Who is Lark Doley, DTM?

First Vice President Lark Doley, DTM , of Jonestown, Texas, is a senior training coordinator for MAXIMUS, where she has worked since 2007. She manages the professional development strategy for the MAXIMUS Texas Project, which includes webinars, computer-based training and instructor-led workshops. As chief executive of Second Wave, Inc., a company she founded in 1987, Doley led a team that manufactured hardware peripheral devices for Apple Macintosh products. A lighthouse homeowner, Doley served as secretary of the Lighthouse Estates Homeowners Association. She also served as president of the Metropolitan Breakfast Club, an Austin business group that meets weekly and features business and government speakers presenting topical issues of importance to the city and state. A Toastmaster for 25 years, Doley is a member of two clubs, including her home club in Pflugerville, Texas, the Arthur Storer club that was chartered in honor of her father-in-law after his death in 1997. Doley has held a number of high-profile leadership positions within Toastmasters and has attained the Distinguished Toastmaster designation—the highest level of achievement in the organization. Doley says, “I have used my improved communication and leadership skills to found and lead a successful company. I now have the privilege to work for a company where I use my skills daily to teach others.” As a member of the Toastmasters International Board of Directors, Doley is a “working ambassador” for the organization. She works with the Board to develop, support and modify the policies and procedures that guide Toastmasters International in fulfilling its mission. District 39 has the honor to have Lark Doley DTM as our Spring Conference Keynote Speaker.  You need to hear what she has to say – register now.  Limited seating. Click Here To Register

California Future Leaders of America – Speech Contest

Judge Recruitment Letter

Welcome to Pathways!

  In 2010, the Toastmasters Board of Directors crafted a five-year strategic plan that laid out the goals and objectives for the organization over the next five years. The plan’s centerpiece? A call to revitalize the Toastmasters education program. Much of the communication track hadn’t been updated since the 1970s, and leadership became a separate track in 2005. The Board stressed the need to modernize the communication track and to renew the focus on leadership learning in the leadership track. That original vision marked the beginning of a hugely ambitious effort to enhance the education program. Scheduled to roll out next year, the program will offer members more opportunities to learn and grow, highlighted by greater access to educational materials, expanded tools and resources, and a customized learning experience designed to help individuals meet personal and professional goals. Currently, the project is referred to as the revitalized education program. The actual name of the new program will be Toastmasters Pathways learning experience, reflecting a journey of possibilities and progress. “Our organization is all about helping people fulfill their potential, and Pathways embodies that concept,” says Toastmasters International President Jim Kokocki. “This is such a dynamic program for members: You’ll have the opportunity to develop more skills than ever before—skills that will help you succeed inside and outside of Toastmasters.” Keeping the Key Concepts Pathways is not a departure from the current education program. It maintains Toastmasters’ guiding principles and educational concepts. Club meetings will still be at the heart of the Toastmasters experience. The new program builds on the best of what we have now. It takes the education program to the next level, but at its foundation, Pathways is anchored in the vision of Toastmasters’ founder Ralph C. Smedley. The educational content has been built and developed meticulously, grounded in the most current, effective principles of instructional design. In addition, the content has been thoroughly vetted by members, who have praised it as innovative, engaging and relevant to members’ needs today. The positive response can be traced to the countless hours of hard work, and teamwork, that spurred the revitalization process. The end result isn’t just the handiwork of Toastmasters’ education development team at Toastmasters’ World Headquarters: Creating the new program has required a tremendous collaborative effort among the Board of Directors, the education team—and other departments—at World Headquarters, vendors and experts, and thousands of members. Members were asked to play a vital role in the process. Early on, more than 270 members were chosen to be Learning Masters, a group that offered valuable feedback to the Pathways team on the educational content and learning experience. Other members were chosen as Chief Ambassadors and Ambassadors, to share information about the program with members, making them aware of the many benefits it offers, providing updates on its progress and answering questions. The Board’s vision set the revitalization project in motion. Then, to build the foundation for an education program that would best serve members, the team immersed itself in research and analysis, studying data and reviewing feedback from current and former members about what they wanted to see in an education program. The team evaluated the Toastmasters learning experience in great depth. What ultimately emerged is a more robust education program, one that enables members to develop an array of skills that are relevant in their personal and professional lives. At the Board’s direction, Pathways was developed with these benefits for members: Recognition that comes earlier and more often in the educational journey New technological resources to improve speeches and support meeting roles Mobile access to educational materials (tablets) Expanded video and digital content to facilitate learning among our global community of members Stronger evaluation and mentoring components “Pathways is going to be a world-class program that will help members succeed, and thrive, in an evolving global society,” says Kokocki. The Structure As Ralph Smedley realized, communication and leadership are inextricably linked. In the new education program, they will no longer be separate tracks—they will be combined. From its review and analysis of the current program paired with the leadership experience, the Pathways team identified the five core competencies members can learn by participating in the new program: Public Speaking Interpersonal Communication Leading and Managing Leading Strategically Building Confidence These are the core competencies, but within those broader areas are many other competencies (and sub-competencies) as well. The Pathways team took foundational competencies in the Competent Communication and Competent Leader manuals (like learning basic speech structure, effective delivery and how to communicate well within a team) and built upon them. The current education program teaches 68 competencies; Pathways adds more than 250 competencies members can learn. Do you have any questions or would you like to help with the roll out? Contact Tracy Bowman Fletcher

District Leaders – Are you up to the challenge?

Gold Medal Division ScoreBoard Download

2017-2018 District 39 Candidates

2017 Leadership Breakfast Reno

2017 Leadership Breakfast Sacramento

The #3 Reason that Toastmaster clubs fail is:

The #3 Reason that Toastmaster clubs fail is: They don’t promote! Here is a 60 sec. Toastmasters video your club can use to promote Toastmasters to guests, to help build membership in your club!  Click here!

District Executive Committee Meeting and Midyear Division/Area Director Training

The District Executive Committee Meeting (DECM) is a meeting in which District Officers and members of District committees discuss club, area, division and district goals, and conduct other District business, as well as obtain leadership training that can help them in their roles. Date: 01/07/2017 Schedule: 9:30am-11:15am: District Executive Committee Meeting 11:15am-11:45am: Lunch and Area Director Recognition Noon-1:00pm-The Leader Experience-Sondra Nunez, DTM 1:00pm-2:00pm-Division Area/Director Debrief-Zack Souza, DTM/Jane Taff, DTM 2:00pm-3:00pm-Breaking the Leadership Code-Jane Taff, DTM Venue Name: University of Phoenix-Sacramento Street Address: 2860 Gateway Oaks Drive Sacramento CA 95833 Venue Notes: Free parking lot available Event Description: District 39 Executive Committee Meeting. Division and Area Directors are recommended to attend.  All members are welcome! Contact: Sondra Nunez, DTM, DD   sondra.nunez@district39.orgSuccessfully Encoded Phone: 916-599-5975

2017 Happy New Year

District 39 members, leaders and friends: Zack, Jane and I thank you for an extremely joyful and successful first half of the 2016-2017 Toastmasters year! On July 1, 2016, we started as a group of individuals hoping to improve our personal communication and leadership skills. Today we are of one heart and one mind in our quest to ensure every member is provided the greatest opportunity possible for personal and professional growth. Today we work together to determine the best methods for club officer training and how best to lead our district through the Pathways education program transition to improve both the member and leader experience. Today we are Team D39. We honor all past leaders. Your personal sacrifices and dedication to excellence enabled us to take our place among you, and allows us to continue the work of being a district where leaders are made. We honor our members. Your service to each other keeps our district strong. Thank you for sharing this amazing journey with us! May 2017 bring you and family peace, joy and prosperity.