July/August 2014 • Issue 1
In This Issue: • Welcome to the New League Year • 2014 – 2015 Board & Leadership • 2014 – 2015 Meeting Dates • Sustainer News • AJLI News • Community Collaborations • Kudos • Website Update • HS Voting Results • Meeting Briefs
MARK YOUR CALENDARS August 19: Board Meeting • Social: 5:30 pm; Meeting: 6 pm • JLS Office
September 9: GMM • Social: 6 pm; Meeting: 6:30 pm • JLS Office
September 15: Sustainer Golf • Drumlins Country Club
September 16: Board Meeting • Social: 5:30 pm; Meeting: 6 pm • JLS Office
September 17: Recruitment Event • 6 – 8 pm • Blue Tusk, 165 Walton Street
September 24: Recruitment Event • 6 – 8 pm • Blue Tusk, 165 Walton Street
Welcome to the 2014 – 2015 League Year! Thank you all for the opportunity to lead this amazing organization for another year. We are in a great position to continue to build on the success of this past year. As many Past Presidents know, a year may not be enough time to accomplish all you set out to do. I am fortunate to have more time to work on those items left undone and continue to work on all the great progress we have made, especially in the area of raising awareness on the issue of Human Trafficking. I would like to say a big Thank You to the 2013 – 2014 Board and Leadership team. Everyone worked so hard last year to forward our Mission. You are an amazing group of talented women. It was a privilege to work with all of you. The new league year is off to a great start. The 2014 – 2015 leadership team has jumped in eager to get going. We have already had our first Board meeting, Board training and Leadership training and are working together planning for this year. I have no doubt this group will do amazing things this year. In my remarks at Annual Dinner I set a challenge for the membership. For those of you unable to attend I would like to issue the same challenge to you. A few years back the membership voted out the requirements to participate in Community Collaborations. This has left us with some challenges with participation. I would like to challenge all of you to set a goal to participate in at least 3 Community Collaborations in the new league year. I want you to volunteer not because you have to, but because you want to. After all isn’t that why we all are here? We can’t make a difference in our community by staying home. We are The Junior League of Syracuse – a group of determined women committed to make a difference in the lives of women and children here in Central New York. “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things” ~Mother Theresa Contact the President: Heather Ford Wallace: heatherfordwallace@gmail.com The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. • The NOTES • July/August 2014 | 1
2014 – 2015 Board Members 2014 – 2015 LEADERSHIP TEAM President: Heather Ford Wallace
AJLI ALT Representative: Courtney Bintz
President-Elect: Jenny Jackson Donahoe
Communications council: Public Relations Chair: Kseniya Lifanova Hogan NOTES Editor: Whitney Daniels Assistant NOTES Editor: TBA On-Line Engagement Chair: Rea Carver Assistant On-Line Engagement: Kate Zwecker
PEE: Cathy Dotterer Treasurer: Jill Ellis Secretary: Kelly Gillespie COMMUNICATIONS VP: Sarah Shea Dempsey
Community Council: Public Policy Chair: Kerry Buske Dominski Community Collaborations Co-Chairs: Beth Edwards & Cheryl Saidel
Community VP: Megan Husted Fund Development VP: Sarah Weber Membership/DEVELOPMENT VP: Jackie Azbill Parliamentarian: Liz Lane
Fund Development Council: Fund Development Chair: Jean Kerr Holiday Shoppes Co-Chairs: Christie Yesersky Novak & Julianna Hebert HS Merchant Co-Chairs: Marisa Montreal & Whitney Browne
HS Raffle Co-Chairs: Maryann Revere-Lopez & Rachel Ford HS PR Chair: Heather Connell HS Ornamentation Chair: Marie Norkett HS Hospitality Chair: Bonnie Kelly HS Tickets & Staffing Co-Chairs: Sheryl Capozzi Assistant Treasurer: Sheryl Capozzi Membership Council: Nominating Chair: Jill Lawlor Nominating Advisors: Courtney Bintz, Jessica Murray, Liz Baker, Lynne Hamilton-Johnson & Anna O’Neil Placement Chair: Laura Nelson Membership Development & Recruitment Co-Chairs: Amanda Spence & Audra Mueller Education, Training & Arrangements Chair: Linda Dombrow
Sustainer VP: Amy Sumida
MARK YOUR 2014 – 2015 Meeting Dates CALENDARS August 19, 2014 September 9, 2014 September 16, 2014 October 14, 2014 October 21, 2014 November 11, 2014 November 14-16, 2014 November 18, 2014 December 9, 2014 December 16, 2014 January 13, 2015 January 20, 2015 February 2015 February 24, 2015 ** March 10, 2015 March 17, 2015 April 14, 2015 April 21, 2015 May 12, 2015 May 19, 2015 June 9, 2015
Board Meeting GMM Board Meeting GMM Board Meeting GMM Holiday Shoppes Board Meeting Holiday Party GMM Board Meeting GMM Board Meeting Sectionals Board Meeting GMM Board Meeting GMM Board Meeting GMM Old/New Board Meeting Annual Dinner
**This is the 4th Tuesday due to school break 2 | The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. • The NOTES • July/August 2014
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JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office
5:30 social; 6:00 start 6:00 Social; 6:30 start 5:30 social; 6:00 start 6:00 Social; 6:30 start 5:30 social; 6:00 start TBA 5:30 social; 6:00 start 6:00 Social; 6:30 start 5:30 social; 6:00 start 6:00 Social; 6:30 start 5:30 social; 6:00 start 6:00 Social; 6:30 start 5:30 social; 6:00 start TBA
JLS Office TBA TBA JLS Office JLS Office TBA JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office JLS Office TBA
SUSTAINER NEWS Hello Sustainers! Congratulations to Cheryl Ward for receiving the 2014 Spirit of Mary Harriman Award and to Peggy Fabic for receiving Sustainer of the Year. We are so proud of both ladies who perfectly embody the essence of these awards. It’s never too early to start thinking about next year’s nominees…your input is invaluable and greatly appreciated. Upcoming Events
Our Annual Golf Outing has been scheduled for Monday, September 15th at Drumlins Country Club. Golf will be followed by dinner in the new Pascale Italian Bistro. Please put the date on your calendar and look for more details from Anne Miller and Susan Cronin in the near future.
• Volunteer to coordinate monthly R&Rs. This person would select a location for the R&R’s and coordinate with the restaurant for our monthly gatherings. • Suggestions for “Lunch and Learn” topics. I am all ears! I hope you have enjoyed the summer and I look forward to seeing you this Fall at upcoming events. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions, suggestions or offers to HELP!
Help Needed
• Volunteer to send condolence and congratulatory cards to Sustainers as those occasions present themselves. You will be provided with the cards, envelopes and postage.
AJLI NEWS Motions adopted to amend the AJLI Bylaws
Voting Delegates were busy at this year’s Annual Meeting during AJLI’s 92nd Annual Conference in St. Louis. They voted on several changes proposed by the AJLI Board of Directors to the Association Bylaws. The changes proposed by the Board reflect current best practice in nonprofit governance regarding term lengths for a Governance Committee member and also ensure that the Bylaws conform to the New York Nonprofit Revitalization Act of 2013, which was enacted for greater sector transparency and efficiency. The following changes were adopted to: The AJLI Governance Committee
Allow At-Large Governance Committee members to serve up to two nonconsecutive twoyear terms, rather than one, two-year term only. The New York Nonprofit Revitalization Act of 2013
Affect the following Bylaw Articles: • Article IV, Section II, clarifying that an Employee of the Association may not serve as President • Article V, Sections VI, VII, IX, clarifying duties of the Board of Directors by defining Committees of the Board and Committees of the Corporation; allowing Board members to participate in Board meetings via electronic video screen participation; and allowing Board action without a meeting to be conducted via electronic means
Contact the Sustainer VP: Amy Sumida: apsumida@gmail.com
• Article VIII, Sections II, III, allowing for electronic notice of the Annual Meeting and transmission of proxies via electronic means • Create new Article XI, which defines “electronic communications” • Article XII, which allows for waiver of notice via electronic means The full text available on the AJLI website. Shortlink: http://bit.ly/1sfONuV Advisory Resolutions passed at Annual Conference
Additionally, the Delegates passed two Advisory Resolutions on the following topics: • Exploration of a Lifetime Membership provision for Sustainers • Exploration of amendments to current Policies for Calling Special Meetings and the External Policy Resolutions Process that would enable quicker action under certain circumstances The full Resolutions available on the AJLI website. Shortlink: http://bit.ly/1sV0lkI Action on the Advisory Resolutions
The Board discussed briefly the two Resolutions on its June 5 phone call meeting and, believing these Resolutions merit fuller consideration when the Board meets in person, voted to postpone further discussion until its in-person meeting June 27-28. An All-League Email will be distributed within five days of the June 27-28 meeting detailing any resulting actions the Board may take with regard to these Resolutions. All of the above information can now be found on the AJLI website on the AC2014 Call to Conference Governance Materials page. Shortlink: http://bit.ly/1qB1498
COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS The Community Council has been busy preparing for another great year of service to the local community and influence on public affairs at the state level. First, JLS will be participating in AJLI’s roll-out of the new Community Impact Model (which our League helped to develop as an ALT League!) in August. Not only will this new model help us to focus our efforts on our current issue (Human Trafficking), but it will help us identify the right time to select a new issue. Second, the Community Impact Collaborations co-chairs, Cheryl Saidel and Beth Edward, are in the process of planning monthly volunteer opportunities for the year and have made plans to couple project prep with the monthly General Membership Meetings to involve more JLS members in Collaborations and increase our rate of donations to our community partners. Third, the Public Policy committee, led by Kerry Buske Dominski, is planning for a great year of serving as liaisons to NYSPAC and making our collective voice heard in Albany! Last but not least, the Community Council is planning an initiative to welcome our new Community Council committee members and encourage all of our JLS members to reflect on what voluntarism means to each of us and how, together with our friends and families, we can make an enormous impact in Syracuse and surrounding towns and villages! Contact the Comm. Collaborations Chair: Meg Husted: meghusted@gmail.com
KUDOS! Congratulations to the 2013 – 2014 JLS Award Recipients! • New Member Award: Liz Lane and Kate Zwecker • Community Service Award: Megan Husted • In League Award: Whitney Daniels • League Cup Award: Sarah Weber • Sustainer of the Year: Peggy Fabic • 15th Annual Spirit of Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award: Cheryl Ward ___________________________________ If you would like to submit a Kudos, please e-mail the 2013 – 2015 NOTES Editor Whitney Daniels at whitney@wrkdesigns.com
The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. • The NOTES • July/August 2014 | 3
Website Update:
Nominating News
A New Year, A New Website!
The new Nominating Committee is ready to go for the new League year! This year’s Nominating Chair is Jill Lawlor and the Nominating Advisors are Liz Baker, Courtney Bintz, Lynne Hamilton-Johnson, Jessica Murray and Anna O’Neil. Many thanks to outgoing Nominating Chair Betsy Mariotte-McLane and Nominating Advisors Jean Kerr and Laura Nelson for their service, and for facilitating a smooth transition of member files. Red postcards were mailed to all Active and Associate members on July 18. This postcard confirms your JLS leadership position or committee placement for 2014 – 2015 and the name of your Nominating Advisor with her contact information. If you did not receive a postcard, or have any concerns about your placement, please contact Jill Lawlor (jlawlor@twcny.rr.com). Your advisor is at your service to help you with any league-related questions or concerns and help you get the most out of your League experience. Don’t hesitate to contact your advisor in the coming months if the need arises. In addition to handling member relations, the Nominating Committee is charged with slating members for future leadership positions. The Nominating Committee can be thought of as the League’s “human resources” department. The committee is already planning ahead to the 2015– 2016 League year which begins July 2015, when three of the five Nominating Advisors will roll off the committee (Nominating Advisor is a two-year position.) If you have been in the League for at least two years and you have any interest in being considered for the position of Nominating Advisor or want to learn more about this position, please contact your advisor before the end of August. The Nominating Committee needs to identify five candidates for the three open positions by early September, and members will vote in the new Nominating Advisors at the December GMM.
In May, we informed members that we are experiencing growing pains with the technology associated with the JLS website. If you have visited the site recently, you may have noticed the “Under Construction” messaging and/or seen brief summaries about our community, membership, and fund development initiatives. Until our new site is live, we have expanded the JLS blog (jlsyracuse.tumblr.com) for use as a resource for our external audiences including prospective members and Holiday Shoppes and League supporters. We are also anticipating the needs of our members, and details will be coming later this summer about how we will be making available important information including documents and forms, event dates, and more that were previously located on the website. In the meantime, we hope you visit the Community, Membership, and Holiday Shoppes pages of the JLS blog and spread the word about this new online resource. We appreciate members’ patience and understanding as we transition to a new site that will meet our League’s future needs, and we look forward to providing more information soon about this effort.
Recap of Policy Changes The following items were voted on, and approved by the League Membership at the June GMM (June 10, 2014) and have now been adopted into the 2014 – 2015 JLS policy. The first item clarifies language within the JLS policy for 2014 – 2015 with regards to participation in the League’s fundraiser(s). The new policy reads as follows: Article I, Section 1 Classes of Membership: B. Active Members • Must support the major fundraiser(s) in the form of participation and financial support at the levels approved by the membership. • An active member is considered to be in good standing if the following membership requirements are met: • Must support the major fundraiser(s) in the form of participation and financial support at the levels approved by the membership. C. Associate Active Member • Must support the major fundraiser(s) in the form of participation and financial support at the levels approved by the membership. The second item adopted by the Membership is the 2014 Holiday Shoppes Membership Requirements, which have not changed from 2013, but are as follows: The Holiday Shoppes Committee of The Junior League of Syracuse has the following Membership Requirements/Member Incentives for Member Participation in Holiday Shoppes 2014: 1) All active and associate members are required to work at least one five hour shift. 2) Members are required to sell at least five tickets at a value, exclusive to members, of $5.00 per ticket. 3) Any member who sells ten tickets at a value of $5.00 per ticket will attend the 2014 Holiday Party at no cost. (Beverages not included) 4) The three members who sell the most tickets (minimum of thirty tickets sold) at a value of $5.00 per ticket, will receive complimentary dues for the 2015 – 2016 JLS League year. Contact the Parliamentarian: Liz Lane: elizabeth.laneb@gmail.com
4 | The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. • The NOTES • July/August 2014
Open Position:
The Assistant NOTES Editor position is available. If interested Contact the Nominating Chair: please contact your Jill Lawlor: jlawlor@twcny.rr.com Nominating Advisor.
Meeting Briefs June GMM: • GMM was held following annual dinner at Justin’s Grill. • 2014 Holiday Shoppes update provided by Christie Novak. Tickets will be available at September GMM • Membership Recruitment update given by Co-Chairs Audra Mueller & Amanda Spence. Shared the “Whose that new member” recruitment flyer • Update of Policy Wording & Holiday Shoppes Requirements was voted on • Fund Development – Jean Kerr encouraged all members attending annual dinner to give a donation in the envelopes provided at each seat. Tickets are also available for Macy’s Shop For A Cause - $5 for 25% off August 23rd. June Board Meeting: • Board Training: provided by Catherine Gerard from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs on Organizational Governance: Board Management and Building
You D eserve The Best from fellow mem bers of J L S
M argaret K arim Licensed Real Estate Salesperson Margaret.Karim@HuntRealEstate.com
ADVERTISE WITH JLS!
A m y J. Burnell Administrative Assistant to Margaret Karim
Always There For You
Contact the NOTES Editor Whitney Daniels at whitney@wrkdesigns.com for more information.
The notes By Mail Any member who would prefer to receive a copy of The NOTES via USPS can notify the office at office@jlsyracuse.com. Many thanks in advance!
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READ THE NOTES ONLINE
Cell: 315 439 7474
You can now read The NOTES online on the JLS website: www. JLSyracuse.org or on Issuu at: issuu.com/jlsyracuse
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June Board Meeting Cont:
• The 2014 – 2015 budget was reviewed and discussed • Website update – working with Digital Cheetah on redesign and financing • Fund Development VP—Sarah Weber – Macy’s Shop for a Cause tickets are available, $5 for 20% off on August 23rd. Info will go out in August email blasts • Communications Council VP - Sarah Shea Dempsey mentioned that the JLS will have a Human Trafficking table on Women’s Day at the NYS Fair this year. Will need 2 – 4 volunteers from 9 - 5.
Contact the Secretary: Kelly Gillespie: gillespie@twcny.rr.com
HUNT Real Estate ERA is proud to recognize our 2013 Leading Sales Agent of the Year for the Central & Northern NY Region* Judy M. Winslow Associate Real Estate Broker
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JLS Office Hours: M/W/Th: 12 – 4 pm; Tue: 2 – 6 pm; Fri: 9 am – 1 pm NOTES Deadline: 2nd Tuesday of each month NOTES Editor: Whitney Daniels: whitney@wrkdesigns.com
Office: (315) 449-6699 Email: judy.winslow@huntrealestate.com Web: JudyWinslowRealtor.com * Gross Closed Commission | $10,000,000 plus Top Producer
The Junior League of Syracuse, Inc. • The NOTES • July/August 2014 | 5
431 E Fayette Street, Suite 225 Syracuse, NY 13202 O: 315-423-9773 F: 315-471-1464 office@jlsyracuse.com 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.
Find the Junior League of Syracuse Online! Visit JLSyracuse.org for direct links.
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