Leadership in Division B Is Off to a Great Start

By Jim Raney, Division B Governoror

Leadership is a vital component of the priorities of Division B’s service to its members. In fact, I have made the facilitation of leadership development for every member one of my top priorities this year.

And to help the members of Division B in achieving their goals, we have assembled an excellent team of Toastmasters who have volunteered their time and expertise. They include our Area Governors and Assistant Area Governors and officers committed to supporting them as they achieve their goals to support you and the Division’s mission of expanding our network of clubs.

Meet Our Remarkable Team of Governors

Our Area Governors have demonstrated remarkable leadership skills and are doing a tremendous job, already in their first months working to ensure that every club officer was trained by August 31, preparing for their Area Speech Contests, and striving to complete their club visits. Let me introduce this extraordinary Division B team: Anil Agrawal, CTM (Area B-1 Governor); Siva Tottikalai, CTM (Area B-2 Governor); Joel Carnes (Area B-3 Governor); Gregg Van Citters, ATM-S (Area B-5 Governor); Brad Harte, ATM-B (Area B-1 Assistant Governor); and Mary Young, CTM (Area B-5 Assistant Governor).
Each of these Governors and Assistant Governors is committed to upholding the District Mission to expand the network of clubs in their Areas, so that every person has the opportunity to experience the benefits of the Toastmasters program.
However, as you may have noticed, we are still lacking one Area Governor (B-4) and three Assistant Area Governors (B-2, B-3, and B-4). If you are interested in an intensely rewarding role that will give you the inside track in your goal to achieve success as a leader, then please volunteer as an Area Governor or an Assistant Governor. The benefits for leadership development are immeasurable. Keep in mind that this is a hands-on leadership role, and the level of success you achieve is directly proportional to the commitment you invest in the role. Are you Governor material? Of course, you are. Contact me at jraney@sbcglobal.net, and I will convince you.

Introducing a Very Special Support Team

Allow me to introduce the supporting cast of our Division team:

Joy Hodges, ATM-B, and Laurie Lincoln, our Contest Chairs, who have already done a splendid job in organizing the refreshments for our Council meetings and the Breakfast for the Division’s makeup training. They are now in the midst of preparing for the Division B contest on October 1.
Arvee Robinson, DTM, Immediate Past Division B Governor (and Division Governor of the Year!), promoted and organized the Division makeup training in July and, as seen from the outcome (over 50 officers were trained), did an outstanding job with her team.
Maria McHolland, CTM, our Division Treasurer, is doing a remarkable job with the Division finances and works closely with the Area Governors in helping them with their contest budgets.
Barbara Garrett, ATM-B, our efficient Division Secretary, keeps members informed of our council meetings and other District information.
Paul Wims, DTM, Division B’s Marketing Chair, serves with flair as he promotes the Area and Division contests and other important marketing information for Division B.
Hugh Scheffy, DTM, Past Division Governor, graciously brings me up to date about important information, so I don’t overlook any detail.
Carmen Bomar, CTM, serves diligently as the Club Extension Chair, scouting for new club leads. She is also the Administrative Policy & Procedures representative for the Division.
Jean Andresen, DTM, promotes the High Performance Leadership program for the Division and trains our officers and members on using this quality “leadership through project management” training program.
Steve Smith, DTM, our Leadership Chair, uses his extensive experience in providing quality leadership training to our members. Steve works alongside Jean, and together they did an outstanding job in their presentation on leadership at our July council meeting.
Jack Packey, ATM-S, Division Sgt-at-Arms, handles adeptly all the room setup details and assembles the audience for our Division council meetings and Division functions.
Trevor D’Souza, ATM-G/CL, Newsletter Chair, skillfully refines the Division newsletter.

Division B Is Committed to Focused Enthusiasm

I am delighted that 98% of our Clubs turned in their officer lists on time. This shows a commitment to demonstrating good leadership and moving each club forward to achieve Distinguished or higher in the Distinguished Club Program. Our Division members are committed to their roles with focused enthusiasm (our District Governor’s theme for this year), which will make for a very successful year.

I am truly honored to serve and support our Area Governors as they achieve success in their individual goals of helping their clubs earn CTMs, ATMs, and other educational and leadership awards; find committed new members; and birth new clubs. Their success will be the basis for maintaining Division B’s mission of expanding the Toastmasters program, so that it is easily accessible to everyone. No doubt about it, the Division B leadership is off to a great start and remains focused with unwavering enthusiasm.

Thank you Division Staff for an excellent job!