Member Success Stories:
Ramsay Leimenstoll

Being a member of the Junior League has been a fantastic experience and I always tell people how happy I am that I decided to join. I was feeling like I had tapped out my alumnae network in the area and didn’t have many opportunities to make new friends or just meet new people in general. Through The Junior League of San Francisco (JLSF) I’ve met so many incredible women from all different careers, parts of the city, backgrounds and at different points in their careers. It made me realize how narrow a slice of the SF community I had been friends and colleagues with.

Being on the Volunteer Training and Development (VTD) committee has been a valuable experience – not only does working with other committee members to put together an event give opportunities to develop collaboration skills, but the process for sourcing potential speakers and topics demands that we increase our global & community awareness, action and advocacy. If I weren’t engaged with the JLSF and charged with doing this research and outreach, I probably would never have learned much of what I now know about these communities: such as dementia, resources available for the elderly, estate planning, and the needs of foster children in the Bay Area.

The JLSF’s official guidelines and the examples set forth in Done-in-a-Day (DIAD), Member Activity Committee (MAC), and other VTD’s have highlighted ways that default language or requirements can be problematic, and shown ways to insure that your communication or event is inclusive for people who may need accommodations or who may be from disadvantaged communities. I’ve taken what I’ve learned about inclusive communication, as well as social & cultural inclusion, into the office and into other social & volunteer groups I’m a part of.