STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Chairman: Soror Danielle Hogan

Welcome Home!

To Our Newest Sorors

Soror Kirston Hardley

Soror Kirston J. Hardley currently resides in Alexandria, VA. She was initiated in 2000 into the Beta Gamma Chapter, at the University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL. She was previously a member of Zeta Chi Omega Chapter. Soror Kirston enjoys creating custom sorority memorabilia, event decorating, and being a hostess. She is currently employed by the Federal Government. She is involved with the “Blacks in Government” and is certified in Diversity and Inclusion Dialogue. She was awarded the 2018 Department of Homeland Security Secretary’s Award.

Soror Vernita Pryor-Holifield

Soror Vernita was invited to join our Chapter by Soror Naomi Fauntleroy. She was initiated in 1974 into the Alpha Eta Chapter at Virginia Union University. She is originally from Washington, DC and currently resides in Ft. Washington, MD. Soror Vernita has been married 26 years to Honey-Do, John. She has one son (Brian Pryor), and four grandkids. Soror Vernita is retired from the Federal Government and United States Army. She is currently the Trustee at New Canaan Baptist Church, Washington, DC. She enjoys reading, event planning, and jigsaw puzzles.

Soror Cherice Teal

Soror Cherice was initiated in Spring 1995 into the Alpha Chi Chapter at North Carolina Central University and is a Silver Star jewel! She currently resides in Largo, MD and is originally from Laurinburg, North Carolina. Soror Cherice is a Senior Division Philanthropy Officer at the American Red Cross National Headquarters. She is a member of New Life Church in Laurel, MD, and she volunteers as a mentor with the BEST Kids nonprofit organization. Soror Cherice is a Title Insurance Producer Independent Contractor and business owner. She enjoys playing tennis, learning new vegan recipes, and challenging herself with her newest passion - Hip Hop Step Aerobics.

Soror Shiresse Morgan Brewington

Soror Shiresse resides in Upper Marlboro, MD and is from Richmond, VA. She was encouraged to join Zeta Chi Omega by Soror Ade’Leaka Gore. Soror Shiresse was initiated into Alpha Chi Chapter at North Carolina Central University, in Durham, NC. Soror Shiresse is a licensed Clinical Social Worker and a member of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Soror Shiresse is a very active person and works out daily. Soror Shiresse was also the first African American cheerleader selected to become a member of the Washington Capitals Red Rockers!

Soror Donna Cole

Soror Donna was initiated in Zeta Chi Omega Chapter in 1991. She was asked to rejoin the Chapter by Soror Carolyn Rowe. She currently resides in Upper Marlboro, MD and is originally from Clermont, FL. She is a Silver Star jewel! Soror Donna works for CIBC National Trust Company and is a member of Metropolitan Baptist Church. Soror Donna enjoys traveling and reading.

Soror Evelyn Lowery

Soror Evelyn resides in Dumfries, VA and is originally from Hyattsville, MD. She recently relocated back to the United States from Germany and was invited by Soror Domonique to attend a virtual Chapter meeting. Soror Evelyn was initiated in 2013 into Eta Pi Omega Chapter, in El Paso, TX. Soror Evelyn is married with 3 children. She works for the Federal Government and is a member of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden. Soror Evelyn enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, mentoring and spending time with family.

SISTERLY RELATIONS COMMITTEE

Chairman: Soror Tamika McPherson Co-Chairmen: Soror Aisha Jefferson and Soror Tamebra Treadwell

Chairman: Soror Hazel Cameron Co-Chairman: Soror Vanessa Jackson

Greetings sorors,

Happy Spring! The Standards Committee would like to provide you with the status of several ongoing efforts under its purview.

Standards Committee Evaluation Process for 2021

The Standards Committee Evaluation Team (SCET) has updated the program and evaluation activities process for virtual events, as follows: 1. SCET and committee chairman identify upcoming activity. (Committee chairman should communicate to SCET via evaluation@aka-zco.org and copy standards@aka-zco.org) 2. SCET provides survey link to committee chairman five (5) days prior to event. 3. Committee chairman tests survey link and sends an email to SCET if there is an issue; SCET will resolve issue and provide an updated survey link. 4. Committee chairman should announce at the beginning and at the end of the event that the survey link is in the chat window. Committee chairman and/or Technology Committee will provide total number of participants to SCET. 5. SCET compiles survey responses and sends results to committee chairman, Basileus and Standards Committee Chairman ten (10) days post event. 6. Committee chairman should share results with committee members and determine if any changes are needed to improve future events. 7. Standards Committee presents survey summary results quarterly to Chapter members. If you have any questions, regarding the program and evaluation activities process, please contact Sorors Danyale Wilson and Jo Ann Hall at: evaluation@aka-zco.org.

Standards Committee Evaluation Process

����How does the evaluation process work for virtual events?

1

• Standards Committee Evaluation Team (SCET) and Committee Chairman identify upcoming activity. • Committee Chairman should communicate to SCET via evaluations@aka-zco.org and copy standards@aka-zco.org.

2

SCET provides survey link to Committee Chairman 5 days prior to event.

3

Committee Chairman tests survey link and sends an email to SCET if there is an issue; SCET resolves issue and provides an updated survey link.

4

Committee Chairman should announce at the beginning and at the end of the event that the survey link is in the chat window. Committee Chairman/Technology provides total number of participants to SCET.

5

SCET compiles survey responses and sends results to Committee Chairman, Basileus and Standards Committee Chairman 10 days post event.

6

Committee Chairman should share results with committee members & determine if any changes are needed to improve future events.

7

Standards Committee presents survey summary results quarterly to chapter members.

Committee Meeting Minutes

There is a need to identify sorors who are actively participating in the work of Zeta Chi Omega Chapter. One way of doing this is with the meeting minutes that list the names of attendees. Until now, there has been no centralized place for the minutes. Going forward, committee chairmen should note that all meeting minutes be forward to the link below: ChapterCommitteeMeetingMinutes2021 - Google Drive https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17YanrgodXFM3pDEEI4cjSuSoSDXcO3Pg?usp=sharing

2021 Zeta Chi Omega Retreat

Please make sure that you have scheduled the 2021 ZCO Virtual Retreat on your calendar, which will be held August 6th and 7th. Sorors M. Lisa Pinkney and Doretta Davis are working with a stellar committee to ensure that the retreat will meet your expectation. Stay tuned!

Chairman: Soror Ocie Jacobs Pejcic Co-Chairman: Soror Candice Fields

Newsletter Committee Meeting

Happy April sorors!

THANK YOU so much for doing all you can to meet the Ivyette submission deadline each month! Your attention to the deadline has helped us streamline the process and provide a more complete newsletter to the Chapter.

The Newsletter Committee is happy to continue providing tips to help you produce the best articles you can for the Ivyette. Please continue reading for this month’s tips! All tips were copied/pasted from the official AKA Style Manual: A Quick Reference For Sorority Publications. If you would like a copy of the style manual, please email newsletter@aka-zco.org.

Dates and Time:

l Use commas to set off the year in the month-day-year style of dates {January 15, 2008, at Howard} l Use no commas in the month-year style {January 1908 at Howard}. l Express years in numerals unless they start at the beginning of a sentence {AKA was founded in 1908}. l Spell out times of day in even, half, and quarter hours. Always spell out the number when used with o’clock. {The session began at five o’clock this morning, but it was a quarter of four before it recessed}. l Use numerals (with zeros for even hours) to emphasize exact times. Use lowercase a.m. (ante meridiem) and p.m. (post meridiem), though these sometimes appear in small capitals, with or without periods. {The first plane leaves at 5:22 a.m. and the last at 11:00 p.m.}

Quotations

l Use double quotation marks to enclose quoted words, phrases, and sentences in surrounding text. l Use single quotation marks to enclose quotations within quotations. l Use a comma preceding the quotation to identify the speaker {Smith countered, “Those facts do not apply to this case.”} l Use block quotations for quotes that contain 100 words or more. l Start a new line l Use no quotation marks l Distinguish quotes from the surrounding text with indentations or with a different font. l Use block quotations for quoted material with more than one paragraph (even if the word count is less than 100).

Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:30 pm via Zoom. Click here to join the meeting!

(301) 715-8592 Meeting ID: 846 1239 7599 l Passcode: 157462

Chairman: Soror Carolyn Rowe Co-Chairman: Soror Hazel Edwards

Zeta Chi Omega History Maker and Ivy Beyond the Wall, Soror Naomi Brooks

Soror Naomi Lewis Brooks was born on April 14, 1934, the oldest of five children of James and Eunice Quander Lewis. She attended Alexandria Public Schools, graduating from Parker Gray High School. While at Parker Gray, she played forward on the girls’ basketball team and earned the school record for most points scored in a season and the most points scored in a single game. That record stood until the school closed in 1965. After high school, she went to Virginia State College, now Virginia State University, becoming the first in her family to graduate from college. In 1955, she married her college sweetheart and fellow Alexandrian, Leo Brooks, then a second lieutenant in the Army. Thus, began her life as a military wife, which included moving often and holding a variety of different jobs. She was primarily a teacher, teaching at Charles Houston Elementary before her marriage and at Cora Kelly and Lynbrook Elementary Schools during one of their tours in the Washington Metro Area as a military wife. In between those jobs, she taught a General Education Development course for soldiers at the Army Education Center in Alaska and worked as a remedial reading clinician at Central State College in Ohio. While Leo was stationed in California, Soror Naomi served on the allocations committee of the Greater Sacramento United Way, served on the Board of Directors for the Sacramento Chapter of the American Red Cross and as its Director of Volunteer Training, and as a Director of the Sacramento Area Blood Bank.

As her husband moved up through the world 28 times yet Soror Naomi oversaw Officers’ Wives Clubs, was coordinator, chapel and church superintendent, president of the African American president), and women's golf leagues where she was of one of them. During all of this, she ly complete her Masters’ Degree which and finally finished back at Virginia Philadelphia, Soror Naomi served as Execresidence for 75 young adult women from to study or begin work experience,

the ranks and they moved around stayed active in the community. She a Cub Scout den mother, Girl Scout choir singer, vacation Bible school Springfield Acres Garden Club (its first was a member of two Fairfax County the first African American president somehow found the time to successfulshe started at Morgan State University

State University. During their last tour in utive Director of Coles House, which was a around the world who were in Philadelphia

In December 2019, she received the Dean’s Cross. The Virginia Theological Seminary bestows this honor on an individual in recognition of “…outstanding leaders who embody their baptismal vows to strive for justice and peace among all people…” She is among a group of distinguished past recipients that includes The Honorable Madeleine Albright and Barbara Bush

Soror Naomi and Leo were blessed with three children, two boys and a girl. Their daughter, Marquita is an attorney in Washington, DC. Their sons, who went into the military like their father and their ancestors before them, also became generals, making the Brooks family the first African American family with three generals. Leo, Sr. and Leo, Jr. retired as Brigadier Generals; Vincent retired as a four-star general. Soror Naomi joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® while a student at Virginia State College. Along with all her other activities, she made time to join chapters in the places where they were stationed over the years. She joined Zeta Chi Omega when she returned to the Northern Virginia Area after General Brooks retired. She sang with the choir and served on several committees over the years. She had attained the status of Pearl Soror at the time she became an Ivy Beyond the Wall on May 21, 2020.

The community where she grew up voted overwhelmingly to name a school in her honor in 2021. The former Maury Elementary School in Alexandria will be renamed Naomi Lewis Brooks Elementary School, a tribute to the extraordinary life of this remarkable woman.

Soror Gloria Bell

The 2021 ZCO Directory Now Available!

The 2021 Zeta Chi Omega Chapter Directory has been updated and is located on the Chapter’s website. To access the directory, log into Members Only and select the “Chapter Directory and Soror Search” tab. From here, you can view and download the directory to your devices.

Sorors, please note that this is where other sorors look to find your email address, phone number, mailing address, and birthday. Please take a few minutes to visit the website and make the necessary updates.

This year we’ve added a page to describe our “Adopted” shelters, Senior Residence Facilities, and Centers (page 56). On page 57, there’s a list of partners that strengthen our presence in the community through collaborative partnerships.