tri delta

To change the podcast up a little, our hosts Karen White, Georgia, and Mindy Tucker, Southern Methodist, are joined by two young professionals from the Executive Office staff. Avery Sadler, Mississippi, and Meredith Davies, Rhodes, jump in on the conversation of hot topics and other Tri Delta news. Avery and Meredith are recent graduates and help bring younger perspectives on everything from sisterhood, dating and what’s going on in Tri Delta today. They talk about intergenerational learning and how bonding with sisters is a gift from Tri Delta. All four hosts relate it back to being with sisters in the “TV rooms” of their Tri Delta houses. Tune in for a great chat with sisters being sisters!

Allison Dickson, Southwestern, is an attorney, activist, philanthropist and a 2022 Tri Delta Woman of Achievement. She was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy and was not expected to live past the age of three. Despite a lifetime of overcoming challenges, Allison shares her motto in life, “I don’t need easy, I just need possible.” She discusses her membership journey in Tri Delta and why being selected as a Woman of Achievement is such an honor for her. Allison is a powerful advocate of education and has established multiple academic scholarships to help a new generation access the education she was given as a result of scholarships. Her story is an inspiration to all!

Follow Allison on Instagram and connect on LinkedIn!

Tri Delta Woman of Achievement Jeri Sedlar, Michigan State, has a passion for people and their professional development. Even at retirement age, we will all still have passions and full lives and journeys to fulfill. Her book, Don’t Retire, REWIRE! focuses on understanding what drives you in your career and how to use that to propel to your next endeavor in your career or retirement. You’ll hear about “drivers” and how acknowledging them will help you rewire TO something else.  As the landscape of retirement age is increasing, Jeri’s advice has never been more helpful!

https://dontretirerewire.com/ 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/career-length-retirement-living-longer-11675878313

Multi-hyphenate and super sister Dr. Melanie Hicks, Central Florida, has built an incredible career across numerous fields and joins us to share her wisdom on women in the workforce. Mel recently launched her own publishing house to help people tell their stories. She takes a glance at what the workforce looks like for women post-pandemic, given the shifts to work and life balance. Mel discusses the “psychological contract” women make regarding the expectations we bring into the workplace and how to build bravery to make changes to their careers. She also discusses her “3 E” method of making change: Excavate your Attic, Eliminate your Obligations and Embolden your Resolve. She reminds us that women in particular “own the keys to the cages we keep ourselves in.” Look for more from this dynamic Delta and her upcoming book!

Connect with Melanie on LinkedIn!

Follow her publishing house Inked Elephant Publishing on Instagram.

While everyone knows about the amazing experience we offer our collegiate members, not as many of you are aware of the powerful and engaging growth and development opportunities we offer our alumnae. Our latest offering is one of a kind and so exciting that we decided to devote today’s podcast to sharing more about the LEADDD Network. Through the LEADDD Network, we will provide ways to make connections with other professional women who happen to be your Tri Delta sisters! The Network will have specific content curated in a way that it’s not just programs … it’s an experience you won’t want to miss! Created from feedback from our alumnae, Tri Delta is leaning into our Purpose and meeting our members where they are. Learn more, join today and bring a sister!

https://www.tridelta.org/our-members/leaddd/

Tri Delta offers a home away from home for our sisters. And often, that home away from home includes an actual Tri Delta house where members live and enjoy the once in a lifetime experience of living with their sisters. VP of Housing and Operations Dan Duncan joins us this episode to speak about Tri Delta Housing and how we are leading the way on the housing front and prioritizing the living experience. Tri Delta Housing is lucky to have a whole team of professional staff who work tirelessly to ensure that our Tri Delta homes are safe, comfortable and competitive living spaces for our collegiate members. Learn about how the Tri Delta Housing portfolio has grown in recent years and some exciting new projects we’re so proud of. Dan also speaks how history plays an important role in housing and how we are taking technology to a new level. Want to learn more about what Tri Delta Housing can do for you? Visit tridelta.org/housing!

We open up the archives to learn about our Founder with the help of Fraternity Archivist Beth Applebaum, Texas Christian, and Chair of the Tri Delta Alliance Ginger Hicks Smith, Emory, a retired professional archivist. Beth and Ginger read excerpts from letters written by some of Tri Deltas greatest leaders like R. Louise Fitch, Knox, and Ernestine Block Grigsby, Colorado. These memories paint a portrait of who Sarah Ida Shaw (later Ida Shaw Martin) was, from those who knew her best. Their letters recall the founding, Sarah’s commitment to the broader fraternal movement, Tri Delta’s expansion west and so much more. They also discuss the touching moments of Sarah’s broadcast address to the Golden Anniversary Convention in 1938. This is an episode not to be missed … Happy Founders’ Day!

Be sure to visit more of our digital archives at tridelta.historyit.com!

Ashley McClellan, Southern Methodist, is a long serving CEO in the healthcare industry who credits much of her success as an executive to her time serving as collegiate chapter president at SMU. She talks about how a special alumna mentored her as a collegian and why mentorship remains an important part of her career and life. Ashley also speaks of the importance of sponsorship among women of all ages. A passionate philanthropist, Ashley discusses how she has given back to Tri Delta through an endowed scholarship through Tri Delta’s Foundation. With Tri Delta’s Day of Giving coming up, Ashley makes the case for why all sisters should give what they can, when they can to make a lasting impact on our sisterhood. 

Be sure to participate in Tri Delta’s Day of Giving on Tuesday, Nov 15! www.tridelta.org/dayofgiving 

After experiencing her mother’s journey with breast cancer, Leah Wyrick, Wake Forest, started a business at a young age to ease the journey for other breast cancer patients. As a high schooler, Leah invented a surgical recovery garment as part of a senior project. This led her to furthering the development of her young business during her time at Wake Forest. She got a unique experience as part of the startup lab at Wake where she was able to hone her product, all while developing a strong business acumen. Her product, The Resilience Bra, has been developed and beta tested and she’s excited to hopefully get it on the market starting early 2023. Leah talks about going back to her “why” and that she wants to make a difference in the lives of those touched by breast cancer. We cant wait to see more from this incredible sister!

www.threestrandsrecoverywear.com

Threestrandscorp@gmail.com

Follow Three Strands Recovery Wear on Facebook and Instagram

Mia Mercer and Jojo Flower, both Vanderbilt, are members of ROTC at their university with hopes of pursuing careers in the military, serving our country. Jojo and Mia attended the Career Orientation and Training for Midshipmen (or CORTRAMID-West), a four-week training experience where they were able to learn the ins and out of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. During the month-long program on bases in and around San Diego, they got to experience aviation, infantry and even drive a submarine! They discuss the transferable skills they took away from CORTRAMID-West and how this will guide them in their military careers post-graduation. We can expect great things from these two enterprising sisters who will proudly serve our great country!

Life has been busy for our sister, the stage and screen star Zakiya Young, Pittsburgh. She’s on a current hot streak in Hollywood and in the entertainment world. Zakiya talks about her role in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, and how the show tackles a generational look at major societal issues. She discusses how she’s seeing a shift with inclusion within entertainment and more stories are being driven by women and women of color as writers, directors and producers. Zakiya is also a new playwright, having authored her first one-woman show, Suburban Black Girl. She found her voice through the playwriting process and shares personal stories of her experiences as a Black woman growing up in her communities. It’s her hope that through this new work, more people will engage in authentic conversations on diversity and inclusion. 

Content warning: This episode features topics like sexual assault, racism, bullying and more. 

Be sure to follow Zakiya on Instagram!

This episode, we’re joined by Sr. Chapter Development Consultant Avery White, Creighton, who is currently in her second her traveling for Tri Delta as a CDC. Avery talks about what and who inspired her to apply to serve as a CDC and why it’s helping her discover new skills. She details what a typical day in the life looks like and what her goals are to support our sisters across North America. Avery talks about how she is able to make connections and see the impact of her work with our chapters. She also offers what makes a great CDC and encourages sisters to serve in this role for Tri Delta. Best of luck and safe travels to Avery and all our CDCs!

Do you want to apply to be a CDC? Apply here!

Be sure to follow our CDCs on Instagram!

Today’s episode, we are joined by Dr. Kristen Gwinn-Becker, Founder and CEO of HistoryIT. Our partnership with HistoryIT allows us to save our history and digitize it for preservation and accessibility. With physical forms of history in danger of deterioration, digitizing our treasured past allows for easy access from any computer or mobile device. Upon completion of this project, Tri Delta will have more than two million pieces readily available at www.tridelta.historyit.com! Members will have access to printed materials and audio/visual from our founding up to present day. This digitization allows for us to understand our shared history and tell our story through our archives. 

Explore our digital archives today at www.tridelta.historyit.com!  

Risha Grant knows there are many uncomfortable conversations around diversity today. Through her humor and storytelling, she is able to help people understand their own diversity journeys and the work that must be done. She challenges us to use our lenses to understand how we see the world and acknowledge what makes each of us diverse. Risha explains how inclusion truly means being invited, involved and engaged. She examines bias and what it means to identify our own “BS” … the bias synapse and how we can all face our own BS in order to build authentic relationships while allowing for grace.

Be sure to connect with Risha on her social media platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube!

Thanks to generous donors to Tri Delta’s Foundation, Tri Delta has partnered with ACI Specialty Benefits to expand our mental health support through SOAR, a new service we’re offering members to help them cope with life’s challenges. Today’s episode we are joined by Yve Fontilea from ACI to talk about SOAR. Members and their families and loved ones are able to take of advantage of all the benefits of SOAR to reduce stress, stay motivated and focus on important areas of wellness. Soar offers resources on financial wellness as well as legal consultation. What’s best is that it is free to Tri Delta collegians and volunteers and is available 24/7, and completely confidential! We’re grateful that we are able to meet our members’ most pressing needs through SOAR and all it offers.

Check out SOAR resources here (company code: TRI-14543). 24/7 support is available now by calling 855-786-0275.

As we close out Mental Health Awareness Month, we are following up our recent LEADDD Keynote with Rachel Graham, Baylor, with a discussion on more tough topics. We’ve all experienced incredible amounts of loss over the past two years. Rachel helps us examine what types of major loss we may experience, such as relationships, health, wealth or expectations. She examines the stages of grief and how they may or may not be linear in our experiences coping with loss. 

Rachel offers best practices on not only feeling your feelings, but also how to support friends and loved ones dealing with loss. Finally, she brings it full circle in speaking about how our rituals (and Rituals) may help mark beginnings and endings in our journey. 

To find out more about Rachel and her work, visit:

www.evolveandtransform.me

www.Healingspringsranch.com   

To watch Rachel’s LEADDD Keynote, click here. 

Content Warning: This episode discusses topics on sexual assault and sexual violence.

Following our April LEADDD Keynote with author and artist Chanel Miller, we are having a conversation on sexual violence and assault prevention with Laura Luciano, Maryland. Laura serves as Associate Director of Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance at the Rutgers-Camden campus, where she provides counseling, advocacy and crisis intervention to crime victims—primarily victims of stalking and survivors of sexual and dating violence. She talks about making awareness a year-long cause and how to best support and believe survivors of assault through education and bystander interventions. Part of her work with Tri Delta has been to provide education and resources for sisters supporting each other through brave, bold and kind actions and interventions. Laura also focuses on prevention priorities, consent education and healthy relationships. Through her 20 years of advocacy work, she aims for a world without violence. 

To view the LEADDD Keynote with Chanel Miller, click here. 

Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour has worn many hats in her life: combat pilot, police office and entrepreneur, excelling in typically male-dominated fields. She knows that being the first also speaks to how representation matters. At Tri Delta’s Collegiate Leadership Conference she will speak with our new collegiate officers about elevating their leadership by making what she calls “the gutsy move.” This idea comes from knowing what’s right in your gut, but also having the guts to take the action. She notes that new leaders have the clean canvas to create their own visions into reality. Although there will be obstacles in leadership, obstacles are just opportunities in disguise. Leaders have the ability to stand up, step up and speak up to make real and lasting change.

Follow and connect with FlyGirl on Instagram!

Taylor Lou was inspired to excel in business through her entrepreneurial family, and her Tri Delta grandmother showed her what it was like to be a strong, kind and feminine leader. Taylor started her first business at 21 and has gone on to help other women and “fempreneurs” grow their businesses and increase their impact and wealth. She speaks about making space for women in business and how to inherit knowledge and grit through mentorship. Taylor follows up on finding your inner It-Factor with great strategies to find what makes you magnetic and authentic.

She also offers our listeners an incredible deal on one of her online courses! Take advantage of Taylor’s special offer … 100% off her It-Factor course!

Check out more at taylorloucoaching.com and follow Taylor on Instagram! 

In summer 2020, Tri Delta’s Convention approved the LEADDD Now resolution to create a more inclusive and equitable lifetime membership experience, especially for our Black, Indigenous and Sisters of Color. This journey has led to an organization-wide audit to learn more about lived experiences of our sisters. Anchored in our Purpose, LEADDD Always is Tri Delta’s recommitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, access and belonging in our sisterhood. CEO Karen White is joined by Executive Board Directors Emily Greer and Lenora Oeters for a Q&A following our February LEADDD Keynote, which gave an update on the next steps in our intentional work. They discuss how we plan to monitor and gauge our success in the DEIAB realm, which will become forever work for our organization and our sisters. Learn more about how we are being intentional in order to be truly transformational in Tri Delta.

Read more about LEADDD Always.