Our Year In Review

We have had an interesting year in JLA. We have had our share of successes, and we have come up against a few roadblocks, but with the dynamic women in our membership and our ability to come together in the face of these challenges, we have persevered and come out on top!

At the opening GMM in September, I spoke to the Membership about our goal for the year…to increase the value of a JLA membership and therefore increase membership retention. To that end, JLA active members have:

  • Attended six regular GMMs and an excellent December Luncheon with engaging speakers and more interactive discussion.
  • Built and painted five Little Free Libraries and collected over 1000 books to fill them.
  • Had the opportunity to attend 24 trainings provided by our Education & Training committee.
  • Participated in six Seeds 4 Success workshops, one Christmas party with families, one college tour to three out-of-state colleges and two family dinners.
  • Welcomed 60 new members from our Fall and Spring Provisional classes.
  • Helped organize and contribute to an Annual Campaign that has earned more than the $10,000 goal.
  • Launched a brand new website and new weekly eBlast and completed rebranding JLA. Introduced a new social media campaign, #whyJLAvolunteers, featuring member experience highlights, and published 17 blog posts.
  • Implemented a new Governance versus Management leadership format.

We are 363 women volunteers strong, and I hope that you will join me for another exciting year of JLA!

As you are aware, I have been involved in JLA since I moved to Annapolis, and here we are nearing the end of my Presidency. The year for me has presented its own challenges and learning experiences, and though some of these have been really tough, there are so many things I have really loved…getting to know our newer members, continuing friendships with my “older” League friends, deep discussions at the Board level, seeing Katie McCone and my vision of more interactive and engaging membership meetings come to fruition (with tremendous help from E&T and IC), supporting our new community impact projects in early literacy and early college access and attending events!

JLA puts on some wonderfully fun events, and we have one more on May 6th, “Unwind in the Vines” at Great Frogs Winery. As this is the last fundraising event for my year as President, I would love to spend it with as many of my wonderful League friends as possible and celebrate this journey that I have been on.

So put the Gala committee’s minds at ease, get your tickets today and come join me!

~Craig Friedrich, JLA President 2015-2016