The Junior League of Boca Raton was honored with the COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD for improving, in a sustainable way, the lives of low-income farmworkers in its work with In the Pines.
Working in concert with its community partners—the Farmworker Children’s Council and St. Jude Church—the League developed a rich variety of services critical to keeping the families who reside at ITP intact, and pioneered a program to replace 20 of ITP’s outdated residences with dwellings that are LEED Platinum-certified.
To keep the rent affordable, the League took a cost-efficient approach to environmentally friendly construction, by finding funding through grant monies from the Federal Emergency Management fund. It was able to finance 75 percent of the construction.
The Junior League of Minneapolis took home the LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AWARD for its Leadership & Lattes program, an in-house, member-focused training series featuring exposure to nonprofits, corporations, local government officials, and other change agents who discussed their journeys to civic and community leadership. The program, which consisted of lectures, classes, and panels of experts for small groups, was successful on many fronts including the fact that it matched the needs of the League with the interests of the member, creating a meaningful connection between members and their community. In addition, retention rates were improved, with many members citing the Leadership & Lattes program—and its training and social opportunities— as a positive benefit of membership. The program is in its second year.
The Winner of the JL AWARD IN BUILDING DIVERSITY was the Junior League of Baton Rouge for its top-to-bottom approach to diversity and cultural inclusion.
Using AJLI’s “Building Blocks for Diversity & Inclusion,” the League formed a Diversity and Cultural Inclusion Committee (DCIC), which determined where JLBR stood in terms of inclusion, and began to implement a concrete process to transform the League, placing the issue of diversity front and center. The interactive training reached a significant portion of the membership and has made diversity and inclusion an important value to the organization.
The Junior League of St. Louis was honored with the JL AWARD FOR FUND DEVELOPMENT for the successful revival of its Cinnamon Rolls fundraiser. Developed in the early 1940s as a treat in its tearoom, cinnamon rolls were loved throughout the area. In 2007, after a three-year hiatus due to League downsizing, a small group of Sustainers decided to revive it. Since its relaunch, the program’s annual sales have grown from $23,000 to $42,000. In addition, production was relocated from members’ own kitchens to a local church and an outside bakery.
The Junior League of Northern Virginia’s forward-looking, low-budget social media campaign to promote its Enchanted Forest fundraising event was the Winner of the JL AWARD FOR MARKETING. The marketing challenge for the program was gaining attention in a major urban area with many competing events on an extremely modest budget. To do this, the team mastered social media, developed relationships with “mom bloggers,” and devised an innovative ticket-giveaway promotion that collectively resulted in a remarkable $50,000 net profit.
The JL AWARD FOR MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT was given to The Junior League of Houston for its Junior League University (JLU), a program designed to connect transferring members to the Junior League of Houston from their first day in town.
Streamlining the introductory process, JLU classes, community placements, operational and educational meetings and a special orientation gives transferring members the knowledge needed to become fully engaged contributors and to connect rapidly with advisors and other members. The program successfully integrates 90 to 120 transfers per year.
The JL AWARD IN VISION went to The Junior League of Charlotte for a long-running program designed to improve the physical, dental, and mental health of children from birth through their teenage years in greater Mecklenburg County.
Launched in 2006, the Healthy Child Initiative (HCI) has provided the League with a platform for programs and advocacy on the issue of childhood health, while bringing the community together to devise long-term solutions. To date, HCI has reached over 10,000 children and raised $1 million for The Junior League of Charlotte Family Resource Center at Levine Children’s Hospital.
2011 AJLI Honorable Mentions
The Junior League of Dallas earned a BUILDING DIVERSITY HONORABLE MENTION for its Diversity Task Force (DTF), which took a comprehensive approach to all League operations, functions and membership stages, while looking at diversity in the context of gender, race, religion, age, ability, class, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. Fostering a culture of inclusion, the committee examined all facets of the League, provided training to members, and introduced a new diversity-themed recruitment strategy.
The HONORABLE MENTION IN FUND DEVELOPMENT went to the Junior League of Collin County, TX for its Trinkets to Treasures program. Now in its 22nd year, Trinkets to Treasures is not only one of JLCC’s most important annual initiatives, it is an outstanding example of Mission-based fundraising and provides educational opportunities for new members who learn how to partner with local agencies in order to offer vital services that make a lasting difference in the community.
The Junior League of Wichita received an HONORABLE MENTION IN MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT for its Community Credit System (CCS). Focusing on the real outcomes of community and civic leadership and issues-based initiatives, rather than simply on a volume of activities, the CCS was successful because it allowed members both to choose how to spend their available time and to choose the community organization in which to serve. As a result, Provisionals increased by 20 percent and the hours donated grew substantially.
The Junior League of Tulsa received the HONORABLE MENTION IN VISION for its innovative strategic plan, which both provided clarity of purpose and heightened the League’s profile in the community, while upholding the League’s Mission and Values and remaining nimble, easily understandable, and accessible to each member. Featuring measurable goals, the strategic plan was created by a committee working in conjunction with the League’s Board and Nominating Committee and based on insight gathered at member meetings.
FRP Awards
Since 2004 Favorite Recipes Press has recognized Junior Leagues that execute the most successful cookbook program.
The Junior League of Denver won FRP’s annual JUNIOR LEAGUE COOKBOOK AWARD for Colorado Classique.
The Junior League of Baton Rouge won FRP’s LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD for its best-selling Junior League cookbook series, River Road Recipes.
Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award
Since 1990 the Mary Harriman Community Leadership Award has honored individual Junior League members whose volunteer efforts exemplify our Mission, Vision, and Values.
By those who know her work, Mary Shaw “Shawsie” Branton has been hailed as a catalyst who changed the landscape—and the people—of Kansas City, MO forever. A progressively minded innovator, now 90, she has given a lifetime’s worth of service.
A few of her many accomplishments include intuiting the need for high-quality care for children with disabilities in the 1940s and spearheading the Cerebral Palsy Nursery School (later the Children’s Therapeutic Learning Center) long before the concept of special needs even entered our consciousness as a society.
In the 1950s, a full year before the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, Branton persuaded the board of the nursery school to integrate its students, ahead of the Kansas City school district. In the 1970s, while serving on the board of Planned Parenthood, she worked as a fearless advocate for birth control, and in the 1993, at the age of 73, she became the first female chairman of the board of the Greater Kansas City YMCA.
She has served on more than 30 boards of directors, fighting tirelessly and compassionately for the realization of her belief that every person, regardless of circumstance, deserves a chance to succeed.
Rising Star Awards
The Rising Star Award recognizes “new” Actives who demonstrate significant promise consistent with the Vision and Values of the Junior League Mission.
SEPTEMBER HILL JUNIOR LEAGUE OF LOS ANGELES
In just three years of Active membership, September Hill has demonstrated her initiative and her drive on several fronts, ranging from public policy and advocacy, to women’s mental health, diversity, and education, all the while exerting the full force of her boundless energy and singular dedication.
Hill served as the co-creator of the internationally recognized and awardwinning Public Policy Institute; spearheaded the public awareness campaign for California SPAC’s Perinatal Depression Awareness campaign; and laid the foundation of the Appointments to Boards and Commissions Institute.
AIMEE DAWSON JUNIOR LEAGUE OF HALIFAX
Epitomizing what it means to think globally while acting locally, Aimee Dawson has leveraged her many years of study in both dentistry and public health into a role as a one-woman healthcare advocate specializing in the medical issues that confront women and children all over the province of Nova Scotia.
Dawson identified an unmet need in Halifax and came up with a solution: assisting new immigrants with vital dental care and nutritional information by way of a triage program she runs out of her dentistry practice.