Women's Club of Inverness welcomes new president
The Women's Club of Inverness announced Jen De Franco as its president for the 2021-2022 year.
De Franco, who is well known in the Palatine/Inverness community, is an outstanding choice to guide the club through this transition year. WCI has more than a 50-year history of service to the community and continues to meet the challenges of fundraising during the pandemic.
De Franco is a creative and energetic leader who has been a WCI member for four years, serving as vice president for the past two years. During the past year, De Franco created unique ways to raise funds online in order for the club to fulfill its mission in a year when nothing was "normal."
Using creative ideas to draw in new members and re-energize the group after a year of distanced activities and change will be a challenge, but De Franco is committed to the club and its mission.
Previously, as a stay-at-home mother of two children, De Franco was highly active in volunteer endeavors focused on children and education, including serving as Illinois PTA membership marketing director and growing the Illinois PTA during her term in this role.
One of the honors that De Franco is most proud of was her appointment to Mom Congress, an education initiative of Parenting magazine. This initiative took her to Washington, D.C., with a representative from every state in the country to discuss education in the U.S., along with other topics of concern to parents and educators.
De Franco spearheaded an initiative in Illinois focused on bullying prevention awareness week with her local Girl Scout troop, which earned state senate recognition and her spot in Mom Congress. She was invited back the following year as a Mom Congress mentor to be part of a panel of experts presenting to the new class of delegates.
One of De Franco's most rewarding initiatives has been the creation of the Batchelor Family Foundation upon her father's passing. Since her father was a successful businessman in the automobile industry in Southern Illinois, the family created a foundation to offer scholarships in his memory.
De Franco serves as the chairwoman of the foundation alongside her brother and a board of directors. For the last six years, the foundation has successfully provided thousands of dollars in scholarships each year to students entering the automotive field as a career.
New empty-nesters, De Franco and her husband, Troy, have two children in college. Several years ago, she also entered the travel industry, which allows her to plan and engage in one of the things she loves to do most - travel.