Annual Events & Committees
CIWBA relies upon committees in order for its annual events to be successful. The following describes the committees, their responsibilities, and the time commitment for each. If you would like to join a committee, please email ciwba@ciwba.org.
Women Lead Committee
Previously, there was a CLE Luncheon committee and the duties of that group are now under the Women Lead Committee. Women Lead organizes mentorship groups and puts on informative, inspirational CLEs on issues that impact women in the local legal community and beyond. Committee members are responsible for organizing the mentorship groups, training group leaders, and providing written materials for potential group discussion topics. The Committee members are also responsible for helping organize the CLE events at the Board’s direction. The Committee should be made up of six to eight members.
Events Committee
One Co-Chair will be responsible for the Annual Fundraiser and one will be responsible for the Judicial Reception. The committee is also responsible for Take Your Child to Work Day. The Committee should be made up of five to seven members.
Annual FUNDRAISER
Committee members are responsible for securing the event location, selecting the menu, and—most importantly—obtaining sponsorships for the event from local businesses and law firms. CIWBA seeks firms and local businesses to sponsor the event to cover the costs of the location and food so that the cost of attendance can be donated to the Fundraiser recipient.
TAKE YOUR CHILD TO WORK DAY
Take Your Child to Work Day is held on the last Thursday in April. CIWBA puts on a mock trial for kids ages 3 and up. The mock trial has a fairy tale or Disney story theme and teaches the children about the aspects of a trial. Judge Sue Myerscough has been an enthusiastic partner of this event for many years. Committee members are responsible for coordinating the event with Judge Myerscough, choosing a script, finding people to play the different parts, purchasing cookies and punch, and attending the event to ensure everything runs smoothly.
JUDICIAL RECEPTION
All local attorneys and current and retired judges are invited to enjoy cocktails and appetizers and network at this event. Committee members are responsible for finding a date and location, creating and printing save the dates and invitations, coordinating the food order, and inviting current and retired judges.
Scholarship Committee
The Chairperson will be responsible for receiving the applications and communicating with the coordinator of Law Day. The scholarship is a joint effort of CIWBA and SCBA and is traditionally given out at the Law Day luncheon, which is the first Wednesday in May. A $2,000 scholarship is given out to a student that plans to attend law school and that graduated from a Central Illinois high school. The Committee updates all forms, publicizes the scholarship, reviews all the applications, and selects a winner. The Chairperson should notify the winner and invite them to Law Day. The time commitment for the Committee is about three to four hours. This Committee should be made up of five to seven members.
CIWBA Officers & Duties
If you want to know more about the organization and how to get involved, please contact any of the officers or send an inquiry to ciwba@ciwba.org.
President - Currently Filled by Committee
The President oversees the activities and events of the CIWBA, ensuring the committees are staffed and the events run smoothly, organizes and sets the agenda for board meetings, carries out tasks to advance the purpose of the organization, and promotes membership. The President also maintains correspondence with other local bar associations to promote events and encourage new members to join. This role requires a great deal of availability for behind-the-scenes tasks. The President must serve as co-chair on at least one committee. The term of the President ends in even-numbered years (2020, 2022, ect).
Vice President - Erin Wilson Laegeler
The primary duty of the vice president is collecting membership forms and maintaining the membership roll for each membership year. This entails maintaining a spreadsheet of members as each member signs up, ensuring dues have been paid, curating the email list to ensure that only paid members are receiving emails, and fielding membership questions. The vice president should also assist with keeping the website up to date, recruiting members, and spreading the word about CIWBA throughout the community. The Vice President must serve as co-chair on at least one committee. The term of the Vice-President ends in odd-numbered years (2021, 2023, ect).
Treasurer - Rebecca Wagner
The Treasurer maintains the checkbook, cash box, and invoices for CIWBA. The Treasurer balances and reconciles the bank statements each month, presents monthly summaries of the transactions to the Board Members at meetings, and makes an annual budget. Additionally, the Treasurer collects payments for membership dues and organization activities and pays the expenses for the events. Treasurer could be asked to attend the luncheons, the Annual Fundraiser, and Judicial Reception to help collect the money at the door and write the check to the vendors at the end of the event. The Treasurer shall take minutes of meetings when the Secretary is not present. On average this role would require 2-3 hours of work a month. The term of the Treasurer ends in odd-numbered years (2021, 2023, ect).
Secretary - KAte HAll
The Secretary takes the minutes of board meetings, tracks event RSVPs, manages the CIWBA Facebook page, creates event flyers, sends notices about CIWBA and other local events, and manages the website and calendar of events for the organization. This role requires work each month to maintain the CIWBA listserv, send out emails, and create flyers, sometimes requiring weekly emails. The Secretary shall collect monies at events where the Treasurer is not present. The term of the Secretary ends in even-numbered years (2020, 2022, ect).
Elections
All board positions must attend board meetings. In July and January, the board will meet in person to plan the calendar of events for the next six-month period, review committee staffing and needs, and ensure dates and locations for events are secured. Between these two planning meetings, the board will hold monthly or bimonthly conference calls at a time to be determined. Board members regularly emails to discuss issues or questions that arise and to keep everyone apprised of pertinent information. Outside of the duties outlined below, board members may be assigned other responsibilities as necessary. Board members will be required to be on at least one committee.