Un-contest - The Incomparable Cammi MacKinlay
Today we spotlight another Inspirational Leader within Region 26 - Cammi MacKinlay. Standing next to Cammi on the risers has been one of the highlights of my Lions Gate career. She is a true ambassador for the organization and for leadership growth opportunities, and I might add a mighty fine bass!
One day in December 1985, Cammi was visiting a local market and saw a group of women in long red dresses with chiffon capes trimmed in maribou feathers singing Christmas carols. She didn’t even stop to listen but someone handed her a flyer that said “Do you like to sing? We have a spot for you.” That evening, she phoned the number on the flyer, and the woman on the other end was so friendly and enthusiastic, she decided to give it a try so she went to her first Lions Gate rehearsal in January 1986, and has not missed one since unless she’s been ill or out of the country! Immediately hooked not just by the music, but by the encouraging welcome she received.
You know that object lesson for growth where they drop a pebble in a pond and the ripples move outward concentrically … that is exactly how Cammi went about her leadership career in the organization. It started with her very first job with Lions Gate - the bulletin board which was the precursor to all of the electronic communication methods we have now! Her faithfulness to that job got her elected to the board where she eventually became President (and now Team Leader). In 1991 when Lions Gate lost their director due to a job change, she asked Sandy Marron, then Robinson, who had just completed the DCP in another chorus, if she would consider directing the chorus which turned out to be fortuitous for everyone!
It was in the mid 90’s that Cammi started working at the regional level on the convention steering committee as Convention Bulletin Editor, then went on to be CRC; she was elected to the Regional Board of Directors in 1997 and served as PR/Marketing Chair for the first year, and then as Vice Regent for one year. Then came the switch to RMT and she served one year as Events Coordinator and four years as Education Coordinator, a role she particularly loved as she got to hire and interact with a wide variety of International Faculty such as Åse Hagerman, Kathy Carmody, Carole Persinger, Karen Breidert, Di Porsch to name just a few.
In 2004, she was nominated for the slate for the IBOD and was surprised and delighted to be elected her first time out! At the end of her first year on the Board, she was elected as Vice President and stayed on the Executive until the end of her second year as Immediate Past President in 2014. Cammi served as International President from 2010 to 2012 during which time the Board made the decision to switch from a management team at HQ to a CEO. Cammi opened up the dialogue with our leaders as to what they would like to see as the future of competitions, out of which came Open Division and the Entertainment Packages in the finals.
Here is a list of some of Cammi’s achievements to date:
Past International President (2010-2012)
Past IBOD (2004-2020)
2019 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient
Editorial Review Board
International Faculty
Panel Secretary
2020 IES Co-Chair, though cancelled!
Lifetime member, Sweet Adelines International
Lions Gate Chorus, 34 years
Spirit of 26 Award Recipient
“Becoming a member of Sweet Adelines International has changed my life! The volunteer, growth and leadership opportunities are boundless, mixed in with goosebump-inducing harmonies and overtones! This is an organization led BY women FOR women of all ages, regardless of musical skill – if you can hold a tune, and desire to be a lifelong learner, you will never regret being part of this. It will transform who you are – it did me! I joined to sing and stayed for the friendships and opportunities. I AM Sweet Adelines!”
Cammi loves Sweet Adelines – she loves everything about the organization – the music, the singing, the lifelong friendships she has made, the opportunities she has had, the people, the joy that comes from doing something you love with people you love. She has spent half her life as a Sweet Adeline and plans to be one for the rest of her life!
