What a year it’s been! Connection. Community. Strength. Change. 

These are the themes of the 2023-2024 League year. As we wind down, let’s take a moment to reflect on the work that Junior League of Annapolis members have accomplished since last June. We updated our mission statement to align with the Association of Junior Leagues International. Junior League of Annapolis, Inc. is an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training. With this new mission comes new life in our organization! We are thrilled to welcome nearly 30 new members to our League at our May General Membership Meeting. This group has been going through the New Member training curriculum and working diligently to collect supplies for a Title I school in the Annapolis community. 

This year, we restructured our League operations. Committees were collapsed to improve efficiency. Our Fund Development team worked hard to host a variety of fundraising events. They coordinated a Pasta with a Purpose event at Maggiano’s Little Italy in October, where a group of generous Past Presidents presented the League with a nice kickstart to our fundraising goal! Fund Development also hosted a popcorn sale and will be embarking on our third consecutive Little Black Dress Initiative to raise funds but also awareness for JLA and the work that we do in the Anne Arundel County community. 

In addition to our fundraising efforts, JLA opened an endowment this year with the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County. This will allow League members to make meaningful gifts to JLA in a new and exciting way in the coming years. 

Our Member Engagement committee was hard at work this year, planning everything from Navy Football tailgates to Midnight Madness to Annapolis Restaurant Week meetups. The committee also executed our annual Galentine’s Day Brunch at the Graduate Hotel, where we concentrated on tying knots of friendship and welcomed over 100 guests.

In 2023, JLA was awarded a grant from the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County that funded another series in our ALIGN training initiative for nonprofit leaders in Anne Arundel County. This year’s programs focused on Belonging and were presented by Dr. Karen Bond. We welcomed nonprofit leaders from around Anne Arundel County for these important trainings. 

Our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging team worked to share education with our League members this year. A group of JLA members attended a presentation by author Antonia Hylton to discuss her book Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum, which focuses on the history of the Crownsville Hospital. The DEIB team is also planning a League-wide training event in the coming weeks. 

The newly formed Community Involvement and Outreach (CIO) committee has also been hard at work this year. They’ve hosted Done in a Day (DIAD) events with nearly 15 community partners, directly impacting the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, in our community. Our CIO team took on a project to provide backpacks to Blue Ribbon Project’s Backpacks of Love program and completed several collection drives to benefit Anne Arundel Medical Center and Anne Arundel County Public Libraries. Additionally, with grant funding received from Annapolis Rotary, our Community Impact Council is working with the Discoveries Pantry at Anne Arundel County Public Library to create a micro pantry that will stock personal hygiene essentials for those in need in our community. 

In keeping with our Connection, Community, Strength, and Change themes, the Communications Committee redesigned the Blast, streamlined and updated the JLA website, and created a Blog. This was all in addition to the job of marketing our League events and happenings to our members and the public.

I was also honored to present at the Association of Junior Leagues International’s (AJLI) annual Organizational Development Institute (ODI) that was held in Washington, DC in November. My presentation, The Ties that Bind: Identifying and Building Friendships to Create Deeper Member Engagement, was inspired by my work in learning to build community which is rooted in my Junior League experience. I was thrilled to have several JLA members in attendance. 

As we look to the future, we see opportunities for even more growth for JLA. I hope that you will join me in making a meaningful investment in JLA this year by including an additional gift along with your membership renewal. With your continued support, we will carry on with our mission and create a brighter future for all. 

Thank you for your dedicated support of the Junior League of Annapolis. 

Sincerely,

Michele Myers