Silver Slipper 2020 Award Winner and Finalists
The Silver Slipper Award recognizes a Vice President Finance/Housing (VPFH) who has demonstrated excellence in their role. This award honors a past Grand Treasurer, Olivia Smith Moore, who coincidentally had a love of shoes. The award itself is a silver slipper charm — honoring the original award, which was a silver shoe. With 2021 award nominations underway, we are highlighting the 2020 Silver Slipper Award winner and finalists.
Winner: Allison Powell, South Carolina Alpha
During her time as VPFH, Allie prioritized communication and transparency. In addition to her openness to questions and prompt responses, Allie also introduced “transaction of the week” — a presentation during chapter meetings which provided transparency on what member dues support.
When campus closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Allie continued to complete her work from home. Despite facing challenges, she worked with the University of South Carolina, greekbill and other stakeholders to issue refunds. Throughout the process, Allie handled herself with grace and professionalism — communicating challenges to chapter members and successfully issuing refunds to hundreds of members in June.
With the help of her Alumnae Advisory Committee (AAC) Finance/Housing Advisor and the Region 9 Finance/Housing Specialist, Allie revised the Fall 2020 budget, adjusting for COVID-19 protocol. She also prepared the chapter to adapt to the virtual landscape by creating a SquareSpace account to assist with virtual fundraising.
Finalist: Lourdes Arana, Virginia Theta
Throughout her time as VPFH, Lourdes committed to transparency — sharing information about chapter dues and spending during weekly chapter meetings. This commitment became even more important at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when many members were concerned about their personal financial circumstances and questioned whether they could continue their membership in Pi Phi.
In light of financial barriers, Lourdes worked quickly to assess where budget cuts could be made without draining the chapter’s financial reserves. She reduced annual dues by nearly 25% which allowed many members who were concerned about finances to remain members of the chapter.
Lourdes also worked closely with the Director Housing to ensure living in the chapter facility was both as safe and as enjoyable as possible. She made the expectations of living in the house clear and helped to organize outdoor events, such as Pi Beta Paint Wars, to keep members engaged in the safest way possible.
Finalist: Paige Robinson, California Kappa
Throughout her time as VPFH, Paige created and implemented several organizational practices that have benefited future officers including a virtual filing system which separated emails into categories such as reimbursements, tax organizers and forms, philanthropy apparel invoices, etc.
Paige assisted with fundraising for the chapter’s annual philanthropy event by answering tax questions from sponsors and providing members with the tools to do the same. She also created a form for members to submit along with donations from sponsors to ease the chapter tax organizer process.
To account for several members’ financial concerns, Paige worked to greatly reduce member dues. She presented the proposed budget to the chapter and held virtual office hours for members to ask questions in a confidential and comfortable setting. Paige also advocated for reducing or removing fines for members in situations of financial hardship — encouraging the chapter to take a different approach to member absences.
Celebrate and honor your Vice President Finance/Housing by nominating them for a Pi Phi Award. Nominations are now open and will close February 15, 2022. The full list of awards is available here.
Published February 8, 2022