARRER

DANA BURRIS

KATIE FISHER

ERIKA LUNDSTEDT

HANNAH SCHULTZ

ALEXANDRA CALLAHAN

TARA FRENCH

LARISSA MARPLE

JENNIFER SHAFER

LYNDSAY COLEMAN

KATIE FUNK

ZAHRA MASOUD

NICOLE SHENK

ELIZABETH COLEMAN

KRISTEN GALLAGHER

LIZ MCLEAN

AMBER SMITH

KATIE COLLIER

LEAH GILLIGAN

MEGHAN MOULDER

CARRIE STARTS

CAITLIN COLLORD

BROOKE GROW

LAUREN NICHOLS

SLOAN THACKER

CATHERINE COWAN

JENNIFER HARRINGTON

NATALIE NIELSEN

MADALYN VERSHAY

VICTORIA CRABILL

JENNIFER HELMRATH

EMILY OLIVER

LAUREN VOGELPOHL

SARAH CURTIS

ELISHA HERRMANN

STEFANIE OSBORN

CAROLINE GRACE WILLIAMS

AMBER DAVID

DEANNA HILLARD

MEGAN PERRY

KRISTINA WILLIAMS

ANDREA DELISIO

JACQUELINE ROOT

REBECCA WILSON

EMMA DRONGOWSKI

KATHERINE HUSHEBECKSCHNEIDER

KATHRYN ROSENBERG

SAMANTHA WRIGHT

MORGAN EBERLE

COLLEEN HUSTER

CAITLIN RYAN

Now ting accep ons ati applic all r o f F 2019

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AND

TRANSFERS!

Transfer Spotlights

By RAQUEL CANNON

JOANY ELLSWORTH JUNIOR LEAGUE OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY Joany Ellsworth has been with the Junior League for more than ten years. Because of her husband’s work transfers, she has been a member of several different Leagues, including those of New York, Fort Lauderdale and Lehigh Valley (JLLV), where she held the President-Elect position last year. One of the recent focus areas of the JLLV has been Education, which they promote through programs that sponsor children through summer activities like gardening. Joany dedicates a lot of time to her three children and her passion for baking, volunteering her talents to support the nonprofit organization Icing Smiles, which provides custom celebration cakes and other treats to families impacted by the critical illness of a child.

CHELSEY HARSHMAN JUNIOR LEAGUE OF MINNEAPOLIS Chelsey Harshman transferred from the JLM, where she was involved with the project H.O.M.E.S (Hands on Math, Engineering, and Science). Prior to that, she was a member of the Junior League of Grand Rapids, where she was the Chair of Kids in the Kitchen. Chelsey is looking forward to getting involved in the Cincinnati community CandO events, whichince she finds extremely inspiring and rewarding. She is single, has one fur child (Winston, age six), and manages a busy schedule between her job at P&G as a Senior Account Executive, her MBA at Indiana University, and her passion for outdoor activities. She is currently section hiking the Appalachian Trail with some friends from high school: 200 miles down, 2,000 to go!

MELISSA JONES JUNIOR LEAGUE OF NORFOLK-VIRGINIA BEACH Melissa Jones has already been a member of two other Leagues before transferring to Cincinnati in July 2018 due to the relocation for her job. Originally, she joined the Junior League of Kansas City and two years ago transferred to the Junior League of Norfolk-Virginia Beach (JLNVB), where the focus areas are Women’s Health and Children’s Literacy. Last year Melissa was a part of the Touch a Truck Committee which dedicated over 1,000 hours of volunteer service to the South Hampton Roads community! One of her most memorable volunteer experiences happened last year when she facilitated a session at the Conference for Girls and Young Women in Norfolk, Virginia. Melissa connected with her 400 plus audience by sharing personal challenges and successes as she journeyed through her teenage years. Melissa has been married for ten years, has two children: twelve year old “bonus son”, Darion, and eight year old daughter, Dawsonne; she also has a fur baby, Lola. Melissa is an accountant, serving as a Financial Controller and Business Administrator for a global foods company in the BioScience Division. In her free time she loves spending time with her family, serving others, traveling, singing, golfing, and recently just started a new challenge: triathlons.

KATE WALKER JUNIOR LEAGUE OF DALLAS Kate Walker transferred from the JLD, where she just completed her New Member year. The JLD has six primary focus areas: Arts, Education, Family Preservation, Health, Poverty, and Violence Intervention.

Back in Dallas, she volunteered weekly in the post-anesthesia care unit at The Children’s Health Hospital. In Cincinnati, she is excited to meet other women who share her interests and passions of community involvement and leadership development. Kate is married and is expecting a baby girl due November 15th! Professionally, she is a Product Manager for a retirement planning software product at Morningstar. She loves to read, cook, eat, and travel.

SHAINA BERRY (COLUMBUS) TIFFANY BLEVINS (LOS ANGELES) ELIZABETH CANNON (DALLAS) TRISH COSSEY (MONROE) AILEEN ECKERT (THE LEHIGH VALLEY) CHRISTY EZEDI (LOUISVILLE) KATHERINE FUNK (RICHMOND)

LAUREN GOEBEL (CHICAGO) CHRISTY LEE (HOUSTON) KAITLIN MILLER (DALLAS) EMMA MOREHART (DAYTONA BEACH) SARAH ELIZABETH PERRY (NASHVILLE) MADALYN PIFHER (HUNTSVILLE) WENDY TEN EYCK HITES (DENVER) #JLCincy | 5

From the Archives What Exactly is the Cincinnati Art Museum Docent Corps?

By ANDREA BUSCHMILLER

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n October 1960, the first class of twenty-eight Cincinnati Art Museum docents was established by the Junior League of Cincinnati in cooperation with Cincinnati Public Schools and Philip Rhys Adams, Director of the Cincinnati Art Museum. With an emphasis on history, culture, and present day trends ﹘ rather than an analysis of technical and artistic processes ﹘ they developed a course to interpret the Art Museum’s permanent collections as they related to the sixth-grade social studies curriculum.

The first docents attended two-hour training lectures, held weekly for six months. In the autumn of 1961, following the success of a pilot program involving twenty-four elementary schools chosen by the Board of Education, the program was expanded to include all 6,000 sixth-grade public school pupils. Further expansion included the addition of twentyeight Hamilton County Public Schools and their 2,700 sixthgrade children in February 1962.

through the June/July issue of 1990. It was then incorporated into Brushstrokes, the newsletter for all volunteers at the Art Museum. In the 1990s, the Art Museum began issuing The Docent Pink Sheet, which contained current information for docents. Since the fall of 2001, it has been published bimonthly.

Docents have been actively involved in many aspects of the Cincinnati Art Museum. Four docents initiated the Cincinnati Art Museum Gift Shop in March 1968 and continued to manage it until 1995. Active docents have worked on membership for the Art Museum through their participation in committees such as the Women’s Committee and the Duveneck Association. Docents have also participated as chairs of various committees and as volunteers for both past and current events, such as the Art Museum’s bi-annual “Big Sale” fundraiser and the annual Art Collectors Showhouse Tour. In 1994, docents initiated and helped plan “The Art Sale,” a fundraiser whose proceeds benefited the capital campaign.

The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Docent Advisory Council continue to represent the Cincinnati Art Museum at the biannual National Docent Symposium. Throughout the years several gifts have been made to the museum through the Art Museum Docents and in 2010, the Docent Corps celebrated its 50th anniversary with a Gala Dinner.

Docent tour with Mary Lou Robertson (1980) Mary R. Schiff Library & Archives, Cincinnati Art Museum

Annual docent study trips, both national and international, were initiated in the autumn of 1963 with a trip to Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Their purpose was to broaden knowledge and understanding as background for touring the Art Museum collection. In 1974, the Docent Program was extended to include six volunteers from the community in addition to ten Junior League members. In 1975, the Docent Office and the Education Division of the Cincinnati Art Museum merged and the separate titles of Junior League Docent and Education Division Guide were discontinued. All tour guides were thereafter known as Cincinnati Art Museum Docents.

In the 1976-1977 year, the Docent Advisory Board replaced the Junior League Docent Advisory Board. An active docent selected by the Junior League remained on this board as a liaison representative until June 1983.

The Cincinnati Art Museum Docent Data newsletter was published bi-monthly during the school year from 1982 #JLCincy | 6

This is just one of the many Junior League community partnerships that have become self-sustaining and flourished in the Cincinnati community. The Art Museum Docent program continues to empower community residents by educating local students to become experts themselves in many fascinating subjects

Docent training in Greek galleries with Daniel Walker (October 1979) Mary R. Schiff Library & Archives, Cincinnati Art Museum

A special thank you to Andrew Palamara, Assistant Director of Docent Learning Cincinnati Art Museum.

Andrew provided valuable history and information to the Junior League about the history of the Docent Corps.

Catching Up with Sustainer Sara Celi

Check out these four training paths Leadership Development has curated for Junior League members this year:

By CHARLOTTE EICHMAN

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erspectives readers may recognize Junior League of Cincinnati Sustainer, Sara Celi, from her work as a morning news reporter for Fox 19 WXIX. But what many readers may not know is that she is also an accomplished author. Sara has loved reading since she was a young child, toting home armfuls of library books each week. Her career path to becoming a published author, however, was not a direct one.

Raised in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky, Sara was drawn to broadcast news and history while attending college at Western Kentucky University. For her, television broadcasting was a marriage of many interests: she was able to practice public speaking, report on historical events, meet new segments of the community, and write for news shows. As her career in television journalism progressed, Sara moved across the country working in Shreveport, Louisiana and Kansas City, Oklahoma, before returning to Cincinnati.

But all that time Sara still harbored a years-long ambition to write novels. On her birthday in 2012, Sara decided the time was right to begin and in 2013, Sara published her first novel. She believes she entered the book industry at a unique moment when it was undergoing a paradigm shift, presenting new paths for debuting authors to disseminate their work to audiences through Amazon with ebooks. Two of her books, Prince Charming and Natural Love, have risen to national best sellers on Amazon, making their way onto its Top 100 Overall Bestselling List. Natural Love, a romance novel, even climbed to 60th on Barnes and Noble’s Top 100.

While Sara writes fiction, ranging from young adult fiction to romantic comedies, many of her characters are drawn from real life, having spent years in journalism meeting many diverse people from across the community. In fact, Sara’s upcoming eleventh novel features a main character who is a member of the Junior League.

For Sara, her most rewarding experience as an author has been meeting readers who have fallen in love with her work. She still works as a television journalist part-time on Fox 19 WXIX in the mornings, but the remainder of her days are devoted to writing. For readers excited to read Sara’s forthcoming work, she is presently editing her new novel, #sobasic, and it is set for publication on Amazon at the end of December.

Stay tuned for more info in the eBlasts and JLC calendar! #JLCincy | 7

Happy Fall Y’all!

Annual Meeting The JLC held its Annual Meeting in May at the Backstage Event Center.

All members were invited to enjoy an evening of cocktails and dinner, and, most importantly, to celebrate the amazing members who won awards for their exemplary service to the League and their community. #JLCincy

NamasDEY Yoga In July, League members participated in NamasDEY Yoga at Paul Brown Stadium to celebrate Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank. At the event, Sweet Cheeks announced that it has joined the Alliance for Period Supplies, a new national organization that launched in May, which helps ensure women have access to essential period products. #SweetCheeksDiaperBank

New Member Brunch & Orientation The New Member Brunch & Orientation provided New Members with an introduction to the League and provided a meaningful opportunity to connect with fellow New Members.

They heard from speakers at all levels in the League, including the President, a Sustainer, and two Active members. #CultivatingCivicLeaders

September GMM Members kicked off the year at the September GMM with a spirited and inspirational speech by keynote speaker, Wijdan Jreisat. Wijdan spoke of the perils of falling into the savior complex and advised on how Members can work to support and uplift the community and other women. Members also received insight into the League’s new partnership with Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank and learned about upcoming opportunities to volunteer and participate in the League. #LearneditinJuniorLeague #JLCincy | 8

New Member Bus Tour

Diaper Needs Awareness Week

The JLC Sustainers successfully hosted another annual New Member Bus Tour.

Sustainers led a tour of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky for the New Members and Transfers, showcasing the area’s historical and cultural landmarks and teaching participants about the impact the League has had on our community. Tour participants lunched at TAGLIO following the tour. #LearningOnLocation

The City of Cincinnati declared September 27th as Diaper Need Awareness Day. To celebrate, the Bottoms Up for Babies Happy Hour brought awareness to diaper need while raising proceeds for Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank from raffle baskets and a generous donation from Streetside Brewery. The event raised over $1,700 in two hours to support Sweet Cheeks! #SweetCheeksDiaperBank #GiveBack

October GMM At the October GMM members heard from keynote speaker, Moira Weir, the Agency Director of Hamilton County Jobs & Family Services. She spoke on the upcoming vote for a new levy that would generate a projected $37 million per year to support the Hamilton County services for abused and neglected children. Following the presentation and engaging questions from members, Active members voted overwhelmingly in favor for the League to endorse the levy. #CultivatingCivicLeadership

Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank Diaper Dash & 5K This was a family-friendly event that raised awareness and funds for Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank. In addition to the race, it featured a bounce house, face painting, obstacle course, take-home crafts, temporary tattoos, swag bags, and more! #SweetCheeksDiaperBank

CandO Events In addition to the volunteer opportunities with Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank, CandO also provided opportunities for Members to volunteer at the Goldstar ChiliFest at the Fire Museum and the Children’s Theater Gala at Taft Theater. Further, CandO partnered with Neediest Kids of All and Head Start to pack emergency kits for the community’s neediest children. #WomenBuildingBetterCommunities #JLCincy | 9

This One’s for the Girls Recognizing the Junior League of Cincinnati’s “Forty Under 40” Honorees

By ELIZABETH LONGABERGER

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n September, the Cincinnati Business Courier honored its new class of Forty Under 40. Two of our very own Junior League of Cincinnati members, Vicki Marsala Calonge and Lori Poole, were awarded this special honor. In addition to the award winners, the League also had five other women nominated this year: Sara Cooperrider, Nazly Mamedova, Rene Robers, Kristian Scarpitti, and Jennifer Schuster.

Forty Under 40 is an annual award that recognizes our city’s young professionals for success in their careers and their hard work in giving back to our community. Anyone who is a resident of the Tri-State area and under the age of 40 can be nominated. The honorees are selected by a committee of previous award winners who look for well-rounded individuals who exhibit perseverance and leadership in multiple facets of life.

The more than 200 nominees this year are a testament to how many young professionals are working hard to make Cincinnati better every day. In June, all nominees were invited to a networking breakfast and the winners were announced at the end of July. The Business Courier held a celebratory event in August to get to know the winners better – and which doubled as a photo shoot for a spread in the September issue of the Business Courier.

Every year there is a different theme for the main event, with this year’s theme focusing on the art of film and the

red carpet. In addition to the unique theme, the winners were asked to select a “walk-up song” when they were announced and presented with their awards. However, according to previous winners, the “walking” is sometimes more like dancing! Lori, one of the the League’s winners in this year’s class, has worked her way up through a predominantly male career path and was named partner of her wealth management firm earlier this year. This inspired her strong female lead song, “This One’s for the Girls,”

by Martina McBride. Vicki selected “Non-Stop” from the “Hamilton: An American Musical” soundtrack as it inspired her “to do more, be more and work my hardest as President last year.”

Both Vicki and Lori said the League has been a huge contributor to their career success and provided a vehicle through which they could make a lasting impact on our Cincinnati community. “I am constantly taking things that I have learned, heard, or experienced in the League and regurgitating them into my involvement with the community, work, and life,” says Lori. “The Junior League is a launchpad to help women be better members of the community, learn to volunteer, take steps in advocating for different members of the community, and so much more.”

These women will continue to be an inspiration to the rest of the League – congratulations, Lori and Vicki!

Support our League!

While planning your year-end philanthropy, Forty Under 40 Honorees Lori Poole and Vicki Marsala Calonge

please consider a gift to the Junior League of Cincinnati Annual Fund Campaign, which supports our members, our community impact, and our future.

Forty Under 40 Nominees Kristian Scarpitti, Sara Cooperrider, Rene Robers, Jennifer Schuster, and Nazly Mamedova

#JLCincy | 10

Visit the website bit.ly/jlc-annual-fund to donate.

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Spotlight: 2017-2018 Annual Award Winners

By ANDREA BUSCHMILLER

E

ach year at the Junior League of Cincinnati’s Annual Meeting in May, outstanding members of the League are honored for their achievements supporting the League and its mission of promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. This May, while event attendees enjoyed an evening of dinner and celebration, the following members were recognized for their contributions to the League and our community: Chelsea Manning won the distinguished Rising Star Award for 2018. This award is given to a JLC member with two or fewer years of Active membership status who has demonstrated extraordinary service and fulfillment of the JLC mission.

Chelsea served as RefugeeConnect Vice Chair and introduced RefugeeConnect’s mentorship program, which connected more than a dozen New American women with Junior League members over a six-month-long initiative. Chelsea inspired her mentors by developing meaningful training and arranged engaging sessions between mentors and mentees.

Danielle Bell was presented with the Shanon Marks New Member Award, which honors an outstanding New Member who has made noticeable contributions within a committee, project or fundraiser during her New Member year. Danielle sat on the Leadership Development committee for the Little Black Dress Initiative and took a very active role in the development of the initiative. Despite her busy schedule, Danielle always found to show up, participate, and engage in all of the JLC’s activities with enthusiasm and grace.

Kellie Kruger was honored as our Excellence in Training Award recipient for her outstanding dedication to the League as Chair of the CandO committee. Kellie was transformative in developing the “Practice It” component of our curriculum last year, organizing more than fifteen direct service volunteer opportunities and coordinating across several League committees to facilitate these events. She went above and beyond to ensure events were meaningful to those we serve while providing our members with relevant, hands-on experiences to practice empathic interviewing and learn directly from our community.

Kelly Barber and Aleicia Ennis received the Jeanne Boyce Morrison President’s Award, which recognizes distinguished achievement through volunteer service to the JLC on a committee, project or fundraiser. Kelly most recently served as Co-Chair of Leadership Development, and has also served on the Board of the Kennedy Heights Arts Center from 2014-2018. Aleicia has been on the Leadership and Development Committee for the past three years, and is a current member of the Cincinnati Zoo’s Ambassador Council. Previously, Aleicia has served as Secretary of Tri Delta Zeta’s House Corporation, Treasurer of the University of Cincinnati’s Greek Affairs Alumni Council, and Member of the UnCorked Committee.

Jen Schuster and Jamie Stinson were both awarded the Mary Harriman Founders Award. Over the past eighteen months, these Co-Chairs of the Program Development Committee have emulated Mary Harriman’s sense of urgency to move the needle in our community and have driven the success in our program development process. Jen and Jamie worked immensely behind the scenes, while also motivating their team, and successfully led our League to our next community program partnership, Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank.

JLC Past-President Priscilla Ungers was the recipient of the Cookie Nowland Award, which celebrates excellence, longevity, leadership, love of the Junior League and love of our greater community. Throughout her time with the League, Priscilla has been a humble and quiet but impactful presence within our organization and within the community at-large.

She has held several leadership positions within the League and excelled at each of them and she’s actively involved in the League to this day. Her five-year involvement with one of our most recent programs, RefugeeConnect, is again one filled with selflessness and dedication.

The Junior League of Cincinnati’s Community Impact Award is conferred upon a person, agency, or organization that has supported both the JLC and the wider community. Last year, we honored the Children’s Oral Health Network due to its extensive energies to improve access to dental care for children, as well as its tireless efforts to establish school-based dental clinics and to provide dental access to hundreds of children and local residents who would otherwise not be treated.

The Program Development Committee was the Transformational Team Award winner for 2018. Over the previous eighteen months, the Program Development Committee conducted a community needs assessment to help determine the four focus areas for the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the new JLC program, participated in a community-wide survey, compiled the RFP document, and then reviewed all forty-seven applications received. Members of this committee also helped coach semi-finalists with their final presentations. #JLCincy | 12

Checking in with Sweet Cheeks

By RAQUEL CANNON

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weet Cheeks Diaper Bank (SCDB) was launched by a group of passionate parents who all have ties to the Cincinnati area. The idea started in 2014 when Megan Fischer, CEO and founder of SCDB, was pregnant with her second child and learned that diapers are not covered by food stamps, WIC, or any other government assistance. She read stories about babies being left in the same diaper for days, disposable diapers being reused, and children getting infections from a lack of clean diapers. Megan tried to find a diaper bank in Cincinnati to volunteer with, but when nothing turned up, an idea took shape.

In the fall of 2015, Megan attended the Unpolished Conference for entrepreneurs at Crossroads Church in Oakley, and it proved to be the spark she needed to stop ignoring the call she felt to start a diaper bank. Just a few days after the conference, Megan had an amazing team of people in place ready to throw their support and talents into starting SCDB, and she has been working hard to create a thriving program for families in need ever since.

The first diapers went out the door in April of 2016, and since then SCDB has grown to distributing 75,000 diapers a month to almost 2,000 children in the Greater Cincinnati area. SCDB diapers have become an added incentive to the amazing programs of twenty-three social service agencies, and there are another thirty organizations on a waitlist who want to partner.

In February of 2017, Megan made the move to SCDB full time, and in April of 2018, the Junior League of Cincinnati announced its partnership with this amazing organization. The JLC will support SCDB for a period of three to five years and provide $75,000 in seed funding. Because of the JLC’s initial investment in June, SCDB was able to open up its waitlist and is preparing to activate six new agencies, including its

first partnership with a food pantry.

In addition to monetary support, the JLC is providing the support and expertise of its 800+ volunteer members to help support and accelerate SCDB in its mission and endeavors. The Program Acceleration Committee, consisting of more than twenty JLC members, was empaneled in June of 2018 to work directly with SCDB. The Committee’s goals are to accelerate SCDB by providing flexibility and support in all facets of the organization, to educate and train the JLC and the Greater Cincinnati community on diaper need and related issues, and to develop a meaningful and recognized partnership between the JLC and SCDB. In July of 2017, SCDB announced that it joined the Alliance for Period Supplies, a new national organization that helps ensure women have access to essential period products required to participate fully in daily life. This initiative will help restore health and dignity to girls and women in the Cincinnati community through distribution of period supplies - which, like diapers, are not covered by government assistance. Megan first became interested in joining this alliance when she learned that some girls miss a week of school every month because they lack period supplies. Since one in four women has trouble affording expensive period supplies, many of the same moms who require diapers for their babies from SCDB likely need period supplies as well. SCDB will assemble kits that will include liners, tampons or pads, hand sanitizer, flushable cleansing cloths, and educational information.

SCDB and the JLC have recently held multiple events to increase awareness and to help raise funds for this cause, with still more to come through this year and next!

UPCOMING EVENTS March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction

Thursday, November 8, 2018 Megan Fischer will be presented as the Community Honoree for her work in improving the health of babies. JLC members are invited to show their support by attending or volunteering at the auction.

Family Volunteer Day

Saturday, January 26, 2019 This year’s Family Volunteer Day will be held at the St. Anthony Center, SCDB’s home base, where members and their families will be wrapping diapers during SCDB’s greatest month of need.

Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank Spring Gala

Saturday, April 13, 2019 SCDB’s premier fundraising event, the gala is a night of dinner, drinks, and dancing at The Newport Aquarium, all in the name of clean diapers, to celebrate an impactful first year of the JLC’s partnership with SCDB.

Diaper Wrapping Events

Ongoing Please consult the JLC Calendar to learn of diaper wrapping events hosted throughout this year and 2019. You can also schedule a private diaper wrapping event for groups of friends and colleagues!

Interested in scheduling a diaper wrapping event? Want to learn more about how you can get involved in this exciting program partnership?

Contact Kacey Vaught (Program Director) and Brittany Gruber (Assistant Program Director) of the Program Acceleration Committee at programs@jlcincinnati.org. #JLCincy | 13

Member Milestones Charlotte Eichman & Katie Fisher YWCA Rising Star Award In October, Charlotte Eichman and Katie Fisher were each awarded the YWCA Rising Star Award. The Rising Star Award is awarded in recognition of leadership qualities and potential to attain career achievement.

Maggie Bieger

Lucy Broderick

Andrea Buschmiller

Raquel Cannon

Maggie Bieger was promoted on October 5, 2018 to Project Manager at Barefoot Proximity, a creative agency downtown.

Maggie leads work for client Procter & Gamble.

Lucy Broderick and her husband, Kyle Broderick, welcomed a baby girl on August 9, 2018. Welcome to the world, Cameron Rose!

Andrea Buschmiller was promoted to Senior Recruiter at Paycor! Andrea recruits for the High Velocity Sales Team in the Norwood, Ohio office.

Raquel Cannon, originally from Brazil, became an American citizen on June 22, 2018 in a ceremony at the federal courthouse in downtown Cincinnati. She and her husband, Danny, were super excited with this important milestone.

Katie Hayden Gamber

Laura Hicks Fischer

Ellie Kelly

Katie Hayden Gamber and Cory Gamber tied the knot on June 9, 2018 in a lovely summer evening ceremony followed by an elegant private reception at Greenacres Arts Center.

Laura Hicks married Jay Fischer on September 8, 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Ellie Kelly is currently ranked in the Top 10 nationally in her role as an Attorney Recruiter with Parker + Lynch Legal. In June, she was promoted to coach new Attorney Recruiters locally and in other offices. In August, she exceeded her 2018 yearly sales goal.

Submit Your Milestone We love to celebrate you! Share your promotions, retirements, awards & nominations, new babies, engagements, weddings, and other milestones!

Submit your milestone by logging into the JLC member site online at members.jlcincinnati.org. #JLCincy | 14

The Junior League of Cincinnati’s Endowment Fund

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donation to the Endowment Fund is a donation to the Junior League of Cincinnati and its future. The Endowment Fund was created in the 1990s as a venue for donations to be invested in order to provide additional income for the League’s future investments and expenditures. A distinguished Board of Trustees and four Ex-Officio members, who currently serve in leadership roles in the League, expertly manage the fund. Since 2005, the Endowment Fund has distributed nearly $500,000 to the League for additional support and projects. Most recently, the Endowment Fund provided approximately $22,500 as a special distribution to fund a feasibility study conducted as a part of the Centennial Fundraising Campaign.

Thank you, D onors, for your C ontributions in 2 0 18!

As of July 24, 2018, the League has received donations from the following generous Donors: Judy Adams Julie Albright Susan Anthony James and Eleanor Berghausen Julie Bodnar Mary Anne Brennan Donna Brogdon Alison Bushman Vicki Marsala Calonge Cathryn Carmichael Sheila Cole Elizabeth Colohan Meredith Comin Lee Crooks Patricia Culp

Judy Dalambakis Lynnette Dawe Christine Diskon Carole Donnellon Saralou Durham Nancy Gottschalk JoLyn Gustin Elizabeth Hammelrath Carrie Hayden Christina Hilkert Barbara Homlar Darlene Kamine Alice Kelly Frederick Koehler Virginia Kordons

Joan Krieg Susie Labenthal Kenneth Laubenthal M. Drue Lehmann Deborah Livingston Kelly Lyle Peggy Mathile Marjorie Motch Joyce Mueller Shelley Poffenberger Karen Post Margaret Richards Lara Roller Cynthia Roy Susan Shelton

Janet Simpkinson Reba St. Clair Martha Steier Christine Stubbins Ann Thomas Sallay Thomson Priscilla Ungers J.J. Wales Saundra Walker Natalie Weis George Wesnor Susan Westerling

Summit ad #2

#JLCincy | 15