“It’s been so heartwarming to see how the women just want to come together and try to support the community,” says Deana Perry.
Perry, a native Roman and Darlington alumna, has been a League member since 2013, when she returned to Rome after finishing law school. “I had been volunteering since middle school… and I always feel better when I’m volunteering,” she says. “We’re blessed by what we give to others.” In her time with the League, Perry served as a service project coordinator, a provisional chair, corresponding secretary and vice president before being nominated for president for the 2020-21 League year.
“It’s very much an honor,” she says. “Looking back over the history of JSL and everything that these women have been able to accomplish over the years, it’s just nice to know that this organization felt that I could contribute something… it’s an honor to be included in their ranks and to see the women that have gone before me.”
Perry hopes to help League think outside the box. “I hope that I can foster a sense of creativity in League,” she says. “There’s a lot of tradition involved with League, and I think tradition is great, but the other side of tradition can be kind of stifling.” One of her goals as president is to see the League’s membership become more diverse.
She says that when she joined, she was the only Black member, and now she is one of the first Black women to serve as president. Since she joined, Perry has already seen the League become more diverse, so she hopes that the organization will continue on that path.