P.E.O. Record
Expanding Our Vision
Humbly, I thank you for this opportunity to serve our sisterhood. Since age 18, a lifetime of P.E.O. benefits has brought me to this moment. I agree with Californian Dorothy Weller, Past President of Supreme Chapter, who was born about 10 miles down the road from where I now live in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, that "it is love, happiness and friendship that are the true blessings of service." Thank you for sharing yours with me.
Thank you local chapter delegates; state, provincial and district presidents, organizers and past presidents; leadership team; and International Chapter officers for working so carefully this convention on our road map to the future. Decisions reached here and now will guide continuous forward advancement.
Moving ahead into this next biennium, we will face changes thrust upon us by today and tomorrow's external environment over which we have no control; we will take calculated risks to find answers that are within our control; we will be pro-active; we will be confident. P.E.O. will continue to be what we have been since 1869-caring, thinking sisters who seek the best and brightest star! Based upon the firm foundation of strong, value-added heritage, we envision horizons of potential.
Today, it is our legacy and our challenge
to continue moving forward.
The theme for this biennium
is “Expanding Our Vision.”
Yes, P.E.O. has been a vision from the beginning. Through 140 years that vision has always expanded-never diminished. From simple beginnings of girlhood rivalry that nearly immediately reached for added dimension and vitality to others not part of the inner circle, to doing for others who weren't even members, P.E.O.'s vision, in the words of Mary Allen Stafford, is "serving womanhood and humanity." Today, it is our legacy and our challenge to continue moving forward. The theme for this biennium is "Expanding Our Vision."
In moments of practicality (i.e., what we think will suffice) we might be tempted to neglect the vision. Yet P.E.O. has never been satisfied with just preserving the status quo. No, sisters work tirelessly in chapter life and in state, provincial, district and International structure to modify, adapt, renew. We know what we saw yesterday is often not today's reality; we know change and differences are rampant all around us.
It would be easier to work, and even serve, without a vision. Without a vision, we aren't bothered by "expectations." However, from the beginning, that too was not the P.E.O. way. Ella Stewart, writing about P.E.O.'s origin for the 1887 Convention of Grand Chapter, held in Albia, Iowa, concluded by saying, "When I think of the past, look at the present, and dream of the future, I am filled with hope and 'great expectations' lure me onward. And I trust that our little effort, like the ripples on the lake, will widen and extend until they shall at last touch that shore whose bounds we cannot see." Ella trusted us to widen and extend.
Our 140-year history proves P.E.O. always has had an expanding vision. One amazing component of this is our incredible philanthropic purpose. Charitable outreach, in the world of the Founders, was to take winter coal to an indigent family. Members have never been satisfied to do philanthropically only what the Founders did. In the formative years, sisters exceeded their comfort zone by widening and extending educational and charitable help with loans, grants, awards, scholarships and a lifechanging college impacting thousands and thousands of women and their families. And this vision continues to grow!
Yes today our collective vision must always be farsighted. How? Is there a freshness and vigor today in our outlook? Absolutely!
In my opinion, we must see our beloved sisterhood in the context of all the frontiers of 2009. Beyond places and numbers, we must look to horizons of concepts and attitudes. More than anything, our challenge is to show the next generation of leaders that P.E.O. is a wise choice in quality living. I believe the single-most staggering statistic from the Noel-Levitz survey results is that only 6 percent of our total 2007 membership are under 40 years of age. One of my visions for this biennium is for us to positively increase this number. We can accomplish this by effectively showcasing the significant benefits of belonging to a sisterhood that effectively impacts the woman next door as well as the women across the world.
P.E.O. is rich! We are rich in values, tradition, creativity and potential! We believe in ourselves. We believe in our sisterhood. We know what individually and collectively we can do for women. We are proud of our fingerprints and footprints created for those following.
Embedded in our hearts and minds, each one of us has a vision of P.E.O. at its finest. We know that as we individually stand up for what is right, for what is good, for what is the more excellent way, we are of value to our chapters and communities. We know that as we connect with one another, we multiply that value. Joining hands with sisters in achieving critical goals for world peace and higher education for women, we will make a better world for ourselves and our families.
At a convention such as this, we focus on structure, the framework to best achieve our purposes. However, it is our purposes that make the vision, the ideas and ideals that offer meaning and energy to our organization. Achieving our purposes takes planning, commitment, patience and courage. Each one of us must be active participants, not passive observers. Just as we look for the horizon over the next hill, we all must continue toward the vision.
Looking ahead with vision is the key to unlocking continued growth and development. It creates excitement and momentum! Continued growth comes by sharing a broadening of focus and an expanding value appreciation.
Some paths to the horizon may be new or marginally tried. No one disagrees with a mandate to preserve our core purposes. What we must continue collectively to determine is how to adapt the methods-the delivery system of our core purposes-to be relevant to today and tomorrow's women.
Is it easy to keep focused on the vision? We all know: of course not. With every step taken, it is much easier to watch where our feet are going than to look up to see the glorious view.
Yet, as long as we are true to the vision to serve the needs of today's women, just as the Founders were true to serving the needs of the Original Seven, we must be willing to make the journey. The measure of true future success will be to exceed meeting the needs of the next generation of sisters.
The proof that we have vision lies in the fact that we are always reaching out for more than we have in our grasp. Our reach must continue to exceed our grasp.
In our initiation vows, each one of us pledged our responsibility to make and be that Sisterhood that will last longer than all of us.
Forward!
Elizabeth E. Garrels, President
International Chapter