After making official visits to chapters in Hawaii early last year, Beth Ledbetter, immediate past Organizer of International Chapter, identified Chapter F, Honolulu, as a chapter that could effectively support the organization of a new chapter. She wrote to the chapter asking if there might be someone who would be the sparkplug for such an endeavor.
After careful consideration, Sally Parker answered the call. “I think I’m the spark you’re looking for,” she said through email.
Yet it wasn’t just Beth’s gentle urgings that motivated this 43-year member. Her five daughters had become P.E.O.s, just as she had done at the age of 18—two of them as members of Chapter F. Sally wanted them to really participate in P.E.O. and thought helping them organize a chapter would help instill the same love for P.E.O. that runs so deeply within her. “P.E.O. has given me such a grounding and commitment to women’s education. I wanted my daughters and others like them to have the same thing I have.”
The Question of Size
The decision to hold the charter for Chapter K was cemented during a visit with her daughter who lives in San Francisco. Members in her chapter range in age from 23-90; the chapter has less than 30 active members. “What appealed to me about Natalie’s chapter was the size,” Sally said. “Everything works as efficiently as it does in Chapter F and they have this wonderful range in age. Our chapter had become so large that members were having difficulty hosting the luncheon meetings in their homes. Smaller chapters don’t have that problem.”
Jean Barragan, Past President, Montana State Chapter, understands this issue. Jean organized two chapters during her service on the board, passed on the organization of a third chapter to her successor, challenged a nonresident P.E.O. to start a new chapter in Bozeman and encouraged a state convention committee to establish a new chapter in Helena, organized on March 11, 2011.
A college professor and director of education for the University of Great Falls, Jean observed several leadership dynamics in Montana P.E.O. chapters. Large chapters often found it difficult to find officers because “someone else will do it,” and growth had become stymied. Attendance waned because members felt they wouldn’t be missed.
Small chapters however, have a different dynamic. Members are conspicuously absent when role is called so attendance is better. Everyone is needed to accomplish the work of the chapter.
Deciding to Sponsor
“It takes one person of courage to want to see P.E.O. grow and say, ‘I’m going to start with my own chapter’,” Jean said. “It’s about offering P.E.O. to women at opportune times.”
Sally was that person of courage for Chapter K. She volunteered to hold consent to select the charter list then began to get her Chapter F sisters on board as her support group. “I did lots of calling and had little meetings,” she said. “I let them know I was doing this for the greater good of P.E.O. When I explained it, they understood.” She saw the need for P.E.O. to continue to grow in Honolulu and wanted to be part of the process. “It wasn’t ‘I want to leave Chapter F’,” she said, “it was ‘I want to grow’.”
Organizer of International Chapter Sue Baker acknowledges the decision to leave the sisters in your chapter to organize a new one is often an emotional one. She said, “It becomes easier when you remember it is about giving the benefits of P.E.O. to some brand-new sisters and sisters not able to participate, while growing P.E.O.”
How to Start the Process in your Chapter
Jean is an encourager for anyone who’s interested in spearheading the organizing process. “Taking the lead in organizing a new chapter simply means knowing P.E.O. well enough that you can put together a yearbook and act as president for eight to 10 meetings.”
Timing for organizing a new chapter varies according to how quickly the new chapter members are ready. In Jean’s experience, chapters have been organized in as few as eight to 10 meetings. One of the chapters was organized in four months, others have taken up to one year.
If you believe it’s time to organize a new chapter in your community, begin by introducing the idea during new business. The vote is taken at the next meeting so members have a chance to think about the idea. Your state, provincial or district organizer will be involved in the process.
“I loved it,” Sally said of the organization process. “It was work, but when you’re doing something you enjoy, you don’t find it overwhelming. Just follow the P.E.O. formulas.”
The Role of the Sponsoring Chapter
“You start a new chapter, but you have to keep it going. It needs nurturing and tending,” Sally said. “That’s where the sponsoring chapter comes in.”
The two chapters had a joint BIL party and one of the sponsoring chapter’s members served as prompter for the new chapter’s first initiation. Members of this newly organized chapter also attended their sponsoring chapter’s Christmas bazaar.
Other ways the sponsoring chapter can be supportive include volunteering to be the initiation team and offering to host the reception.
“The strongest benefit is a new kind of loyalty to the cause of offering P.E.O. to potential new charter initiates,” Jean said. “It’s not a question of loyalty to one specific chapter—it’s about spreading the word of P.E.O. and offering it to others in the community.”
The Rest of the Story
Chapter K, Honolulu, was organized on August 20, 2011. Since then they have set goals and had their first initiation. They have 24 members ranging in age from 30-89.
“I’m so proud of them,” Sally said. “Their first goal is attendance, the second goal is to get to know each other better and the third goal is to learn all about P.E.O. and its traditions. It’s so wonderful when you pass your torch on and they do a better job than you!”
