Membership Connections With The AOII Executive Board: Why Does The Executive Board Gather Owner Input?
by Jaynellen Jenkins, Phi Beta (East Stroudsburg U), International Vice President
The Executive Board serves in a visionary capacity. Collectively, our members are the owners of AOII. The Executive Board is accountable to the owners for delivering an exceptional membership experience. Your input is vital as we set the course for the Fraternity. As the Executive Board is tasked with developing policies, and monitoring reports to ensure we are achieving the AOII Ends, it is vital to hear from our members. We want your voices included in our vision building and decision making. Some of this input occurs through our current task force committees comprised of alumnae and collegians who make recommendations on topics that arose at International Convention. But, how else are our members connecting with the AOII Executive Board?
The Global End of Alpha Omicron Pi is that AOII members are enriched through lifelong friendships and an exceptional membership experience rooted in our Rituals and Culture Principles. These benefits are achieved with good stewardship of resources. The identified AOII Ends also include Ambition, Sense of Belonging, Leadership, Character, and Service.
Our bonds of sisterhood and mutual understanding are a top priority. We are imagining a number of formats for this to occur across this biennium. Executive Board members have been out in the field seeking these connections over the course of the past few months. We all enjoy the opportunity for personal dialogue with members during chapter visits and special events. Koren Phillips, attended the Charleston Area Alumnae Chapter’s 50th Anniversary in September, while I was in attendance at Northeast Weekend at Monmouth University in New Jersey. Other moments of connection can even happen over a simple lunch or coffee! Lee Gray connected with members of the Calgary Alumnae Chapter when she happened to be in the area traveling on business. These are just a few examples of our efforts to hear directly from our sisters by simply spending quality time together.
The Executive Board also launched a series of Membership Connection calls with Fraternity leadership this fall, starting first with our Network Directors. These conversations were purposefully open ended and prompted our NDs to share with us how they prioritize the AOII Ends from their leadership vantage point and for the larger perspective of AOII. What are our deliverables at the collegiate and alumnae chapter level in terms of AOII Ends and where are our growth opportunities? These open ended conversations will continue into the winter with other constituency groups as well. We also envision developing new opportunities for focused input from our membership.
Moments with sisters are invaluable. Should the opportunity arise in our schedules and we are in your area, you might just find us reaching out to you to see if your chapter or even just a few of your sisters can spend some time with one of us. We hope that you can!
Feature photo at top: Jaynellen, far left, poses with AOII alumnae attending Northeast Weekend 2019 at Monmouth University.