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Women in Leisure Services
Women in Leisure Services - Chi Kappa Rho, Inc. is a national organization for professional women whose work involves the delivery of leisure, recreation, park or community services in private, public and commercial settings. A network of chapters serves administrators, supervisors, educators, therapists, and armed forces professionals in defined geographical areas throughout the country. Local chapters provide an effective framework for members to share their ideas, broaden their interests, sharpen their skills and influence the profession in a unified manner. Fired up to bring this concept to Illinois, I returned from Congress and had an information meeting about WILS. Approximately 15 women attended. A holiday luncheon, educational session and a networking event followed. We were accepted by the National Board as an affiliate chapter. Carrie Fullerton, Executive Director of the Bloomingdale Park District and I have done sessions at the IPR Conference for three years, specially geared for women. The feedback was positive and people seemed to want more. Unsure of how to proceed, I formed a task force this year to determine if there was a need for a special section or group for women in the state. Margaret Resnick agreed to chair the task force and immediately started to gather input from our membership. Ultimately, the group decided that an Illinois Chapter of WILS will be formed. WILS was created from the mind of one woman, a woman with great vision, inspiration, hopes and dreams. She believed a group of women who were engaged professionally in the various fields of recreation, could be brought together to promote unity of purpose; high standards of achievement; a better understanding and appreciation of related endeavors for the attainment of professional goals; to provide an opportunity for fostering friendship and sociability, stimulating mutual helpfulness and loyalty; and provide professional services. This woman, the founder was Helen I. Pontius. She shared these ideas with several women in 1935 at a City of Los Angeles Playgrounds Department of Recreation Directors meeting. In 1936, Chi Kappa Rho became a reality when the first Chapter, Alpha, in Los Angeles, California was chartered. The original name of Chi Kappa Rho was derived from three Greek letters XKP symbolizing Character, Knowledge and Recreation. The organization grew slowly and from 1935 to 1967 all of the chapters were located in the state of California. The first National Board was established in 1964, and in 1975 Chi Kappa Rho became a non-profit corporation. A vote of the members in 1991 resulted in an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation and the Bylaws to officially change the name of the organization from Chi Kappa Rho to Women in Leisure Services, Chi Kappa Rho, Inc. Today, four WILS chapters (three in California and one in Minnesota) make up the national organization. In 2013 I attended the National Board meeting for Women in Leisure Services in Minnesota. The representative of the Minnesota chapter welcomed the California delegates and me into her home in beautiful Eagan, Minnesota with open arms. I spent two days and nights with a group of women I hardly knew, but our passion for parks and recreation brought us together. We discussed issues facing our field on the national, state and local level; we talked about our agencies and jobs. We toured the local recreation facilities, which were incredible. I attended the national luncheon where they honored women that had made a significant contribution to the organization. Simply put, I was inspired. Does this sound intriguing to you? Are you interested in being a part of this new chapter in Illinois? Would you like to take a leadership role? If you are interested in participating in the Illinois Chapter of Women in Leisure Services please contact IPRA or me at jphincapie@lwd.org. I can’t help but smile when I think about the birth of this organization in Illinois. A special thanks to Margaret Resnick, Bobbie Nance and the rest of the task force for their efforts in completing the analysis and setting the wheels in motion. Your efforts will have a positive impact on the women in Illinois parks and recreation for years to come. Jan Peterson Hincapie, CPRP Director of Parks and Recreation Village of Lincolnwood |
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