Sharing Best Practices: Chapter Leaders Share Ideas at “Together Again Celebration”

Sharing Best Practices: Chapter Leaders Share Ideas at “Together Again Celebration”

Thank you to all the chapter leaders who participated in our special Together Again Celebration on Sept 13. It was a great opportunity to connect with chapter leaders across the country! Our thanks to Dr. Veena Khandke, our Director of Grants and Partnerships, for a great presentation and “sneak peek” of our new, 2022 grantees. And thank you to the Regional Leaders and Mentors on our Chapter Health & Retention Subcommittee for planning another great chapter leader event. Details

23
Apr, 2021

Ways to Jump-Start your Chapter!

Pictured above: It was a joyous occasion when the CA, Thousand Oaks-1 chapter – fully vaccinated – met in person again after a long absence.

You had an active and thriving chapter … meeting regularly, fully engaged. And then COVID struck and social distancing began. You put your chapter meetings on hold, fully intending to restart when it was safe to do so again. What you thought would be a brief hiatus turned into months and months, and now here we are one year later. How do you get things going again? Details


End of Summer Celebration Brings Connections and Creative Ideas

Following the success of our Chapter Leader Town Hall in the spring, our Chapter Health and Retention Committee held a special, virtual End of Summer Celebration for Chapter Leaders, Mentors, and Regional Leaders on August 25.  It was a fun event that gave Chapter Leaders across the country the opportunity to meet each other and share stories of their chapters.  We had nearly 150 members in attendance. It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces, and there were lots of great ideas generated for managing your chapter. We have compiled them all to share with you! Details


Sharing Best Practices Transitioning Your Chapter’s Leadership

By Ruth Bates and Leslye Heilig, Northeast Mentors

When you were planning your first chapter meeting, you probably gave little or no thought to how you would transition the chapter leadership in the future. However, leadership transition needs to be a consideration right from the start in order to ensure that your chapter stays healthy and vibrant long into the future. Details

19
Mar, 2018

Sharing the Workload of Running Your Chapter

By Judy Bacon, Volunteer Mentor, Chapter Leader of WA, Spokane Valley-1, and member of DFW’s Chapter Health and Retention Committee

 

You are a fantastic and devoted Dining for Women chapter leader. In fact, you’re Wonder Woman! You do it all, and you do it well.  You schedule the meeting, you plan the meeting, you invite everyone, you find a hostess and a presenter, you run the meeting, you deposit the checks– you’re amazing. But wait! You are beginning to feel exhausted, and no one else knows how to do what you do. Your chapter would fold without you. For your own sake and for the sake of your chapter, you need help. Details

15
Feb, 2018

Do You Have a Plan for Chapter Leader Succession?

By Betty Purkey-Huck, Rocky Mountain Regional Leader and Chair of DFW’s Chapter Health and Retention Committee

You just found out that your spouse/partner is being transferred to another city and you are moving. Your first thought isn’t about your DFW chapter and it shouldn’t be, but what is going to happen to your chapter when you move? Details

28
Aug, 2017

Greensboro Chapter Is All about Fun, Food, and Friendship

The NC, Greensboro-5 chapter is focused on three Fs: fun, food, and friendship. The chapter and its founder and leader, Shashi Khanna, are celebrating 10 years of supporting women and girls through Dining for Women.

Shashi started the chapter at a season in life when she was looking for a way to give back. “I was retired, an empty nester, and needed something to fulfill my desire to change the world,” she said. “Not knowing how or where to start, I came across a quote from Saint Theresa, ‘I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.’” Details


Chapters Celebrate Their Leaders

In April, DFW celebrated Chapter Leader Appreciation Month for the first time. It was a way to recognize and thank our chapter leaders for all their hard work and dedication to DFW. Chapter members honored their leaders in many different ways … from champagne and cake to cards and kind words. Here are just a few examples of the many tributes that took place across our chapters: Details

25
Jan, 2017

Celebrating a Family of Chapter Leaders

By Linda Dougall, West Regional Leader and member of CA, Oakland-2 chapter

DFW’s CA, Oakland-2 chapter celebrated its fifth anniversary in September 2016. It is led by three sisters, Mary, Rachel and Becca McQueen, and their mom, Chris McQueen. They have created a robust, multi-generational, collaborative chapter with the ongoing support of extended family members and long-time friends from church, the neighborhood, and all over the Oakland and Berkeley areas. Meetings are great fun – and loud, too – and members are always welcome whether or not they attend every month. It is this open-door policy that has helped this chapter be a resounding and abiding success. Details

20
Jan, 2016

Sharing Best Practices – Showing Our Appreciation

Dining for Women relies heavily on our committed and passionate volunteers, especially the 600+ chapter leaders and co-leaders like you. We simply could not achieve all that we do without our volunteers, and we want every volunteer to know that their contributions are recognized, valued and appreciated. Details

16
Dec, 2015

Sharing Best Practices – The Joys of Mentoring

By Peggy Smith, Regional Leader for the Mid-Atlantic Region

 Let’s hear it for our DFW Mentors. These are our foot soldiers, they walk the talk.

So what does it take to be a mentor? It takes a commitment to DFW and its mission, and an interest in sharing that passion to inspire and motivate others.

Mentors play an important role at the grassroots level of DFW by answering inquiries from people who want to join an existing chapter or start a chapter of their own. They have to know their territory well so they can match up potential new members with the most appropriate chapter within their geographic area. They also help launch new chapters, which includes educating potential Chapter Leaders about how to start and manage a DFW chapter, helping them organize their first meetings, attending the new chapter’s first meeting where possible, and answering any questions that arise.

Details