Top Five Things I Learned at Course Session

Course Session started off with a bit of socializing before the formal presentations began.  The whole event lasted less than two hours and was similar to Saturday Session with a variety of speakers covering various JLW topic.

I’m thankful JLW information is broken up into two events – Saturday Session and Course Session.  There are so many different nuances to JLW – it would be hard to absorb it all in one sitting!  Course Session covered A Capital Collection, the Structure of the League, House Rules, History & Fun Facts, Website and Technology, and Benchmarking and Breakdown of Requirements for the Year.  This year’s was organized by Nicole Dessibourg and Heather Foss

1. Men are welcome at A Capital Collection events and my husband is going to love the opportunity to get all of his Christmas shopping done in one spot! A portion of each purchase he makes will go to the JLW and assist us in providing grants to our community.

2. JLW is a well-structured operating system – it has to be to accomplish everything it does!  Looking at JLW’s organizational chart helps explain the various internal and external functions of JLW.

3. The Loughborough House, JLW’s headquarters, has a rich history with beautiful rooms throughout.  Originally, built in the 1830's, the house was a gift to the JLW from the Honorable and Mrs. Gordon Gray in 1960.  This is where a majority of the JLW meetings take place.

4. Listening to the many and varied accomplishments of the JLW in its 99 year history (it was founded in 1912) certainly instills a sense of pride in belonging to this amazing group.   JLW’s incredible history includes producing a children’s educational television show in the 1940s, helping establish the intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital in the 1960s, and assisting in the formation of Bright Beginnings (a Head Start program) in the 1990s. 

5. Membership in JLW includes a membership to the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI).  JLW members can log in to AJLI through JLWs homepage.  AJLI offers members many benefits including hotel, floral, car rentals, and more important, the opportunity to be a part of a women's organization determined to make our communities a better place.

Three dozen name tags and a room full of women

On Monday evening, seeing the crowd of new bright-eyed potential new members was a wonderful sight. It reminded me of just how diverse our talented group of members  truly is. Out of the several dozen ladies looking for more information on the League, I talked with a hopeful member from California who had just moved to Washington for an internship with a federal agency. A group away, there was a mother looking for a new way to get involved in her community.

It was my first time attending an Open House as an active member of the Junior League and what a difference a year has made! Looking back, I remember being one of the several dozen young women, anxiously meeting as many of the members I could, exchanging stories of how we all got to Washington.

I talked about my mini-placement on A Capital Collection – those evenings folding invitations with fellow members at the Junior League Headquarters and the weekend leading up to the main event. Potential new members asked about my volunteering for our various community placements and the many opportunities the League offers to help within our organization. It’s wonderful to talk about something you truly enjoy being a part of and it certainly served as a wonderful reminder of all of the opportunities the Junior League of Washington provides for our members.

If you don’t know who we are, visit our website at www.jlw.org and find out how you can get connected! If you are interested in becoming a member of the Junior League of Washington, please visit http://www.jlw.org/?nd=membership_join.  I look forward to seeing you at one of our next Open Houses.

Stephanie
JLW Member, Web & Tech Committee