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The Junior League Strategic Roadmap for the Future Wins Enthusiastic Support at 2009 Fall Leadership Conference
What should the Junior League be in the business of doing?
Is the concept of life-long membership realistic and meaningful in the 21st century?
These were two of the five strategic questions 380 delegates representing some 215 Leagues traveled to Denver in late October to ponder. The occasion was the AJLI Fall Leadership Conference and it was marked by the unveiling of the Strategic Roadmap for the Future.
Following an opening reception hosted by the Junior League of Denver, whose 90th anniversary coincided with the conference, AJLI President Debbie Brown Robinson and AJLI Executive Director Susan Danish kicked off the Opening Plenary and introduced Heather McLeod Grant and Divya Mani of the Monitor Institute, who provided a detailed overview of the strategic planning process and led an in-depth discussion about The Junior League’s long-term strategy. In collaboration with the 17-member Steering Committee, and after many conversations with League leaders over several months, Monitor developed five fundamental questions that would be addressed by the Roadmap:
1. What is the focus of The Junior League’s 3-part Mission?
2. How does our new Vision of “women around the world” connect to our Mission?
3. Is the concept of “lifelong membership” realistic and meaningful as currently practiced?
4. What is the best governance and management model for the Leagues?
5. What should the relationship between AJLI and the Leagues look like?
Before delivering their final recommendations, which encapsulated the collective thoughts of Junior League members across the country culled from both one-on-one and group conversations, the pair outlined The Junior League’s “Case for Renewal.”
In addition to general sessions like this one, throughout the conference attendees participated in a robust line-up of breakout workshops dedicated to a diverse array of topics and skill sets, including community impact, accountability, public speaking, publicity and a tutorial on the IRS Form 990.
Speaking on a panel assembled for the Closing Plenary, Sarah Berthelot, a current AJLI Board member and former president of the Junior League of Lafayette who served on the Roadmap Steering Committee said, “I have to tell you that after this weekend, I think it’s a great time to embark on this journey . . . it’s not just because the Roadmap has been drafted, it’s because of what you have expressed this weekend [and] because of your willing leadership.”
So what’s the next stop on the Roadmap?
For starters, AJLI established 11 Design Teams that will look more closely at the Roadmap recommendations. To tune into the activities of the Design Team of your choice, go to the Groups page in the Member Area of the AJLI website. Each Group will report its findings at Annual Conference in Orlando next spring.
Additionally, over the next few months, AJLI Board and Staff will be visiting Leagues in an effort to communicate the Roadmap with members. And local League leaders have been given additional materials, including video presentations, which will help better explain what the Roadmap is all about.
Following conversations with League leaders at AJLI’s Annual Conference, pilot programs will be developed, fielded, and evaluated via feedback from individual Leagues, giving the Leagues the ultimate power to decide whether or not to adopt the recommendations.
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