Fall Leadership Summit Recap - North Carolina

For many years, North Carolina has been at the forefront of what makes the Eastern Region a success. The number of active chapters, to the level of involvement from Brothers in NC in both the Undergraduate and Alumni levels, have significantly increased under the leadership of past State Director, Bro. Eston Wells. The transition of leadership to now Brother Christopher Cross has catapulted North Carolina to be a good contender to lead the Region in multiple categories in the upcoming 2022 Regional Conference. The spark of newly appointed State Director, Bro. Cross has ignited a rush in North Carolina and we are seeing it in the number of new member Interests, reactivation activities, alumni involvement, and an increase in social presence across the state.

The 2021 Leadership summit was no different. It was the first in-person state summit since 2019 and it exceeded the attendee expectations. The number of brothers in attendance surpassed the goal going into the day, especially considering the pandemic. Amongst the many things that happened during the summit, one of the highlights of the day was the Brother John Bledsoe scholarship presentation. Bro. Bledsoe was a member of the Alpha Omicron Omega chapter at the time of his passing.

In addition to the highlight of the scholarship presentation, the entire state was able to come together, get a statewide alignment of finance, and agree on how to strategically set chapters with low active members on a path for success.   

Fall Leadership Summit Recap - Virginia

The Virginia State Summit was a very successful well put together working session between various leaders in the state. The presence of a pandemic introduced many challenges in the state and with the notion of starting afresh across all the chapters in VA, Brother Demonte Taylor, the current State Director has managed to maintain the pulse of every chapter in Virginia, while implementing a strategic plan to expand into new areas but more importantly, focus on reactivating existing inactive chapters.

Understanding that the morale across the brotherhood has gone down due to low intake, lack of engagement, and that drive to see Virginia be the leader in the Region, the transparency shared by the brothers in the meeting was vital into taking the next steps forward.

Now that they have a path for forward progress, brothers are beginning to volunteer for key positions that will increase communication, and ignite a fire for Virginia Iotas. Brothers left the meeting with a stance of “Perception is reality, the service, and image we provide become the brand”.