Educating, Elevating, Celebrating

from Fall 2019

The 2019 Holiday Reading List

Tri Delta hosts record-breaking Volunteer Leadership Conference Educating, Elevating, Celebrating

Tri Delta set a new standard with Volunteer Leadership Conference 2019 — our largest ever! A record number of nearly 500 dedicated and loyal volunteers (including 200 brand new volunteers!) brought their talents to Texas on July 12-14. The weekend was full of learning and development, friendship and fun as Tri Delta educated, elevated and celebrated our volunteers who “render willing service” to our sisterhood in the amount of $19 million of volunteer hours annually. Educating Volunteer Leadership Conference is all about educating. With 13 separate tracks dedicated to specific volunteer roles, attendees received job-specific instruction and peer-topeer learning designed to provide powerful conversations, intentional learning and many moments of inspiration. (A recap of all these tracks can be found on tridelta.org/my-tridelta/education.) “VLC helped me not only strengthen my content knowledge in my volunteer role but also m y leadership skills,” shared Monica Gibson, Millsaps. “These skills are beneficial in my Tri Delta volunteer role, my career and my personal life. I am so honored to serve an organization that continues to invest in their members throughout their lives.” Perhaps equally as important as track time was networking time. Sharing ideas and best practices is vital to any volunteer role, and attendees loved having the opportunity to connect, network and learn from one another. Whether it was the regional networking dessert reception or the networking breakfast, VLC set aside several hours for dedicated collaboration time. A great example of this was the Delta Dialogues lunch, providing a venue for attendees to brainstorm and provide feedback to Tri Delta committees. T ogether, volunteers shared ideas on a variety of topics: expanding and diversifying membership, strengthening Tri Delta leadership, seniors and Circle Degree, and the St. Jude philanthropic experi ence were just a few of the topics brainstormed. At VLC, Tri Delta unveiled its first-ever app, CONNECTDDD! Harnessing the power of Facebook and LinkedIn, CONNECTDDD allows members across the world to network, become men tors, seek mentorship and explore professional opportunities. Volunteers were excited to join the community and immediately began sharing and connecting on the app. At press time, more than 2,000 T ri Deltas are connected. Elevating As an organization dedicated to helping women become the best versions of themselves, Tri Delta made personal and professional development a priority throughout the weekend, elevating our members, not only in their volunteer roles, but in their personal and professional lives. VLC featured seven different personal and professional development workshops to choose from. Topics included having a confiden t mindset, mental health, engaging with Generation Z, training on leadership, advocacy, and Tri Delta’s updated competency model and how it guides the Leadership Development C ommittee (LDC). There were tangible takeaways for everyone.

‘‘Tri Delta could not do what we do at the scale and level we do it without you. Your work matters!” - Fraternity President Kimberlee Di Fede Sullivan, Pepperdine.

**Past Fraternity Presidents Eve Woods Riley, Southern Methodist, Sarah Coons Lindsay, Miami/Ohio, and Jackye Brown Clark, Texas/Arlington, share a laugh during a visit to the museum**

**Volunteers and staff from Vermont's Eta Chapter pose for a group photo.**

**Fraternity President Kimberlee Di Fede Sullivan, Pepperdine, addresses volunteers**

**Keynote speaker Sally Williamson, Georgia, shares the importance of communication**

**Attendees enjoy educational sessions**

Tri Delta volunteers provide $19 million in volunteer hours annually

VLC by the numbers 500 attendees

13 role-specific tracks 7 dynamic workshops 7.5 hours of dedicated networking time

Amber Whittaker-Smith, Wichita State, shared: “I love that Tri Delta shows us how important we the volunteers/ members are by not only assisting us in becoming better volunteers but also by helping us deal with our personal and professional challenges as well. I am so proud to be a part of such an amazing organization and I am a stronger and more confident woman today thanks to Tri Delta!”

A highlight was the keynote featuring Sally Williamson, Georgia, president and founder of Sally Williamson & As sociates, a communications consulting firm. Sally shared how influential communication should engage listeners and how leaders can become compelling communicators.

“The ability to l ead and influence is all the tiny steps. It’s every meeting, every communication that builds trust along the way,” Sally said. During her session, the room was abuzz as attendees had the opportunity to engage in interactive practice on building connection as a communicator.

Celebrating VLC was the perfect backdrop to celebrate lifetime membership, beginning with the Initiation of two new sisters: Tara Dooling Bryant, Texas Christian, and Celeste Melton, Baylor, were welcomed into our sisterhood as honor initiates. Following Initiation, we also had the opportunity to honor Silver Circle members and Go lden Circle members who celebrated special 25-year and 50-year milestones in their lifetime membership.

The awards breakfast was all about celebrating individual volunteers and alumnae chapters who were recognized for their outstanding performance as they elevate Tri Delta through passionate service and philanthropy, leadership, communication and member experience. (Read about the volunteers w ho were honored on page 52 and Alumnae Chapter Award recipients on page 51).

The Tri Delta Foundation also had cause to celebrate. Thanks to a challenge set by Tri Delta's Senior Director of Chapter Operations Lucy Morlan, Simpson, the Foundation welcomed 66 new recurring donors, raising more than $41,000 over the week end — a near 300% increase from VLC 2017! In exchange, Lucy entertained the audience with a rousing rendition of the popular “Baby Shark” song — even better, she took to the stage dressed as a dolphin!

Volunteers concluded a successful weekend with a special Volunteer Oath, taken with Fraternity President Kimberlee Sullivan. As our volunteers prepared to depart Dallas, Kimberlee reminded them, “To the Fraternity, our volunteers are as precious and as cherished as gold. Without you and your commitment to our Purpose, to assist her members in every possible way, we could not be successful. Your unselfish leadership plays a critical role in growing and shaping our organization, not only today, but also for future Tri Deltas.”

We look forward to seeing everyone again at LEADDD and Convention 2020 in Orlando on July 9-12, 2020!