Dear Readers,
The beauty of volunteer work for the Junior League of New Orleans is that it not only enables us to put forth time and resources to make our community a better place, but that JLNO is also a training organization, which strives to provide its members with the knowledge and skills for responsible community leadership. As a result, JLNO promotes voluntarism while developing the potential of its members, many of whom serve tirelessly on many boards and other organizations throughout our community. And as we volunteer and serve aside each other, we inspire and empower one another through our ideas and our talents, and forge lifelong friendships.
It is this experience of Advancing the Wellbeing of Women and cultivating the talents of women in our community that inspired one of our newest projects – the Woman Entrepreneur (WE) Fellowship. As the kick-starter environment of New Orleans continues to boom, JLNO noticed a gap in female-specific programming and turned it into a window of opportunity to create a new avenue for assisting female entrepreneurs in New Orleans. The winner of the WE Fellowship, Windowsill Pies, will receive mentoring and support services from JLNO to assist its female owners in expanding their business.
As I enter the middle of my JLNO career, I am grateful for the opportunities that this organization has provided – the community shifts, the placements, being an editor for Lagniappe, and for the wonderful women I have had the privilege to work alongside in this organization. I am grateful to Shannon McCloskey Able and Kristen Koppel for their guidance throughout the year, to Lagniappe’s previous editor Kelly Walsh for her many words of encouragement, to my fellow editors Lea Witkowski-Purl and Lacrecia Jones for their hard work in making this magazine happen, and to the Lagniappe staff. The writers and photographers continually do a marvelous job of capturing and documenting the important work that we do, and I am thankful for the many hours they commit to Lagniappe. As we bid farewell to the 2015-2016 League year and usher in a new League year, we welcome our newest leaders to the JLNO Board and eagerly anticipate their contributions, ideas and guidance for another successful League year.
Warmly,
Amanda Wingfield Goldman
2015-2016 Lagniappe Editor
