JLC Adopts New Mission Statement

By: Cindy Liang

The Junior League of Cincinnati is pleased to announce our newly defined mission statement, as proposed by the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI): The Junior League of Cincinnati is an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer, collaboration, and training. Our newly defined values are Service, Women’s Empowerment and Meaningful Connection

The value of Service represents the work we do in the community, including the impact we have on individuals and families through our volunteer and philanthropic efforts. Women’s empowerment represents the support and development we provide to our members to empower them to be leaders in their community. Meaningful connections means an intention to build connections and relationships across memberships and within our community.

The mission and values guide us in everything we do for the League and the Cincinnati community. Members join the JLC because their personal values align with the League’s mission and value statements, empowering and connecting them to each other and the community. JLC leadership, including the Board, Executive Management Team (EMT), and Managing Director, understand the importance of clearly defined values and met in the fall to engage in courageous conversations to explore what the membership means to our members. They discussed questions about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and how the newly defined values can play out in our League work.

Ashley Rouster, Managing Director of the JLC, led the new value exercises. She said, “ for me personally, this was a very empowering exercise that I was honored to guide us through. Understanding our collective values both allows us to better connect our personal “why” to the larger “why” of the Leagues, and helps to more clearly share our story with the community.”

As a League, we are all proud of the work we do in the community and the connections we build through collaborations. The newly defined mission statement and values provide clear direction for our work, and a deeper understanding of the “why” behind our actions. We invite our community to join us in our efforts to empower women to serve their communities through meaningful connections.