IOTA PHI LAMBDA SORORITY, INC.
June 1, 2016
Sorors,
As I reflect on this day, June 1, 2016, and the eighty-seven years Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Incorporated has been in existence, I can’t help but think about the strengths and characteristics of its leaders and sorors and the women and youth they have served and will serve into the future. I also think about the powerful legacy of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Incorporated’s past and what it could be into the future.
Sorors, consider on this day the strength it took for Lola Mercedes Parker, Ethel T. Edwards, Mildred G. Hardin, Harriet M. Robinson, Ophelia Harrison, Burdette Trigg and Marjorie Tyndall to step out and step up to form the beginnings of a great organization that has such a rich legacy as this sorority. Consider also the unique strengths of our leaders who followed our Founders in establishing the structure of chapters, regions, programs and projects that are in place today. The impact of these programs and projects on the women and youth of our communities is a part of our legacy that cannot be understated or undervalued. These women and youth have gone on to create businesses, and are working in professions, that were not even thought of in 1929, 1950, 2000, or even 2010. This is the legacy Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Incorporated has created!
However, we cannot stop at our past strengths and legacies, we have to look to our future strengths and our future legacies. Iota Phi Lambda Sorority can be a beacon of hope and encouragement and can be a platform of empowerment and awareness for the women and youth of our communities. We must find the power within each of us to reach out and provide impactful, enriching programs that meet the needs of women and youth in this fast – paced, ever changing 21st century.
Sorors, if we are going to be an organization that is innovative, with powerful visionaries we have to strengthen the ties that bind us as a sisterhood as we engage the women and youth in our communities in helping them to build their own futures. That is our legacy for the future, to be a relevant, recognizable, progressive business and professional women’s organization.
As you celebrate Founder’s Day 2016, I ask each of you to look within yourself, your chapter, your region and add your strengths in building the future legacy of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Incorporated.
Sisterly,
Stephanie Dilworth, 22nd National President
