BY DEBBIE NAZARIAN, LEMONADE DAY NATIONAL DIRECTOR

First, I want to say how very proud I am of everyone who has been involved in Lemonade Day – our City Directors, partners, community leaders, and the kids. All of you have overcome tremendous challenges this year by modeling the attributes and character of great leaders. Your communities were witness to and inspired by your resilience and determination to make the best of your Lemonade Day 2020 season; the lessons learned are beyond measure. 

Just like so many events this year, we were determined to host our 10th City Directors Conference. It is always such a great time to be together to share ideas, meet new friends, and leave with lots of inspiring ideas. This year’s pandemic has made it impossible to meet in person, however, we aren’t going to let that stop us.

We are so excited to host our first ever virtual conference September 24 and 25! My team and I have been working hard to develop an agenda that will help our City Directors, new and old, with their 2021 Lemonade Day season and beyond. Our goal for the conference is to provide our City Directors with the resources and support that are so deserving of and fill their buckets with energy and excitement for the upcoming year.

The agenda will include sessions from Lemonade Day leaders, board members, partners and alumni who will share their thanks and some big ideas. Michael Holthouse, Charlie Hamilton, Jim Clifton and Joe Daly from Gallup, Todd Graves from Raising Cane’s, and Winell Herron of H-E-B Group will all share their thoughts with our team. Our My Lemonade Day app developer, Sea Monster, will provide us with our first full demonstration of the app and all that it will offer our kids and communities.

We will also host breakout sessions with practical solutions on topics like:

• Be the Investor-Practical Solutions for Creating and Managing a Micro-Loan Fund
• Paving the Way for Opportunity in Underserved Communities Through Youth Programs
• Chamber License Holder’s Road to Success for Lemonade Day
• Successful Strategies for Raising Money from Foundations and Individuals
• Packing up the Lemonade Day Experience: Events to Engage your Community
• A Decade of Lemonade Day Lessons along the way from a Small Community

I can’t wait to “see” everyone virtually this year until we can be together again.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to me at debbie@lemonadeday.org. Please share this blog with others whether it is parents, teachers, youth organization leaders, and businesses. We are always looking for mentors and sponsors who want to help the next budding entrepreneurs!