Dear Great Dames,

THANK you…

• …for helping us collect more than 500 hundred coats during our Great Winter Coat Collection to benefit the Clothing Bank of Delaware during the MLK Day of Service on January 17.
• …for all of your donations to the “Fill the Need” event on Valentines Day, for Give a Heart to Africa.
• Special thanks to Hattie Shaw, a Great Dame who always inspires her AstraZeneca colleagues to service.

Opportunities from our partners

We asked you for your best advice and you shared
your wit and wisdom.

I often get inspiration from books and stories about people’s experiences.
The resiliency of people is often quite motivating.
J.F. North Wales, PA

Never make yourself look good by making someone else look bad.
J.C. Richmond, VA

Always assume positive intent.
If you assume otherwise, you’re always angry.
I.N. New York, NY

You meet the same people going up the ladder as you do coming down.
D.M. Philadelphia, PA

Be happy and don’t hurt people.
K.P. Rochester, NY

With great freedom comes great responsibility.
We have all won the lottery of life.
S.W. Boston, MA

Have your own ‘true north’… if you understand where you really want to go as a person then you’ll make better career decisions along the way.
K.W. Wilmington, DE

Sometime we need to unchoose.. to re-evaluate what really matters.
Know your limitations.
B.R. Denver, CO

Keep the spirit of people alive by honoring their legacy.
C.T. Baltimore, MD

Love your job regardless of how much you make.
If you love it and are passionate about it, good things will happen.
S.C. Philadelphia, PA

~  ~  ~

Got some great advice?
Share it with us in the comment section of this post!

Inspiration can come from many different places and take on many different forms. It is what motivates us, strengthens us, gives us insight and keeps us moving forward.

“Just don’t give up on what you’re really trying to do.
Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
Ella Fitzgerald, Musician

If you are lucky like me, you have had several hundred sources of inspiration throughout your life. Most of mine have come in the form of individuals that I have met along the way. My sister, my parents, grandparents, teachers, aunts, colleagues, fellow travelers, friends.. kindred spirits. Most probably don’t even realize how much of an impact they have had on my life.

More recently, working with Great Dames, I have had opportunity to meet some very amazing women and men, who have dedicated their lives to social causes that they care deeply about. I have listened to their stories and empathized with their struggles and triumphs. In them, I have found new sources of inspiration.

For these people, I want to say, Thank You.

This week, during Women’s History Month, Great Dames is launching its very first line of Inspirational Note Cards. These cards are a perfect excuse to write someone who inspires you a personal, handwritten note. A Thank You. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, that for every aha! moment inspired by someone special, you could reach out to that individual and thank them? What an inspiring exchange. If there is one thing great women in history have in common, it is their support of each other. So, during this month and always, we encourage you to send personal notes to those people that inspire you.

For more information on Great Dames Inspirational Note Cards, please visit our Store. All net proceeds will go to the Great Dames Fund, to support the dreams of aspiring Great Dames.

Heather Hake
Director of Operations
Great Dames, Inc.

We were so inspired by these remarks from a fellow Great Dame, that we wanted to share them with you.

“Over the years I’ve heard hundreds of wonderful lectures from wonderful speakers ranging from Governor Ann Richardson to Gloria Steinem… I enjoyed hearing from most of these leaders and almost always found them entertaining but I don’t think I ever learned anything about leadership that altered my behaviour.

However, watching widows and amputees navigate a devastated countryside and figure out ways to find shelter and feed their children not only taught me about leadership, but I think probably transformed me… on more levels than I can describe.

I also was once struck by the authenticity of a remark made by scholar Dr. Jon Goodman’s daughter when she said that everything she knew about leadership she learned at the dinner table.

I think this is true of many of us. It is the leaders we watch everyday… parents, siblings, teachers, and even foes… who teach us in ways that really stick about both strategy and leadership.

My own epiphany came in Cambodia working with amputees and widows, but I also have to say I was made ready for that experience by working with gangs in East Los Angeles and by running a free summer lunch program for 18,000 inner city LA kids. No one delivers a lesson in leadership quite like a 9 year old who successfully trades his cookies (not a difficult transaction but still noteworthy) for an extra carton of milk he then hides so he can later take it home for a 4 year old brother.”

Judith Wilder
Great Dame & Chairman Emeritus, SIAS International University Foundation Board

I grew up in Delaware. And, although I have had the great opportunity to travel to and live in several different countries in my short life and currently reside in the city of Philadelphia, I still have a special place in my heart for Delaware. And I love saying that I am a Delawarian.

Yesterday, that fact was affirmed when I attended the Delaware Conference on Volunteerism in Dover. It was such an inspiring day, in the company of hundreds of volunteers, nonprofit administrators, politicians, corporate civic allies and people that just cared about community. We talked about Delaware being a state of neighbors and how, in Delaware, it’s personal.

We also discussed the idea of being able to give back, on any capacity, in any small way that you can. From a seven year old, who helped the families of sick children at the Ronald McDonald House by baking them cookies in her home to the 35 year old who had court ordered community service and, in the end, decided to stay on with his organization, because the ability to give back was that important to him.

A Can Do attitude is so central to the American spirit, and we need to continually ask what we can do for our communities, and for each other. After being so inspired yesterday, I am committing to joining two new volunteer-based initiatives in my own neighborhood, and I am feeling really empowered by the idea. There are so many ways to give back. What will you commit to?

Heather Hake
Director of Operations
Great Dames, Inc.

Resources

Delaware:

State Office of Volunteerism of Delaware

Volunteer Delaware

United Way of Delaware

Greater Philadelphia:

Greater Philadelphia Cares

Volunteers of America, Pennsylvania

United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Elsewhere:

1-800-Volunteer

Volunteers of America

Or, just call your favorite local organization and say, “What can I do to help?”

Something I read recently really inspired me, “Nothing liberates our greatness like the desire to help, the desire to serve.” (Marianne Williamson, author)

As we approach the holidays, take time to reflect on your proudest moments this year. How have you been able to serve others? How can you liberate the Great Dame within you in the new year? We’d love to hear about your journey and invite you to join us as we help women activate their strengths so they can leave their mark on the world. The world is waiting for you.

Sharon Hake
President & CEO

During the past few years, I have had the opportunity to travel to some pretty amazing places. I have also had the opportunity to teach some pretty amazing kids. I educated and was educated. Through teaching, I had the opportunity to see the world through a child’s eyes. What a brilliant exchange. I could never have asked for a more meaningful education.

I am grateful every day for these experiences. As I discussed this fact with a friend the other day she said, dubiously, “Really? You are grateful every day?” And, the more I think about it… the answer is yes, I am grateful every single day.

Here are two of my favorite literacy initiatives that help kids get access to books, when they otherwise would not.

Big Brother Mouse

Better World Books

Happy Thanksgiving,

Heather Hake
Director of Operations
Great Dames, Inc.

Thanksgiving always seems to remind us why we have so many reasons to be thankful. We are grateful to the many extraordinary Great Dames who have inspired us as we build our company. We are grateful for the opportunities we’ve had to work with talented women leaders to help them on their personal and professional journey as Great Dames. We are grateful to the women and men who are actively co-mentoring each other so that wisdom and skills spread and flourish. We are grateful that community and public service is becoming such an important priority that we have made it an integral part of our “Inspired Leadership” process.

We have been touched by the many women and men who marshal their talents, resources, and time to focus on the needs of others. Everything from checking in on a lonely friend, to sponsoring a food drive for families in their communities, to starting a non-profit to address a critical health issue. We’ve met people who have dedicated their entire lives to serving the needs of others. And, they have moved mountains and changed lives, as a result. What a legacy… and how humbling it has been to be around them. These women truly define Great Dames. They are kindred spirits with purpose.

Sharon Hake
President & CEO
Great Dames, Inc.

I was inspired by a speech I read the other day one given by, then Senator, Barack Obama and loved this quote about community..

“Yes, our greatness as a nation has depended on individual initiative, on a belief in the free market. But it has also depended on our sense of mutual regard for each other, of mutual responsibility… [We] know that there are some things we can’t do on our own. We know that there are some things we do better together.”

Barack Obama
AFSCME National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, August 7, 2006

There are some things we do better together… Yes, there is no doubt that we need one another, that we need a community. Our community supports us, inspires us and creates in us a feeling of acceptance. But our community also requires us to embrace it, to make a commitment to it, and to be fully present in it, in order for it to really advocate for us. It is a choice we make, to do better together.

As we go forward with this social venture, Great Dames, I continue to be intrigued by this idea of community and the role it plays in people’s lives. How many of us feel a sense of community today? Do we make a daily effort to be an integral part of our communities? Are we making the choice every day to truly support each other?

Heather Hake
Director of Operations
Great Dames