The Power of Teamwork
By Ashley Dumat, Rho Omicron (Middle Tennessee State U), International Vice President
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.”
This Michael Jordan quote truly captures the essence of the incredible results from Pi Day 2024. Through exceptional collaboration and teamwork, both the Fraternity and the AOII Foundation celebrated a huge championship: raising over $155,000.00—and still counting!—for the AOII Foundation.
This year’s Pi Day was an opportunity for a fun sports-themed partnership between the AOII Foundation and the Fraternity. From bedazzled AOII basketballs to motivational check-ins by Coaches Gayle Fitzpatrick and Susan Danko, this team was ALL IN to create a record-breaking fundraising event!
The Pi Day team began planning for success months ago, with an inspiring and ambitious goal of surpassing all previous Pi Day giving and reaching out to more sisters than ever before. Thinking outside the box and looking for innovative ways to reach out to motivate sisters, the Pi Day team worked tirelessly to set up March 14, 2024 to be the biggest and best Pi Day we have ever had. These efforts paid off, as this year’s giving has more than doubled the amount raised during Pi Day 2023!
Even before Pi Day, the power of collaboration was beautifully shown in the partnership between the Fraternity and the AOII Foundation to create AOII’s gorgeous Archives Museum. Without a doubt, we are demonstrating that when our women team up to reach a goal, nothing stands in the way of achieving, or even surpassing, that goal.
The beauty of teamwork is that it works at every level of AOII, beginning with the collegiate chapter level. Recruitment planning is a perfect example of how teamwork helps a chapter reach a goal of having a successful recruitment. Recruitment planning is not the work of one person; it is the work of many.
Teamwork and a collaborative spirit lead to results everyone can buy into because everyone plays a part. The results are better because all team members collaborate in decision-making. Hearing and considering the input of others is integral to the success of any team, and decisions are more sound when many thoughts and perspectives are used in the final product.
The successes of the Archives Museum and Pi Day 2024 are truly inspirational, and perhaps even instructional. We should use these examples as encouragement to think of opportunities to collaborate on our goals, to enhance our collegiate and alumnae chapters, and to enhance AOII Fraternity as a whole. Let us all use the power of collaboration to lead us to amazing achievements!