Shevawn O’Connor, LLLI Board of Directors,
member of 60th Anniversary Work Group
Report to the LLLI Board of Directors on CeLLLebration Day July 29, 2017
Sharing the challenges and rewards of carrying out the LLL global mission, as well as relevant information
Eighteen Leaders led 12 hours of Leader Development Sessions in Dutch, English, Italian and Spanish in a closed Facebook group on 17-18 July, 2017 (the date depended on where in the world they were). Three Board members also facilitated sessions: Ann Calandro, Linda Smith and Shevawn O’Connor. The Leaders/facilitators posted 328 memes, which 941 Leaders and Applicants actively followed with 18,472 comments and reactions! Participants used the Facebook translation button which automatically translated a comment in a foreign language into their preferred language—in approximately one second.
The program:
CeLLLebration Day for Leaders and Leader Applicants 17 July, 2017
The broader significance of breastfeeding—the importance of our volunteer work as LLL Leaders
Lourdes Santaballa, Liga de la Leche, Puerto Rico, Spanish
The vital role of the Leader in the pre-application dialogue
Benaifer Bhandari, LAD LLL Great Britain (LLLGB) and Margaret McGuigan, LAD LLL Ireland, English
Dealing with difficult meeting situations, Dutch
Judith Susanne Oostra, LLL Netherlands and Nish Barnard, LLL Flanders, Communication Skills Department, Dutch
Decoding the WHO Code
Linda J. Smith, LLLI Board Member, English
The management of a large Facebook account. How this can be a source of income for the organization, guidelines for how to behave on Facebook and manage the critical moments.
Carla Mura, LLL Italia, Italian
Unconscious bias and how it affects our Leader work
Tania Ruseva, Bulgaria, Future Areas in Europe, English (and perhaps a little Bulgarian)
The important role of Supporting Leaders during the accreditation process
Jayne Joyce, Jane Frickey and Benaifer Bhandari, LAD LLL Great Britain, English
Harmonious co-leading
Rebecca Shaw, Communications Skills Tutor, LLL New Zealand (LLLNZ), English
Preparing to lead meetings
Kristina Maconaghie, LLLNZ, English
Dealing with medical questions and situation outside our own experience.
Robin Jones, Wendy Pennell and Cherie Roberts, Professional Liaison Department, LLLNZ, English
LLL journeys – how LLL changes us and our families English and Dutch
Carolyn Driver-Burgess, LLL New Zealand/Future Areas in Asia and the Middle East, and Lydia de Raad, LLL Netherlands, English and Dutch
The next 60 years for La Leche League, English
Ann Miller Calandro, LLLI Board Chairman and Shevawn O’Connor LLLI Board Member, English
The need to reconnect was deeply felt by all. Some Leaders stayed up to 4:00 am local time just to “be there”! At least one Area is going to translate one of the posts/memes and the related comments, and use them in their Area Leaders’ Letter and on the Area Facebook page as a discussion point. The threads are still open, so any Leader or Applicant interested in seeing what transpired can join the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ceLLLebrationday/ and take a look.
The CeLLLebration Day Leader Development Sessions were beautifully (and passionately) organized by Alison Stanton, Lydia de Raad, Carolyn Driver-Burgess, Carla Mura, Kristina Maconaghie, and Hannah Abernethy. Many thanks to each and every one of them for their dedication to this project and to LLLI in general!
Present-day technology enables us to “be together” in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. We look forward to the next one!
Originally from Chicago, Illinois, USA, Shevawn O’Connor has been living and working in Italy since 1982. Her two children—Stefano and Lara—were born in Italy and she became a Leader in 1993. She has served as Area Coordinator of Leaders (ACL) for LLL Italia, and was a member of the European Council from 2013 to 2016. Shevawn became a member of the Board of Directors of LLLI in October 2016.