ALA Gateway: Message from the President
Posted by admin1 on May. 16, 2023 / Subscribe 0
Spring is in the air and it’s that time of the year when we transition to our new Board. Please welcome our 2023-2024 Board of Directors!
The Gateway Chapter is on a path to EMPOWER NEW LEADERS. We started our journey with our Board Retreat on April 14, 2023, facilitated by leadership coach, Judy Hissong, of Nesso Strategies. Judy’s powerful techniques enabled us to focus on our individual core strengths, as well as the core strengths of our team members. Knowing the strengths of others is a key to effective communication and an essential trait of any successful team! A special thank you to Judy Hissong for kicking off our year and to our Business Partners, Frontline Managed Services for sponsoring our retreat, and IST Management and Robert Half Talent Solutions for sponsoring our retreat networking reception.
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| Dorise Beck, Judy Hissong, Kim Oleniacz | 2023-2024 ALA Gateway Board and Teams | Megan Usovsky, Kim Oleniacz |
THE 411 FOR 2023-2024
As we kick off our new year, it’s also that time of the year to inform our members about our Chapter’s happenings, member benefits and resources. I know this is a lot of information up front, but it’s always a good reminder to know what is afforded to you as a member of ALA.
GATEWAY EVENTS
Our teams are in full swing with planning their upcoming year’s events. The Community Connections Team has already been hard at work with their first event of the year, the Pancreatic Cancer Walk. Our Gateway Members and Business Partners spent the morning on April 29th striding through Forest Park to support awareness for pancreatic cancer, in memory of ALA member, Steve Wingert.
On May 3, 2023, our Strategic Alliance team met with leaders from other organizations in our legal community to collaborate on ways for our organizations to connect, and to share the challenges we face, as well as our successes. Thank you to BAMSL for participating in and hosting our event, and to the additional following organizations for also participating in the roundtable:
- Association of Corporate Counsel
- The Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis
- Mound City Bar Association
- St. Louis Paralegal Association
- Recruiting Association of St. Louis
Upcoming Chapter Events:
Be on the lookout for upcoming Chapter events in May and June:
- May 17th – Chapter Educational Meeting: Common Mistakes to Avoid for Law Firm & Personal Life Profitability. This is a virtual meeting and is open to all ALA members, Guests and Business Partners (2 reps). Click here for more information and to register.
- May 18th – BAMSL Legal Support Committee Spring CLE – Ethics and Malpractice Risks of Crossing State Lines. This event is free to ALA members. Click here for more information and to register.
- June 14th – Chapter Educational Meeting: Substance Abuse/New Cannabis Laws at Sandberg Phoenix. More information to follow.
- June 21st – Social Connections Event – Flower Making at Lewis Rice. Sponsored by Business Partners Lexitas and Adams & Martin Group. More information to follow.
- June 25th Pride Parade. More information to follow.
EDUCATION CONTINUED
CERTIFIED LEGAL MANAGER (CLM) PROGRAM
Have you ever considered obtaining your CLM certification? ALA’s CLM program “allows a qualified legal management professional to demonstrate, through an examination process, a mastery of the core areas of knowledge identified as essential to the effective performance of a principal administrator.” Several of our Gateway members have their CLM certification. To learn more about the CLM program, including applications, dates, and other details, please visit https://www.alanet.org/education/credentialing/what-is-the-clm-program. If you are interested in taking the exam, please note that ALA’s Chicago Chapter has a study group to help you prepare. Information regarding the study group can be found at https://alachicago.org/page/ChicagoStudyGroup.
GATEWAY’S PEER CONNECTIONS PROGRAM
The Gateway Chapter is diligently working on revamping its current mentorship program – now known as the Peer Connections Program. The Chapter is focusing on innovative ways to guide its newer members through the benefits and resources that the Chapter has to offer, while concentrating on inclusion and empowerment of our newer leaders.
Member, Dawn Ravn, Office Administrator at Littler Mendelson, P.C., had the following to say about her experience in the Peer Connections Program:
Dawn Ravn
Office Administrator, Littler Mendelson, P.C.
I joined the ALA-Gateway Chapter last year as I began managing a law office in St Louis. I was not resident office administrator in St Louis and had a home office in another state.
I was not familiar with the St Louis legal community and to be able to be a part of the Gateway-ALA mentorship program pulled me into a wonderfully kind, supportive and knowledgeable community.
My mentor was fun and easy to talk with. She made sure I was apprised of all upcoming events so that I could attend when I was in town and introduced me around. She made sure we got together when I was in town, even if there wasn’t an ALA event. My mentor got me excited to attend events and over the past year I have gained so much great knowledge and met so many wonderful people. This is a top-notch organization that is on point with their membership goals and know how to integrate their new members with ease. I am thankful to have become a part of the ALA-Gateway Chapter.
Thank you to Julie Logan for doing such a wonderful job making Dawn feel welcome and included! Julie and many other seasoned members of our Chapter have been instrumental in starting the path of leadership for numerous members in our Chapter. If you would like to participate in in the Peer Connections Program and make the difference in someone’s career path, please reach out to Vice-President, Jessie Fenton at [email protected] (314) 552.6369.
While we are on the topic of EMPOWERING LEADERS, check out the Susan L. French Emerging Leader Fellowship Program! This is an amazing program to help up to two ALA members who have a “strong desire to enhance their personal and professional leadership skills.” If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity and applying for the fellowship, please click here. The application deadline is May 19th. The Gateway Chapter’s very own Allison Worley and Emily Spehar are prior recipients of this award and are both outstanding examples of the value of the fellowship program!
MEMBER BENEFITS AND ALA RESOURCES
Are you looking for ways to maximize your membership? Check out these additional benefits from ALA!
Legal Management Magazine (LMM): Included in this publication, you will find topics covering ALA’s five knowledge areas - Legal Industry/Business Management; Human Resources Management; Financial Management; Communications and Organizational Management; and Operations Management. For your convenience, we have added a link to LMM to our website. Click here for the most recent issue.
Online Community: Are you having an issue and want to know what the other law firms are doing? The ALA Online Community is a great resource to have all your questions answered. Through this portal, you may also sign up to receive publications on topics that interest you. Visit the Online Community at https://ala.tradewing.com/community. A “how to” for chatting with local Gateway Chapter members can be found at https://ala-gateway.org/ListServ.
Career Center: ALA’s Career Center contains articles regarding career advancement and maintains a Job Bank for Employers and Job Seekers. To maximize this benefit, please visit the Career Center at https://www.alanet.org/career-center/career-resources-and-articles.
Legal Marketplace: ALA’s Legal Marketplace is a directory of “top solution providers to the Legal Management Industry.” ALA encourages its members to support the Business Partners that support ALA. To search for an ALA Business Partner to address the needs of your firm and begin receiving exclusive member discounts through ALA’s Value in Partnership (VIP) program, please visit https://www.alanet.org/legal-marketplace.
ALA Gateway Business Partners: In addition to the Legal Marketplace, the Gateway Chapter has its own local Business Partners that support the Chapter. It’s because of the support of these Business Partners that we can provide top notch education and other community and social events to our Gateway members. Please familiarize yourself with our local Business Partners and reach out to them for any of your firm’s needs. https://ala-gateway.org/sponsors
Lastly, the Gateway Chapter has made it even easier for you to access all your benefit options in one place! Gateway’s Resource Page contains information about education, CLM certification, volunteering, and more. Please visit https://ala-gateway.org/Information__Resources.
THE WIND-UP
Whew! I know that was A LOT of information. I promise that future communications will not be such a novel 😊.
In closing, I would like to reflect on a quote that I shared at our board retreat - a quote that best describes the talent leading our Chapter: Great leaders are not the best at everything. They find people who are the best at different things and get them all on the same team - unknown.
I would like to express gratitude to:
- Immediate Past-President, Jill O’Connell, for doing such remarkable job leading our Chapter these past couple of years; and
- Each member of the Board for their support and guidance to prepare me for my term as President; and
- My law firm, Sandberg Phoenix, for contributing to my personal and professional growth over the past 22+ years.
I’m so fortunate to have the backing of such amazing leaders and I am excited to see what this amazing Board accomplishes in the 2023-2024 term!
Until next time -
Lori Hanlon
2023-2024 ALA Gateway President
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