Placement Matching

Our Journey to be a Member-Centric Junior League

We know women’s lives have changed dramatically over the last 100 years and the one size fits all approach to Junior League membership no longer applies. We have to transform our model to be member-centric, which will create a more meaningful experience for each of you. To deliver on our Mission, we need to develop you as civic leaders with the skills and competencies to improve our community.

Our League has committed to making these changes and for that reason we are going to start using a new online tool to support our placement process. The Placement Matching Tool was developed by our parent organization, The Association of Junior Leagues (AJLI), in partnership with a task force of Leagues over the last year. It is designed to help our League reset our approach to Membership. We have setup a Placement Matching Tool Team who will guide our League through our transition to this platform. Members on our team include:

Rebecca Acheson

Michelle Willsie

FAQs

Why is this important now?

The Junior League of Sioux City is a relatively small league with members that are passionate about Siouxland. Our League is now focused on providing our members with productive development experiences that result in new tangible skills. The end result of this new vision for our membership is that you each have a more meaningful experience in the League, and our organization reverses course and thrives.

How does this affect our League’s placement process?

The Placement Matching Tool enables our League to place you intentionally and meaningfully. You will identify the learning experiences you want, and you’ll communicate that to our League through the Placement Matching Tool. The platform will guide you through a six-step process where you’ll choose your level of involvement based on your availability during the League year, and you’ll also identify the learning experiences you want by sharing your skills and competencies. The system’s algorithm will then suggest placements that align with your interests.

What does it mean to me?

You’ll be able to design your own League experience to fit your schedule and meet your interests. You’ll choose your level of involvement based on your availability during the League year. You’ll also identify the learning experiences you want, and by sharing your skills and competencies, partake in a placement that is aligned with your interests.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the Placement Matching Tool, please reach out to Rebecca or Michelle.

What is the Annual Placement Commitment and how is this different from what we do currently?

Through our work with the Placement Matching tool, we are evolving the placement process from League-centric to Member-centric. Instead of our League “filling placement positions,” our North Star will be pairing members with meaningful placements. In our new model, you make your time commitment to your placement. You determine what time you can realistically give for the year, and what skills and competencies you want to develop or share. Our League will do our best to match you with a placement experience that will empower you to be a more knowledgeable, experienced civic leader.

What are the one-on-one interviews, and how are they going to help the placement process?

One-on-one interviews are brief 30-minute chats guiding you through the placement options that best suit your skills and competencies. A “League Coach” will be paired with you to provide feedback and guidance on your placement selections for the upcoming League year so that you have a relevant and meaningful placement experience. You will also have the opportunity to discuss your development path in our League.

This isn’t a one-way conversation. This is also an opportunity for you to provide useful feedback to our League about the needs and wants of our members. For our League to be able to develop the best programming and placement options, we need to understand what skills and competencies our membership has or wants to develop.