When Sheronda Wilford was elected president of the Junior League of Richmond, she never imagined that she’d be taking office virtually on June 1. “Our end-of-year meeting is a celebration of our members and the installation of the incoming president. There’s normally a ‘passing of the gavel,’ where past presidents come and pass the gavel down and hand it off to the next president,” she says. “Of course we can’t do that now, but that’s OK. That’s something we can do later.”
A member since 2011, Wilford describes the league, which celebrates its 95th anniversary this year, as “an organization of women committed to the mission of promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.”
Recently, the Junior League’s biggest fundraiser, the Book & Author event, was set to be held on May 7. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization was forced to make a decision: Cancel or press on. With the help of the planning committee and fellow league members, they decided to hold it online. “It went really, really well, and it just showed the strength and resiliency of the league,” Wilford says. “We were able to reach a lot more people. We have sister leagues all across the country, and they were able to participate because it was virtual.” The future is on this new president’s mind. “These are unprecedented times and now we must forge a new path with our strategic goals to ensure the success and longevity of our organization, and I hope our members will embrace the change and take it one day at a time.”
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