I am proud to serve as President of the Junior League of Cleveland (JLC), one of the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) Small League Big Impact (SLBI) cohorts. We have approximately 300 members–Actives, Sustainers, and Emeriti–comprising a diverse representation of Northeast Ohio. Our League has ebbed and flowed in size, but one thing has remained constant and that is our members’ dedication to our community. Determining ways in which we can collectively make a difference–that’s what we do best.

This year–our 111th– we’re doing some soul searching, in a thoughtful, comprehensive manner. We’ve completed a new strategic plan to guide us through the next five years and are creating an organizational structure that right-sizes our League and better equips us to perform the various components of our work. I like to call it our research and development (R&D) year. Our resilience was demonstrated by the fact that we made it through the pandemic intact. The impact of removing the ability to gather in-person for a group that thrives on it for everything we do cannot be overstated. But here we are, and we’re putting the time spent thinking and planning to good use by determining what we’re going to do next and who we’re going to do it with.  We’re launching a new request for proposal (RFP) process for interested partners, and we’ve chosen Public Health as our focus area. Our membership believes that this subject touches almost every aspect of our lives and Greater Cleveland presents many opportunities to improve circumstances for our community, especially women and children. We’re excited to become active in this space.

If you have ideas or want to get involved, we welcome your input. We pride ourselves on being a group of trained women leaders–that’s what sets us apart–and we know that there’s strength in numbers. There’s room at our table–please join us.

Warmly,

Barbara Kakiris

President, 2023 – 2025