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32 | Sorority Lessons for Life with Christine Briede
12 Plays15 days ago
Although Christine Briede was initiated into Kappa Alpha Theta over 40 years ago, the lessons that she learned in college have carried her for life. A highly respected nonprofit professional in the Greater New Orleans area, Christine joined Ethocast to talk about how fraternity and sorority members can positively impact society, especially in modeling healthy relationships.
About the Guest
Christine T. Briede serves as president and CEO of the Jefferson Community Foundation, where she leads strategic partnerships, fundraising efforts, and community initiatives that strengthen Jefferson Parish. Her career bridges the corporate, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors, combining strong business leadership with a deep commitment to community impact.
Before joining JCF, Christine served as Director of Development at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center and as a philanthropy officer with the American Red Cross. Earlier in her career, she spent 20 years as the President and majority owner of an international food service equipment and design company, successfully leading the business through its sale in 2013.
Christine’s leadership has been widely recognized. She is a five-time Biz New Orleans “New Orleans 500” honoree, a 2022 New Orleans CityBusiness Women of the Year Hall of Fame inductee, a three-time Diversity magazine “Top 500 Women Businesses in the U.S.” honoree, and a Gambit Weekly “40 Under 40” recipient.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast and Film Communications from the University of Alabama, has completed nonprofit management coursework through Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and earned a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the University of South Florida. Christine earned her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE®) credential in 2020.
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Transcript
Introduction to Ethocast Podcast
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome to Ethocast, a podcast about sound leadership practices to boost the life in college fraternities and sororities. I'm Eddie Francis, presenter of Followership to Leadership and the D9 Leadership Blueprint, presentations designed to help Greeks become more ethical and effective leaders. I'll share lessons learned from my college days, my career journey, and leadership research.
00:00:33
Speaker
This is Ethocast.
Guest Introduction: Christine Breedy
00:00:35
Speaker
Leadership. to the letter. and thank you so much for joining me on etocast i'm eddie frances it is a pleasure as always to have you ethel cast is brought to you by ed five ventures l lc publisher of the d nine leadership blueprint ebook personal leadership umbuntu and collective impact you want to get a free excerpt of it all go ahead check it out got nothing to lose go to d nineleadership blueprint dot com So my guest on this episode of VetoCast is someone by the name of Christine Breedy, who in the greater New Orleans area is beloved for her nonprofit work.
00:01:13
Speaker
And so you can only imagine that when Christine and I were having a conversation and she said, well, you know, in my sorority, I said, Christine, i have a podcast of about fraternity and sorority leadership.
00:01:25
Speaker
You have to be on it. And she looked at me funny. And guess what? She's on this podcast. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Here we go with this episode of EthelCast. The views expressed on EthelCast do not necessarily reflect the views of the hosts, guests, or any entities with which this podcast's participants are affiliated. Questions, comments, email eddie at eddiefrancis.com.
00:01:50
Speaker
Christine Brady is one of the cool people. She is someone who is active in the greater New Orleans area in the nonprofit community. She's the president and CEO of the Jefferson Community Foundation.
00:02:02
Speaker
And I also found out that she is a member of a sorority. And I thought it would be a great idea, especially for someone who is so respected throughout the community, to talk about what she has learned from sorority life and how it has carried over into the work that she does for the community right now. Christine, how's everything going?
00:02:24
Speaker
Everything's great. Everything's great. I'm happy to be having the conversation today. So let's
Christine's Journey to Sorority Life
00:02:30
Speaker
start with the basic. Why did you join Kappa Alpha Theta um when you were at ah Alabama, right? University of Alabama. Yeah, roll tide, University of Alabama.
00:02:41
Speaker
I was a student from out of state. I came from Massachusetts and thought it would be a good way to to meet people. I went to the university on a scholarship.
00:02:53
Speaker
I was a national merit scholar, full ride in Alabama. And i knew nobody, not one person.
00:03:04
Speaker
I think I knew the tour guide that showed me around in the spring before I showed up in August. And she was the one who said, you know, you should think about going through Rush, which is now recruitment.
00:03:20
Speaker
And i think it would be good, even if you don't join a sorority, just meet people during the week. It's a week before school starts. I think it would be a good thing for you. I fell in love.
00:03:33
Speaker
just almost immediately. I thought, you know, these young women are um doing service projects, they're in the community, they're smart, they had the highest GPAs on campus. And I said, I i think I could fit in here very, very easily.
00:03:50
Speaker
um Why I chose Theta, on campus, they were known as the smart girls. So that that was an automatic attraction for me. And they seemed very down to earth.
00:04:02
Speaker
i needed I needed to know that I would be comfortable with the group of women that I was going to associate with for not even just four years in college, but beyond.
00:04:14
Speaker
Yeah. All right. So inquiring minds want to know, how did you get to Alabama from Massachusetts? Well, it's a funny story. So my dad was a huge Bear Bryant fan.
00:04:30
Speaker
ah And he said you can go to school anywhere you want. You've got the grades. You've had a lot of scholarship offers. um But I want you to take a look at the University of Alabama.
00:04:43
Speaker
It's a beautiful campus. I think you would like it there. you know It was the warm weather that I was looking for. And I said, OK, I'll take a look. I had no expectation that I would end up there. I was doing it as a favor to him.
00:04:59
Speaker
Well, I landed on campus in the spring of 83, week after the bear had died. And just that experience alone and how people talked about him and talked about football and the traditions, um it just really felt like home when I got there.
00:05:22
Speaker
And I went, I flew home because my dad, my parents didn't go with me. I went with ah my aunt, Flew home and said, you know, i think this is the place for me. And the rest is history.
00:05:35
Speaker
Cool. you you But wait, you're in a house divided, right? Your husband is an LSU guy? LSU and my daughters, my two daughters. Yes. So I am outnumbered three to one.
00:05:46
Speaker
Oh, so both of your daughters went to LSU. Both of my daughters went to LSU. They are both Greek as well. Yeah. ah Why did I think one of them went to Alabama? No. ne Well, she got an offer. She got a um an offer to for four years and an additional year of grad school.
00:06:06
Speaker
And she turned it down. She wanted to go to LSU. Okay. okay I tried. I tried. But she is my Theta sister. So I got that.
00:06:17
Speaker
I got that. Okay.
Lessons in Teamwork and Leadership
00:06:19
Speaker
And then the other daughter Theta as well? No, Zeta Ta Alpha. Ah, Zeta Ta Alpha. Okay. Got it. Got it. Got it. Now, what about your husband? Is he Greek? My husband is ATO. Okay.
00:06:29
Speaker
okay All right. Very cool. We're a full full Greek family. We have that in common. yeah Oh, that is really cool. Now, what would you say is one of the biggest things that you learned from your membership in Theta?
00:06:43
Speaker
I learned that no one opinion is the end all be all. yeah You have to learn to work as a team. You have to collaborate. um I went into it thinking I knew everything.
00:06:56
Speaker
You know, I got good grades. I was in organizations in high school. When you get to college, it's a little different. You know, there was that culture shift going from outside of Boston, deep south, different traditions. um And so I had to listen more than speak.
00:07:20
Speaker
And really, that was helpful. was that hard Was that hard for you? You know, it wasn't. I'm not a big talker to begin with, but. I think, you know, just realizing, you know as a leader, you have two ears and one mouth.
00:07:39
Speaker
And it was just a good lesson to understand that there were different opinions. Yeah. And i didn't I didn't have all the answers. And I needed i needed to listen to other perspectives.
00:07:50
Speaker
Yeah. So that but that was very helpful for me. Yeah. Yeah. I wish I learned that when I was in college. That was a hard one. Yeah. Yeah. I learned early on.
00:08:02
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, sorority life at Alabama at this point is pretty much legendary. Thanks to the documentary Bama Rush, thanks to social media. um and ahs yeah Yeah. I mean, it, it, it has a lot of pop appeal. Um, but realistically for you, what are some values that, um,
00:08:27
Speaker
that you believe should be highlighted for the public that things that people don't know if they're just looking at documentaries and social media?
Sorority's Academic and Philanthropic Focus
00:08:35
Speaker
I would say, you know, what I had brought up earlier about scholarship, you know, having the highest GPAs on campus of any organization, sorority women have the highest GPAs.
00:08:50
Speaker
So that is emphasized. um Also the philanthropy, the community service, the amount of money that is raised by those women is unmatched.
00:09:03
Speaker
I mean, there are nonprofits that would not believe how much money those young women are able to raise and everything that doesn't get highlighted enough.
00:09:16
Speaker
And they're doing really good work. they're They're putting in the hours there. asking for sponsors, they're following up, they're stewarding donors. I mean, very much, you know, the life that I lead now, running a community foundation.
00:09:32
Speaker
So, yeah, there's there's ah there's a lot that goes into running those houses. And not only that, they are running a house. They're running a business. Yeah. Employees that work in those houses that they are managing.
00:09:49
Speaker
They have a budget. Running a small business and um it's not so small. Yeah. Yeah. Ever seen the houses now in Alabama. They're they're huge.
00:10:01
Speaker
ah They have large budgets. You know, there there's a talk that I do um with Greeks is called Give Till is Build. It's a philanthropy talk. And one of the things that I find that they are grateful to hear perspective about is what it means to give with intention.
00:10:19
Speaker
Um, and so it sounds like a lot of the sororities at Alabama, it sounds like they have, they've kind of unlocked that, especially if they do stewardship, actual stewardship. I know for you as a philanthropy professional, that has got to be impressive.
00:10:36
Speaker
It is. It's very impressive. And, um, they have a formula that they use and each year they have a new chair in charge of philanthropy. So, you know, somebody may bring in a new idea, but they still follow that formula because they want to be successful. You know, they they even treat it like a competition. you know, I was going to say they're driven by competition, too. Yeah. Yeah. No, they do. So it's um it's good training.
00:11:08
Speaker
For them to understand why they're doing it. Our national philanthropy is court appointed special advocates, CASA. oh yeah And the the chapter is very committed to the work that CASAs do.
00:11:23
Speaker
Wow. do do the Do the members tend to stay connected to CASA even after graduation? They do, I know I was. So I was on the Casa Jefferson board for um close to six years before Katrina and then following Katrina. And it's you know it's always been ah no organization that I've you know contributed to financially and given time volunteering. So yeah, I know, and I have a lot of sorority sisters that that do work with Casa.
00:11:59
Speaker
oh Yeah. You're listening to Ethocast. I'm Eddie Francis and we're talking to k Christine Breedy. She is the president and CEO of the Jefferson Community Foundation. Um, and she was initiated into Kappa Alpha Theta University of Alabama. And i was really curious about the lessons that we're seeing has learned from her sorority experience. And what would you say are some of the values or some of the, um,
00:12:25
Speaker
habits that you have carried from your sorority experience into your career?
Learning Governance and Structured Meetings
00:12:32
Speaker
I would say um just meeting order, Robert's Rules of Order, having um that structure and organization, the governance piece ah that um sometimes is lacking.
00:12:47
Speaker
I know a lot of volunteers kind of fall into a gray area with that, but I've always um loved that part of leadership. you know, knowing bylaws, following the bylaws, you know, you you have these rules that you're supposed to adhere to. And that's that's carried on. I volunteer with some other organizations and I'm usually the one that they ask, well, what should we do? you you seem to know what the right thing is to do. and a lot of that started in college and Theta.
00:13:22
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And it's so funny for fraternities sorority members, a lot of us, we we take things like Robert's Rules of Order for granted. um Right. I remember um you know your your buddy, my wife, Halima, she was the ah vice chair of Tulane's University Senate. And she she said, and she said i have to get a Robert's Rules of Order. I got to get a book. I said, no, I got one right here. Yeah. so yeah She went in and she said she cannot she said she couldn't believe how many times it was a lifesaver um to making sure that things were organized and making sure that people's opinions were properly heard, to make sure that votes were properly done and things were organized. And and i just it's interesting to me how sometimes I've sat in meetings and I'm going, this is a mess. We're not going to get anything done. Yeah. Everybody's just doing everything. And I'm going, whoa, whoa, whoa. Do we all understand what we're about to vote on?
00:14:21
Speaker
And and that that seems to be one of those skills that you bring from fraternity and sorority life. Yeah, you do. that everybody understands the goal that we're trying to accomplish even in a simple meeting. Yeah. It's it's that roadmap that you need so that we're all on the same page and that we all know that we have a little voice, but we have guidelines as to how we can express our opinions. you know Otherwise you'll have meetings that go on and on and on with discussion when, you know let's just call a vote, right?
00:14:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Or, you know, or do we need to table this because you don't have enough information and bringing, you know, bringing it back in. I do that with my own board as well. And sometimes I'm like, okay, I'm not the board chair, but, you know, I'll kind of lean over and whisper and say, do you, do you want to end the discussion or do you think we need to table this vote in move it outside. So um that's helped a lot. It's helped some of my leadership in my role now understand they can say that.
00:15:29
Speaker
And they should say that. But isn't isn't it isn't it sometimes just it it saves your sanity? And sometimes it even saves the organization from making a big mistake when you table a vote.
00:15:44
Speaker
And then you send it back to committee. Right. And the committee has got to figure this out. No, no. Yeah, that's right. The committee comes back with something more definitive and something that makes sense. And you're going, great, now we can vote on this thing. Now we can address this properly. Yeah.
00:16:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a group of people ah in an organization. I mean yeah mean, I've seen it happen in higher ed a lot where folks will they decide they want to go they want to vote on something.
00:16:17
Speaker
There's not a procedure being followed in the committee meeting in the meeting. And then the vote is done. and then everybody goes, well wait a minute. What do we just vote on? And then a big mistake.
00:16:29
Speaker
just happened and now it goes out to the university. It's a policy and everybody's going, why did we do this? Why was the, you know? So yeah, yeah, yeah, its yeah. It's interesting how underrated Robert's Rules of Order can really be for a lot of situations. I consider myself kind of ah a nerd when it comes to it.
00:16:49
Speaker
And I even have some cheat sheets, some short cheat sheets that every board that I've ever chaired provided to my board members and said, We're going to use these. This is your cheat sheet. Just it's not the whole book, but the main things that you should use. We're going to be respectful of your time.
00:17:08
Speaker
And that's what I kind of bring it out to. you You know, this is your time. You're volunteering. So I want to make the best use of your time. And then everybody gets to say what they want to say. but in a concise way.
00:17:21
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. and And the dog agrees, by the way, you and if you, you and Halima can nerd out together about that because she was doing the same. She was making a little Rob's rules cheat sheets. She was doing all that good stuff when she went to those meetings. So yeah yeah, I provide as a board chair, I've provided those to my board members and said, there you go.
00:17:46
Speaker
um yeah Little did we know this is going to be an interview about Rob's roots. I learned it in college and in theta. Yeah, it is and it's working for you. So it know' let's this let's look a little bit more broadly. Looking more broadly, um do you feel that there are any fraternity, any sorority or fraternity values um that are needed more
Importance of Communication Skills
00:18:11
Speaker
than ever? And when I say more broadly, let's just say in society, even if you wanted to say, you know what, in the community where you are in Jefferson Parish, are there any values that you say to yourself,
00:18:24
Speaker
I'm so glad I learned this, but I really wish everyone else could learn it as well. um And the first thing that came to mind was civil discourse. Yes. So it's so needed ah today, my every day but now more than ever that we allow each other to be civil to one another in disagreement.
00:18:48
Speaker
And it's so needed. Yeah. So needed. And, you know, that was that was part of, you know, the training as well for conducting chapter meetings that we were not allowed. We had to frame everything in a positive way. And that's how it was presented to us. So if we were going to say something that could be construed as negative, we would have to in our head
00:19:20
Speaker
frame it as something positive. Yeah. And that really makes you shift your thinking And I've just carried that with me all these 42 years of being a Theta.
00:19:35
Speaker
Yeah. and And I can only imagine how many women said, this makes no sense. Why can't I just say what I want to say? Say what I want to say. And now it makes a lot of sense. It It does. You know, and because you can you can get your point across without being ugly, without name calling,
00:19:58
Speaker
without you know We wanted everybody to remember that we were sisters first and friends second. So there there comes an added responsibility to being a sister.
00:20:15
Speaker
you know If you're family, you need to respect one another. And respect means listening. And you know and you have to and you have to do it just in a very caring way Yeah. Yeah. i'm sorry You have to have concern for your sisters.
00:20:34
Speaker
So I had a conversation with um a speaking colleague of mine by the name of Tisha Norman, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. And something that came up in our conversation was modeling brother and brotherhood and sisterhood for everybody else.
00:20:51
Speaker
um You know, the more respectful we are to one another, the more people are going to hear that respect works and in respect gets more done.
00:21:03
Speaker
And yeah, and you can disagree. All you want with each other is. views, ideologies, or whatever. But if you're at least respectful to one another, yeah if you at least show some level of love to one another, then that spreads to me. I think people take a look at that. And that's one of the signals that people who are not in fraternities and sororities, that's a signal they can take from us that could really benefit a lot of other people. So it's interesting to hear you bring up almost the exact same thing. Yeah, absolutely. Because when people tell me,
00:21:40
Speaker
They're and you know in a fraternity, in a sorority. I know that they share values that they bring into their everyday life. You know, you don't, and I mentioned this earlier, you're not in that fraternity or sorority for four years.
00:21:58
Speaker
It's literally for a lifetime. You know, you you bring that through your whole life. We, you know, we socialize as alumnae.
00:22:09
Speaker
We raise money for our philanthropy as alumni. We raise money for our scholarship. We have a foundation that distributes over a million dollars every year to our members. So we bring that through our whole life.
00:22:26
Speaker
you know So if you're just in it for the four years and you're just in it for a party or a good time, that's not you're missing out on so much more.
00:22:37
Speaker
yeah. yeah And I told my girls that, know, when they wanted to join because it was fun and they could, you know, ah go to parties and formals and all the fun stuff. But they really put in the time to became officers and tried to get more out of it. And they're both really grateful that they did.
00:23:00
Speaker
ah ah So I'm going to hand you one big microphone right now, Christine.
Valuing Alumni Relationships
00:23:09
Speaker
What's something that you would like to impress upon today's fraternity and sorority members for their future? For their future.
00:23:21
Speaker
I would lean into relationships with your alums because a lot of that um will be. helpful to you as you graduate, as you get into the working world and you make your way, you're going to realize those connections will take you far.
00:23:39
Speaker
And it's because of those values. I think you have to really, really lean into that, but also respect their position because a lot of times the relationships that you have with alums is in a kind of mentoring or advisory role. And sometimes you think they don't know what college life is all about. Why are they imposing all these rules and regulations? And I think you just need to understand they have that lived experience.
00:24:15
Speaker
yeah You do not as 18, 19, 20, 21 old. have that same lived experience. So to, you know, just put a value on that relationship with with your alums, I think really is the best thing that I can tell you. And also, if you're considering membership in a fraternity or a sorority, go for it. You can always quit if you don't like it.
00:24:44
Speaker
You know, there there are many ways that you can get involved on campus, but it's a good way to learn more about yourself. Learn more about a philanthropy that your organization supports.
00:24:58
Speaker
Learn more about other Greek organizations. we're We're more alike than we're different. Yeah. You know, it's, you know, because we do have a lot of the same values and these organizations were started so that you could have a meaningful experience in college.
00:25:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I actually did a talk at Farmingdale State College in New York, um and I'm standing here. I'm a member of a divine eye fraternity. There was not one member, not one divine member. now They were all IFC NPC. And I remember thinking to myself, what am I going to say to them that is going to be relatable? And I'm like, let me just do my thing. And almost everything I said was relatable. They they they came to me afterwards and they say, thank you so much because now I understand. I get it.
00:25:47
Speaker
You know, thanks for, you know, thanks for just getting a lot of pressure off of me and helping me understand what leadership could look like and what I need to do. And and I and I was i was really i was really happy to hear that. um And that was the moment that you just mentioned, you know, being more alike than we realize. We are more alike than we are different. And, you know, the sooner they see that,
00:26:10
Speaker
the better off they are. And I mentioned their future. So let me so adjust that question a little bit.
Future Generations and Public Service
00:26:18
Speaker
um Would you like to impress upon them for the future for a broader society? They, I mean, they're the, they're the future leaders.
00:26:27
Speaker
So we, we need them to step up. And like I mentioned about civil discourse, you know, to be those voices of reason, and want to take on those roles and you know want to lead companies, want to lead nonprofits, want to be in public service.
00:26:49
Speaker
um I speak to a lot of college students and right now they're they're not thinking that they ever want to be in public service. it's not It doesn't look very,
00:27:00
Speaker
ah you know it's not appealing to them, but we need We need them. We need their skills. we need We need their energy. And I have a lot of faith in the next generation. um I've seen it in the high school leadership class that we that we have with our high school juniors and seniors.
00:27:23
Speaker
they're They're bright. They're innovative. They want things to change. um And and i I have a lot of hope for that. We want them to take that step and put themselves out there to be leaders because we need it. It's desperately needed.
00:27:43
Speaker
That it is. Christine Brady is the president and CEO of the Jefferson Community Foundation. Christine, thank you so much for joining me on Ethocast. ah It's been a pleasure and it's good to see you, my friend.
00:27:56
Speaker
Ethocast is a four-hour edification limited series. If you like what you heard, like, follow, and share this podcast for more leadership insights for your fraternity or sorority chapter. To find out how your campus or a campus near you can book followership to leadership or the D9 Leadership Blueprint, contact me today, eddie at eddiefrancis.com. Until next time, spread brotherly and sisterly love everywhere you go.