When they take office June 1, the Junior League of Greenville’s president and president-elect will be focused on helping members reconnect with each other and expanding the group’s partnerships throughout the community.
Taking over from president Alissa Yeargin who shepherded the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic during the past year, new president Heath Beard says her first priority is helping the group’s nearly 1,200 members reconnect.
“We’ve done our best, virtually,” Beard says. “It’s been tough, but we’ve had some strong successes.”
She says that as one of the nation’s largest Junior League chapters it has been a challenge for members not to be able to gather in-person. But starting this past October the group has gathered its general membership at large venues that allowed for adequate social distancing. The first was at Fluor Field.
View this post on Instagram
Beard says her motto for the year to come is “Better Together” and that events are being planned to address four areas to inform and empower the league’s members:
- Beauty and wellness
- Career and job search skills
- Financial literacy
- Building community and friendships
She adds that the group’s core mission of enhancing women’s economic mobility and combating human trafficking will remain priorities.
President-elect Kimberly Witherspoon, who will be the organization’s first Black president when she takes office in June 2022, says she looks forward to forging relationships with new community partners and empowering the group’s members to take on more leadership roles in community change and growth.
“We are a training organization and we help to launch women into positions of leadership for a broader impact,” Witherspoon says. “So much of why our members joined was to connect and engage with our partners.”
Both women say they are encouraged by the increasing awareness of gender and racial equity issues both locally and nationally in recent years. Beard says the group has held implicit bias training and that the Junior League strives to be an organization where everyone feels comfortable and welcome.
For more information about the Junior League of Greenville, visit jlgreenville.org.
Did you know?
- The Junior League of Greenville was founded in 1929
- JLG has 1,155 active members, one of the largest chapters in the country
- The Nearly New Shop at 118 Greenacre Road is JLG’s principal fundraising venture with an estimated $320,000 in gross sales last year
- JLG was instrumental in the creation of such cherished local institutions as Roper Mountain Science Center, Peace Center for the Performing Arts and The Children’s Museum of the Upstate
- JLG has four principal partner organizations it supports: Switch, a grassroots organization aimed at ending human sex trafficking; Jasmine Road, an organization that helps women trapped in sexual exploitation and substance abuse; Serenity Place, a residential treatment center for pregnant women, young mothers and their pre-school age children; and Pendleton Place, an organization dedicated to sheltering and healing vulnerable children, young adults and families
