April NOTES

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF

SYRACUSE April 2017

IN THIS ISSUE: Comm •Corks, Forks, Brews & Chews Event •Council Updates •Liberty Learning Exchange •New Member Class •Past President’s Luncheon

MARK YOUR CALENDARS Check the members’ website for registration and event details.

April 5 : Collaboration with Huntington Family Center

• 5-7 pm • Huntington Family Center • Make shamrock cookies from scratch

April 11 : Community Project

• 5-6 pm (prior to GMM) • JLS Office • Assemble bags for STEM and first aid kits

April 11 : April GMM

• 6 pm: Social | 6:30 pm: Meeting • JLS Office

April 23-28: National Volunteer Week

• April 23 | First Aid Program • April 24 | #JLSMyMonday • April 28 | STEM • April 29 | Little White House of Hope

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Issue 8

LIBERTY LEARNING EXCHANGE Junior League of Philadelphia Liberty Learning Exchange on March 20, 2017 attended by Jackie Azbill, President Elect and Marie Norkett, Treasurer (2016-2017) Jackie and I jumped in the car on Friday and headed down the highway in great anticipation for this event. The Junior League of Philadelphia was a wonderful host and the feeling of community was evident from start to finish. On Saturday, I attended the Fundraising and Fund Development sessions and Jackie attended the Community and Membership sessions. The speakers all were very knowledgeable, experienced and inspiring. We shared with event leaders, speakers and fellow League members from all around the Northeast. Some great ideas and proven successes that were discussed have motivated us even more to help the Junior League of Syracuse rise to the level and potential of the women who are engaged in all that we do. The materials and ideas that were presented will provide guidance for our League to model in a way that can bring additional benefit to our current practices with regard to developing the potential for women leaders and serving our community for the greater good.

We look forward to sharing these experiences with our members over the next few months, and throughout the next several League years! As always, we come back from great events like this pumped up with excitement for how and what we can improve on and what we can achieve when we all work together to serve our League’s mission. We encourage everyone to search for deeper connections to the Junior League of Syracuse and allow yourselves to take on roles that maybe you thought were above or beyond your reach! When there is great effort, there is great reward.

Marie Norkett

Please see page 7 for Jackie Azbill’s report from her sessions.

The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. | The NOTES | April 2017 | 1

COMMUNITY During the last couple months, the Community Collaborations Committee has spent many hours planning our “National Volunteer Week.” While we are very excited for many great and impactful activities from April 23rd to April 29th, we can’t forget about how well our February collaboration went.

Community hosted a Valentine’s Tea Party, in collaboration with My Sisters Closet on February 15th. Twenty five women came to the CNY Philanthropy ballroom to “shop” from the clothes that were donated, enjoy a light dinner and tea with dessert and to hear Gwen Weber-Mcleod speak. Gwen spoke of a poem titled “Ready to Unfold” by Dr. Mona Lake Jones. Since the poem seemed to connect with so many in that room, we’d like to pass it along, with the hope it touches you as well.

READY TO UNFOLD Dr. Mona Lake Jones Stand back and watch me, because I’m empowered, and I’m just getting ready to unfold I’ve decided to let my spirit go free and I’m ready to become the woman I was meant to be You see, I’ve either been somebody’s daughter, somebody’s mother, or somebody’s wife But now it’s time for me to take charge of my life.

I’ve been pondering all this time, trying to decide just who I am At first I find it dependent on whether or not I had a man And then I thought, that simply just because, others had more seniority they could decide who I was I played all the roles that were expected, I seldom asked why I’ve had my wings closed up, but now I’m empowered and ready to fly I’m about to make some changes now and set a few things right And with my new attitude, and my knowledge I posses, I might create a whole new world order and clean up all of this mess I’m empowered, stand back and watch me because I’m just getting ready to unfold

Please keep an eye on Seeing Spot for the opportunities coming this month!

Racehl Ford and Courtney Bintz 2 | The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. | The NOTES | April 2017

National Volunteer Week!

“National Volunteer Week is an annual celebration observed in the United States and in Canada in mid to late April, to promote and show appreciation for volunteerism in the two countries. In the United States it is organized by the Points of Light foundation.

Service Unites, the theme for National Volunteer Week, captures the power of change-makers to come together to build stronger, more vibrant communities through service.”-pointsoflight.org Between April 23rd and 28th, we will be celebrating National Volunteer Week with a variety of community impacting experiences. With the volunteer activities that we currently have, community collaborations hopes to reach at least 400 people over the course of just six days! We ask that everyone try and come volunteer for at least two hours over the course of the week. See below for a few opportunities and be sure to check out Seeing Spot and the website for all of the great collaborations.

First Aid Program for Congolese Refugees Sunday, April 23 | 10 am-12 pm All Saints Parish Center 1342 Lancaster Ave Syracuse Members will assist in training the Congolese community on first aid

#JLSMyMonday Monday, April 24 10 am- 8 pm Members are encouraged to do something on their own to impact the community. Take pictures and post on social media and tag with #JLSyracuse and #JLSMyMonday and we will share at the May GMM.

May 17, 2017

12:30pm-2:30pm

Where:

Strada Mia

313 N Geddes St. Syracuse, NY

SYRACUSE

When:

Don’t forget our second S annual Corks, Forks, NEW Brews and Chews event is coming up. Tickets KNOW will be available for purchase starting April 1st as well as at the door the evening of the event. The committee is still looking for wine bottle donations for the wine pull. Please feel free to bring any donations to the April GMM.

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF

Past President’s Luncheon

Please join us for The Junior League of Syracuse 2nd Annual

Corks, Forks, Brews and Chews Event OneGroup Center 706 N. Clinton St. Syracuse, NY

$20/person

(includes Food and 1 drink)

Wine Pull $10 Raffle tickets $20 cash bar

TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT JLSYRACUSE.ORG OR AT THE DOOR

Call 315-634-1100

Making the best of the time that’s left

www.hospicecny.org

Symptom Management, Pain Management, Emotional, Social & Spiritual Health Management Now Serving Onondaga, Madison & Oswego counties

CONGRATULATIONS! Do you know of a league member who is

Know of a? league member celebrating Please send to NOTES edit celebrating an event? Please send details to NOTES editor Heather Wallace at heatherfordwallace@gmail.com The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. | The NOTES | April 2017 | 3

e m o c l e W

NEW MEMBER CLASS

Ashley Ross just moved to Syracuse from Denver this past summer. She works at a local accounting firm, but is interested in finding more ways to be involved in the community and learn more about Syracuse/Central New York. Ashley loves being outdoors, hiking, camping, water activities as well as going to concerts, skiing, reading, happy hours and finding time to do something more creative. She is hoping to meet new people as well as put more time into giving back.

Liz Goldschein is originally from Long Island and moved to Syracuse in 2012 after completing her undergraduate degree in Springfield, MA. Liz came to Syracuse to complete her masters in Higher Education Administration at Syracuse University. During that time, she worked in residence life at Onondaga Community College. After graduating, she decided to stay in the area and continue working at OCC. In her spare time, Liz enjoys cooking/baking and traveling to see her family and friends.

Julie Palmer is a native of the Syracuse are but only recently moved back to the area. After working at many different higher education institutions, she’s enjoying her job at Colgate where the liberal arts combine with division one athletics. In her free time, she’s enjoying knitting, sewing and reading. She does not have any children but does have a very energetic Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a black rescue kitty. She joined the Junior League because she feels strongly that we need to give back to the community in whatever way that we are able and the Junior League provides a variety of ways to do so. It is also a great place to get to know other ladies through these opportunities.

Whitney Browne is a Rochester, NY native and graduate of St. Lawrence University and the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester. She was a member of the Junior League of Syracuse from 2012 to 2015 when she relocated to Adelaide, Australia.

Whitney and her husband Rick moved back to the Syracuse area in the fall of 2016 and welcomed their first daughter, Henley, in November. Whitney resides in Manlius, is a CPA, has experience in working in finance at a large defense contractor and performing financial statement audits at a big four public accounting firm. Today Whitney is a full-time mom.

In her spare time, she enjoys alpine skiing, sailing, reading, baking, going to concerts and loves a good sale. She is excited to jump back into the Junior League!

Amy Patton is interested in joining the league because she is seeking volunteer opportunities that are meaningful and impactful in our community. In addition, she is truly enjoying getting to know the many intelligent and ambitious women who are part of the organization.

She holds a bachelor degree in accounting from Clarkson University and an MBA from Syracuse University. She has professional experience in financial management, IT project management and human resource management. For the last few years, however, she has been home with her 11-year-old son who is in 5th grade. She looks forward to learning more about the Junior League and discovering additional opportunities to contribute to the organization and the local community.

4 | The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. | The NOTES | April 2017

Courtney Jones is from Liverpool, NY and works in the Office of Student Activities at Syracuse University. She enjoys her work focusing on working with student organizations and late night programs at SU. She heard about the Junior League from a friend who joined the league in Albany and raved about her experience. She decided to check it out and she found that she really liked the idea of joining a group of women who were motivated and wanted to make a difference. She appreciates the potential networking, and especially friendship opportunities, in this organization and is so excited to get more involved!

Jennifer Rubin is a proud graduate of Syracuse University, where she obtained her master’s degree in Information Studies and, more importantly, met her husband, Jeff. She has been involved in various volunteer activities within the community in recent years: serving as Jowonio school board member to help determine the strategic vision and co-chair the school’s annual Friends and Flowers fundraising event; member of the gala planning committee for the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation, and serving as President of the Enders Road HAS. She believes in “paying it forward” and loves encouraging a philanthropic spirit in her children. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys spending time with Jeff, their sons (Nathan and Benjamin), and their dogs (Rosie and Lexi).

Stephanie Deguzma is a recent graduate of North Carolina State University who moved to Watertown, NY in May 2016. She has a passion for fitness and wellness, and currently works as Health Promotion Technician. She enjoys spending her time exploring the North Country, hiking, playing piano, and playing with her puppy. Despite the distance, she wanted to join Junior League to meet more women, gain leadership experience in the “real world,” and volunteer in her new community.

Tiffany-Latino Gerlock is the Communications Director for State Senator John DeFrancisco.

Previously, she was a news reporter in the Syracuse area for several years, as well as other places in New York. She graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in broadcast journalism. She grew up in the area and recently got married. She is currently living in Liverpool, New York. She has been involved in several community groups and was a board member for some not-for-profit organizations, such as the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center. She was interested in joining the Junior League of Syracuse because of its great reputation of community involvement and mission of helping others, plus networking.

Linzy Frank attended the University of Washington where she met her husband. They relocated from WA to FL to Tully with their two dogs Joey and Penelope. For the last five years, she has been in the insurance industry. She loves it as every day she has an opportunity to help people protect their families. She joined the Junior League to become better connected to the community and to meet like-minded people.

Yolanda Mitchell is a native of Buffalo, NY. She came to Central New York as a student at the LC Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University.

Yolanda is currently employed by the Exelon Corporation. She is the Site Risk Management Engineer (SRME) for Unit 1 at Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant. She currently resides in Central New York with her husband and four children.

The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. | The NOTES | April 2017 | 5

COMMUNICATIONS SUSTAINER NEWS Individual social media networks may come and go- do any members remember Friendster or MySpace?-but it’s hard to argue that social media as a communications tool has become a daily activity in the lives of many Americans.

According to the Pew Research Center’s Social Media Update 2016 – an annual survey of online Americans – 79% of those surveyed have Facebook accounts and 32% use Instagram, and over half of these platforms’ users visit these sites daily.

To meet consituents where they are, social media is often a key component of communications strategies of In this fall’s JLS active organizations including member survey, 20% the Junior League of Syracuse.

The JLS of members reported employs several tools social media as their to keep members of our League and the preferred source of community informed news and information. about and engaged with our organization: The Junior League of Syracuse has two channels on Facebook. The public page at facebook.com/ JLSyracuse (The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc.) is used to share information with members, sponsors, and community partners about our community, membership, and fund development activities. Separately, the JLS closed group at bit.ly/jls-fb-group (Junior League of Syracuse) allows members to discuss activities in a members-only environment.

The Junior League of Syracuse can also be found on Instagram at @JuniorLeagueSyr, where photos highlighting the League’s initiatives and members are featured.

The JLS has other social media platforms, too, including Twitter and more – visit our website at jlsyracuse.org/ get-social for links.

If you already follow the JLS on our social channels, thank you! If you have not yet used one or more of these tools but are online, check us out on our public Facebook page, members’ only Facebook group, and Instagram account to stay connected to the League.

Jessica Murray

Want to advertise in the NOTES or know a business who would? Contact NOTES Editor Heather Wallace for information: heatherfordwallace@gmail.com

6 | The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. | The NOTES | April 2017

Thanks to Wendy Carl Isome and Jeanne Jackson for arranging and hosting our February R&R at Riley’s in Syracuse. Despite the number of Sustainers who had headed off to warmer climates for a winter break, 10 Sustainers enjoyed a fun evening of drinks, tasty appetizers and good conversation.

Committees are reviewing nominations for the Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award and Sustainer of the Year Award. Watch your May NOTES for the announcement of this year’s Mary Harriman Award honoree. Please plan to join us at the JLS Annual Dinner in June to congratulate both award recipients in person.

Linda Dombrow

LIBERTY LEARNING EXCHANGE

BY JACKIE AZBILL

As I started out on my Membership/Community impact journey at the JLS Regional Training, we immediately dove into a session creating successful community impact. AJLI’s Janine le Sueur was our keynote speaker and she broke down redefining community focus for Leagues that either don’t have one or have too broad of one. She stressed not reinventing the wheel; if Leagues can do quick research, from the comfort of their own homes, in about one month they should be able to see where the needs of their community lie. I have actually already done this research for a class I have recently taken. Onondaga County, in conjunction with area hospitals and nonprofits have done the work for us. The key is to see what holes are left unfilled by other area nonprofits and where we can make a measurable impact. It appears we have events that we can expand on and community partners we can collaborate with in the future. Membership needs to be involved with this decision but it was stressed that we can’t just give membership broad subjects such as poverty or children, that the area again, needs to be better defined.

My next breakout session dealt with connection and participation, meeting our members where they are. As we all know, women are only getting busier and busier, we lose members because of all the requirements that our Leagues put on them. The new membership model, opt in, is a member centric concept. As we know, everyone joins League for different reasons, it is our duty to try to meet those needs. Some people have joined for the community involvement, as evidenced by the same people coming out for our community events. Some join for the social aspect of our organization, others for training and others for networking. We are multifaceted and we need to be able to change with our members. Membership opt in gives members options of how they wish to connect with the League. There are no requirements for GMMs and actually they limit the number of GMMs per year. These are offset by other events like social, training, networking and community events. The only requirement that remains in place is the necessary support of the League fundraisers for organizations such as ours that depend on the funds raised we have to sustain the league. I’m super excited about this!!

The next session involved building an action plan to keep us strategic and providing us with a time line to effectively transition with leadership. It also gives us a timeline for proper training of leadership and members to be the leaders of our community. The strategy also works on recruitment/retention, community engagement in measurable impacts and the financial engagement of our League.

I was really excited to go to the training and rejuvenated afterwards. Hoping membership can embrace these concepts as much as I do. They can completely revolutionize our membership and truly meet the needs of our members without everyone counting the number of League things they need to be at that week. In the wise words of Vicki Clark, members should be excited to go to a meeting; as opposed to saying, oh, I “have” to go to a meeting tonight...

MEMBERSHIP Sectionals was a fantastic time this year. We had over 15 members participate in yoga for wellness on Feb, 4. Our family craft party on Feb, 13 was a blast. Our members and JL mini members (children) helped to make Valentine’s Day cards and decorations, while organizing clothing for the Tea Party on Feb, 15. Paint night was a huge success on Feb, 24. Members painted a JLS inspired painting and enjoyed networking while they gabbed about their artwork. Finally, our members learned more about their ‘True Colors’ of leadership with their assessment and training on Feb, 28. Each member was equipped with a leadership booklet and session to help understand what their color meant about their leadership style and techniques for leading.

We are looking forward to our future GMMs and have some informative and fun activities planned!

Lindsey Gardner

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The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. | The NOTES | April 2017 | 7

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF

SYRACUSE 431 E Fayette Street, Suite 225 Syracuse, NY 13202 Office: 315.423.9773 Fax: 315.471.1464

office@jlsyracuse.org

www.jlsyracuse.org MISSION

The Junior League of Syracuse is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and to improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.

VISION

The Junior League of Syracuse will be an organization of diverse women committed to enriching the quality of life for women, children and their families in the Central New York Community.

Get Social With Us! Find The Junior League of Syracuse online.

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF

SYRACUSE

Visit www.jlsyracuse.org for direct links.