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Greetings Sorors and Fraters

January 23, 2008

Following a memorable celebration of 75 years as an organization, plans began for the 2008 Leadership Summit with the port of call being the “Super” Southwest Region in the lovely city of San Diego, California. Over 100 members attended the summit and left with excitement of new and different possibilities for Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc.

The theme for the summit, Strategizing for Leadership and Service, reflected a sense of vision, process, strategy and hope for the future for Chi Eta Phi Sorority. The intent was to take participants to new heights in their thinking about possibilities for service. The dedicated, hard working, presenters adamantly facilitated reflections on possibilities.

Four sessions framed the two-day event. Beginning with Visionary Explorations, Carolyn Mosley, Immediate Past Supreme Basileus, keynoted the conference by presenting Jewels of Being Strategic. This dynamic presentation, through guided imagery, offered an opportunity for participants to reflect on the organization’s vision of becoming an internationally known leader in health education, leadership development and service. The great thing is that, in different ways, vision and mission were implicated in each of the presentations. Accompanying Soror Mosley in the first session was Constance Sumner, Northeast Regional Director who shared salient points on Succession Planning, and Barbara Hatcher with a state of the art presentation, Getting Your SERVICE in Order for Grants and Philanthropic Gifts.

Session II focused on Relationships and Connections. An array of topics was covered to bring this theme alive. For example, Dana Lopez, 16th Supreme Basileus, in her topic of Building Relationships identified a wide range of “C-words” and described how these words could be instrumental in establishing and maintaining relationships. Josephine Alexander, 13th Supreme Basileus raised the question – Do You Know Where Your History Is? She provided answers that encompassed possible sources, how to secure the history, and the role relationships play.

Participants learned about practical solutions to bringing chapters together through the Southeast Region’s Connect-the-Dots Program. Darneta Brown, Southeast Regional Director, shared information about the survey used to obtain information, the process that made the program a reality and the outcomes from implementation. Linda Tellison, Middlesouth Regional Director, presented Regions: A Connecting Link which emphasized the importance of effective communication and use of the chain of command to maintain relationships.

Chartice Coleman, the Third Supreme Anti-Basileus in her Betas: The Reality of Future Connection identified some historical points about undergraduates; related these to recruitment and retention, and shared possible strategies to deal with some of the issues, particularly those issues relating to establishing and maintaining relationships. The session closed with a dynamic and energetic presentation by Bennie Marshall entitled Generational Synergy: The Key to Organizational Survival and Success. This interactive session allowed participants to visualize the make up of generations within our organization. Most importantly strategies to promote generational synergy were shared.

The second day of the conference allowed participants to experience The Art of Standards and Operations. Presenters in this session, focused on Best Practices. Best practice topics included the Continuing Education Process.  Mary McKelvey, Second Supreme Anti-Basileus; Reporting and Record Keeping, Christina Evans, National Secretary; Processes for Audit Preparation, Eula Carroll, National Tamias; and Chartering and Intake by Sorors Elcedo Bradley and Darmaris Johnson, respectively.

The final session, “Interfacing with Change,” covered the topics: National Programs and Projects, presented by Mildred Fennal, First Supreme Anti Basileus. She provided a comprehensive update on the status of National Programs. Developing Collaborative Partnerships was the presentation of Diana Brown–Brumfield, Middlewest Regional Director. She provided an overview of the concepts of collaboration and partnerships, key associated behaviors and competencies to realize the concepts. Lovene Knight, Southwest Regional Director, through her Rolling Out the Green and Yellow Carpet, shared strategies for developing organizational leaders, requirements for officers and related information. The highlight of this presentation was the actual rolling out of green and yellow carpet at the end of the conference. National Officers actually walked on the carpet at the “Chiademy” and received an award. Between rolling the green and yellow carpet and awards, the Supreme Basileus (Lillian Stokes) presented, Putting It All Together, which reinforced the sorority’s guiding forces–motto and mission and how these forces are accomplished; vision, what we must do to accomplish it, values, where we are in the development of them; our next steps and our challenges and opportunities. Participants made personal commitments and met briefly in regional groups to reflect and share take home messages.

It was an engaging and exciting two days. We look forward to future conferences that will provide a forum for the membership to continue to explore leadership and service issues, and the future of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Lillian Stokes
18th Supreme Basileus