From the Archives & Sustainer Spotlight

By CASEY BINDER

As the anticipated onset of 2021 arrived with a long sigh of relief, we’ve all spent the last few months reflecting on how this year will be different, better. Take a moment and consider your life as it is today. What is something you’re doing now that you’d like to continue a year from now? How about forty years from now? Dionn Tron, President’s Advisor, has had an amazing tenure with the Junior League that spans forty years of commitment and leadership.

Upon speaking with Tron about her experience, it’s evident that her passion for the Junior League and her community is as strong today as ever before. She got her start in the Junior League of Cincinnati in 1981 and immediately immersed herself in opportunities. Tron, a marketing and strategic communications expert, began a career at Procter & Gamble while juggling her League involvement. In the early years, one of her favorite experiences was volunteering alongside Jeanne Morrison to support the group Kids Helping Kids. Tron remembers this experience as a rewarding one as she was able to witness kids helping other kids overcome addiction.

Tron held numerous positions during her time in Cincinnati, working on multiple projects and chairing committees until she left in 1989 to follow her career to South Bend, Indiana. She joined the Junior League of South Bend and jumped right in. Alongside volunteers from the University of Notre Dame, she participated in a project to open a homeless shelter at the University with the unique mission of providing shelter to entire families.

From there, Tron’s career took her to various places from New Jersey to Connecticut where she was able to leverage her Junior League membership to foster connections in all the new places she went, all while holding multiple leadership roles focused on marketing and strategy—her bread and butter.

Tron made her way back to Cincinnati after taking a position with Miami University to oversee their marketing strategy. Once a Sustainer for the JLC, she realized Sustainers had a lot of value to add to the League but needed a direct way to contribute. With the prompting of former Sustainer Council Chair Saralou Durham. Dionn’s term as VP ended on May 31, 2020. Effective June 1, 2020 she is the President’s Advisor and sits on the Board of Directors with this role.

Out of the many commitments Tron has made to the League, she considers this her most valuable. The Sustainer Council is now a part of the Executive Management Team (EMT), and mentors other League leaders through the wisdom they’ve gleaned over the years. But Tron isn’t stopping there. She hopes to be elected to the Nominating Committee where she’ll have the opportunity to ensure the best leaders are in place across the League.

While Tron’s League experience is a strong statement, her passion is even bolder. Throughout life changes and periods of unknown, she’s always found the League to serve as a certain kind of home.

Sustainer Dionn Tron and other JLC Members at a past holiday party.