By Junior League of Salt Lake City
The Junior League of Salt Lake City is filled with incredible women from all walks of life who all joined for different reasons. When asked about their “why” we learn how much the League truly means to all members and how it holds a special place in all our hearts.
Kristen Gelegotis
“My 10-year run in the league has really given me incredible skills to launch and grow my career. I graduated from college during the recession and had a hard time finding employment when I moved back to SLC. I was also very uncertain knowing which field I wanted to go into. I joined the league, and my first placement was CARE Fair. Through serving on this committee, I was able to gain more real-life experience to develop various communication and organization skills. When I found and applied for a job at my current place of employment, the CF director provided me a reference. In my first week of my new job, I attended a community event to promote the Care Fair and my supervisor and other directors were also there. It was a good coincidence. From there, and thanks to different training experiences provided by the league, I’ve been able to transition into different positions and into a job that I love.”
– Kristen Gelegotis
Past President 2019-20
Lindsey P. Whinnery
“I have obtained invaluable experience while serving on the Board as Finance VP and have been able to apply insights gained to my career. As Partner of a CPA firm that primarily serves nonprofits, I’m currently enhancing the firm’s presentation of financial data to boards now that I have seen firsthand the information that boards require for financial stewardship.”
– Lindsey P. Whinnery
Finance VP
Amy Giuliano
“The Junior League gave me a network of women to support me professionally and personally. When I first joined the league, I was working in the service industry and through my experience with JLSLC, I realized I wanted to do more with my career and enter the nonprofit sector. Luckily, two of my closest friends in the League work for the American Cancer Society and an opening happened just as I was looking for a career change. Through those connections I was able to get an interview and eventually land the job at the American Cancer Society leading the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Real Men Wear Pink, and Relay for Life events for the entire state of Utah.”
– Amy Giuliano
New Member Director
Cara Dziuda
“I moved to Salt Lake City over the Christmas holiday in 2014. When I moved here, I did not know anyone. I quickly transferred my membership to the Junior League of Salt Lake City and started attending GMMs and volunteering at Women Helping Women. I am so fortunate to have had this opportunity because now six years later when I look at my call or text list, so many of my close friends are gals I met volunteering with at the Junior League. Fast forward a couple of years after being involved in The Junior League and I got the opportunity to go to Florida for ODI training. I learned the “art of the ask.” Not only from a donation standpoint for the league, but it also helped me in my current career. I learned that I needed to not sell myself short and that I needed to ask for a raise at work. I learned the basics on how to craft the conversation and well, I got the raise! I owe so much of my love for living in Salt Lake City to the women and experiences at the Junior League of Salt Lake City. I am forever grateful to surround myself with women who challenge me and make me a better person.”
– Cara Dziuda
Membership Outreach Director
Devon Clark Callens
“I have been deeply impacted by the opportunity to lead within our chapter of the Junior League. I have been constantly inspired by the drive and motivation of the women that I lead, and, although it sounds cliché, I find that I learn from them on a daily basis. I am blessed by the friendships that I have formed, and find it inspiring that we all work together so effortlessly. Whether in leadership, or an enthusiastic committee member, each member plays a role and we all work toward a common goal together.”
– Devon Clark Callens
Community Director
Erica Dahl
“When I moved to Salt Lake City from San Francisco in 2004, I didn’t know anyone and didn’t have a job. A friend of my husband’s was in the League and we went to dinner and she gave me a brochure on the League. I didn’t do anything, but my husband pushed me to go to one meeting and I was hooked and joined. That same friend introduced me to a League member at the annual dinner in 2005 who told me about a job where she worked and helped me apply. I got the job and worked there for 10 years. So I owe my career in Salt Lake City, my volunteer experience and so many wonderful and lasting friendships to the League. I can’t imagine making my life in Salt Lake City without the League.”
– Erica Dahl
Sustaining Member
Barbara Zimonja
Barbara Zimonja joined the Junior League in Salt Lake City as a Chicago transplant and served as President in 1983-1984. Below, she recalls the impact the Junior League has had on her life and career:
“I joined the JL in Chicago, IL when the organization was still considered “white glove ladies.” My first assignment was in the projects on the west side of the city, helping people understand how to find the free social services that were available to them. This was my introduction into what life on the other side is like, and how I could truly make a difference.
I moved to Salt Lake City and transferred my membership and quickly was answering the phone in off hours for the rape crises center. My first call was from a boy … an emotional experience for me, and also a lesson in humility and compassion.
After that I was recruited to help with a big fundraiser for the League, doing a golf tournament. I knew absolutely nothing about golf, and this was my first introduction into the art of quick learning and relying on your intuition. It was a large business transaction, for a bunch of volunteers, and we successfully raised funds to help the community as well as save for future use. I learned so much about business negotiations, about banking funds for the best use, and about handling “important people” properly, i.e.: Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
I served for years in several capacities, as a single working mother, which forced me to prioritize my time as a mom, an income producer, as well as a volunteer. This time in my life helped me understand the ability to make time for what is important, and then the rest of one’s needs will fall in place.
And then I was tapped to be the President — such an honor that brought me back to that humility lesson. There were so many wonderful women in the organization, as there are today, and it was humbling to know that they trusted me with their wisdom. My board was brilliant, the volunteers always ready, and the organization was beginning to find a path into the new century.
Back in the days when I first joined the League, I started my first business in Chicago. I didn’t know what was up, really, but I got my courage from that experience on the west side of Chicago. And when I moved to Salt Lake City, I started my second business, knowing that I could do some quick learning and rely on my intuition, and built a small property management business into a multi-million dollar endeavor. And I met a great man, with three wonderful children, who we blended together with me and my fabulous son. We are now a family of four kids with loving spouses, and six grandchildren to dote over. Life is wonderful, and I owe many lessons to the Junior League.
With love and thanks for giving me this opportunity to go down memory lane …
PS: I still gather with some of my Western Region Presidents from 83-84. We get together somewhere in this hemisphere, once a year (although the pandemic has cancelled this year), and reminisce about great times in the Junior League. This experience, too, has given me the opportunity to continue to grow.”
– Barbara Zimonja
Sustaining Member, President 1983-1984
