Wyandotte Woman Elected to Statewide Jaycees Post

Wyandotte’s Julie Abshire was elected to the 13-member board of directors of the Michigan Jaycees on Saturday.

Abshire will serve as the organization’s 2013 management vice president.

She ran unopposed for the position, but still had to capture the majority vote of the Jaycees in attendance at the organization’s annual convention, which was held over the weekend in Romulus.

Abshire, a member of the Wyandotte Jaycees since 2005, will now oversee fundraising, communications and strategic planning for all 42 Jaycees chapters throughout the state. Her one-year volunteer position begins Jan. 1.

Abshire works as a professional event planner at BRTRC, a Warren-based defense contractor for the Army. The skills learned there have been helpful in her Jaycees efforts, she said.

“My entire background is in management and strategic planning,” Abshire said. “I think it’s important to work with local chapters on getting that part right -- about setting goals and moving forward in the strategic planning forum -- and then pursuing all of those things beyond that that we can do, like working in our local communities and working with our City Councils. …

“My job in 2013 will be to set the internal goals of this organization and to reprioritize and provide better training for our chapters.”

Abshire has held a number of leadership positions with the Jaycees over the last several years. For the Wyandotte chapter, she’s served as its international vice president, management director, chapter president and board chairwoman.

During her year as president in 2010, the Wyandotte Jaycees completed about 150 projects and raised more than $40,000 for the organization.

It was under her leadership that the U.S. Jaycees honored the Wyandotte chapter with the Harold A. Marks Memorial Award, which is given annually to the top Jaycees chapter in the nation. It was the first time the Wyandotte chapter had won the top honor and the first time in more than two decades for a Michigan chapter to receive it.

Abshire also has served in past leadership positions with the Michigan Jaycees, including its public relations program manager, press secretary, membership program manager and training director.

Abshire is married to her husband, Shaun. The couple has two children, Luke and Ashlynn.