Join us for our daytime Centennial year fundraiser, Celebrate JLLA, at the California Yacht Club. This daytime event promises a vibrant atmosphere filled with dining, signature cocktails, a silent auction, entertainment, and celebrating our Community Achievement and Spirit of Voluntarism honorees.

Celebrate with us as we come together and support our mission to advance women's leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action collaboration and training.

Meet Our Awardees

2025 Spirit of Voluntarism Honoree - Heather Ogilvie Shuemaker

Heather joined the Junior League of Los Angeles (JLLA) in 1975 after completing her studies at UCLA, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology with a minor in Psychology. After finishing her provisional year with JLLA, she moved to Boston where she began her longstanding affiliation with The Association of Junior Leagues International.

Upon her return to Los Angeles, Heather became involved in JLLA through projects, membership, development, and training. Rising through leadership roles, she served as Projects Director, President-Elect, and ultimately as President of the Junior League of Los Angeles in 1991-1992.

Heather guided the JLLA committee that established and staffed the AIDS Project Los Angeles hotline. This pioneering project became the model for Junior Leagues across the country. For six years, she served on the APLA Board of Directors. During this time, she chaired the Governance Committee and later joined the organization’s first Ambassador Council.

Heather has continued to employ her skills and passion for giving to 30 nonprofit organizations that support medical, arts, cultural, civic, and sports advancements. She has been honored to serve on 18 Boards of those organizations. For example, she has served on the Rotary Club of Los Angeles Foundation Board of Directors for five years, chairing it in 2023-2024. Currently, she is on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Rotary Club of Los Angeles.

Additionally, Heather serves on the boards of The Blue Ribbon of The Music Center and The Council of Children’s Burn Foundation. She is also an active member of The Council of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. Her civic leadership has extended to the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, the Rodeo Drive Committee, and the Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau, where she served multiple terms shaping the city’s cultural and philanthropic footprint.

Professionally, Heather is a seasoned senior executive whose career has spanned work in the television and radio broadcasting industry, luxury fashion, the arts, major cultural institutions, and national nonprofits. She worked for sixteen years in luxury retail with Alfred Dunhill of London and Saks Fifth Avenue. During her ten years at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Heather rose to become their Chief Advancement Officer, where she led ongoing campaigns to ensure the organization’s long-term sustainability.

Today, as Principal of HOS Consulting, Heather brings her decades of experience to nonprofits and businesses alike. She advises clients on strategic planning, board engagement, multifaceted fundraising campaigns, and philanthropic strategy.

Heather has remained closely tied to JLLA as a Sustainer, mentoring Presidents and most recently serving as the Sustaining Advisor to the Centennial Gala Committee.

Heather’s lifelong commitment to service through volunteerism began with the foundational training she received from the Junior League of Los Angeles. She is forever grateful for that gift, the hundreds of women that the League fosters, and the bountiful impact she and countless women continue to have in our community.

2025 Community Achievement Awardee - Nichol Whiteman

With a relentless dedication to improving communities in neighborhoods that need help the most, Nichol Whiteman serves as Chief Executive Officer of the award-winning Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF). An equity-focused leader, Nichol guides LADF in tackling the most pressing problems facing Los Angeles with a mission to improve education, health care, homelessness and social justice for all Angelenos. Tasked with relaunching LADF in 2013 with just a $600,000 budget, a new name, and logo, Nichol’s leadership has resulted in $204 million raised in the last 11 years alone. Creating lasting impact for Los Angeles, LADF has invested $71 million in community programs impacting over 11 million youth.

She bravely works to improve the complex struggles the city faces to ensure that ZIP codes never define opportunity. A child of Jamaican immigrants “in search of a dream" and a first-generation college graduate, Nichol sees herself in the population she serves and works to narrow access gaps—all while showcasing LADF’s gratitude to Los Angeles and its unwavering dedication to connecting young people and their families to resources and opportunities.

During her tenure as CEO, LADF transformed and built a team of dedicated people, strong operations, committed partners, and flexible funding with sustainability. While leveraging the Dodger brand, Nichol supports and amplifies the voices of marginalized populations. Through community infrastructure, sports-based youth development, leadership & capacity building, equity-focused grantmaking, strategic community engagement and knowledge sharing & convening, Nichol has built an alliance of community partners who fight for the resources that all youth deserve.

Under Nichol’s leadership, LADF launched its cornerstone program Dodgers Dreamteam, the first-ever LADF Scholarship, College & Career Accelerator, Science of Baseball Initiative, LA Reads and more. LADF also completed its 68th Dodgers Dreamfield, created a multi-million-dollar benefit gala, and distributed over 11.4 million meals.

With a degree in Economics from Spelman College, Nichol’s diligence resulted in positions in investment management and publishing before beginning a philanthropic career as VP, Western Region of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. As a Black woman in Major League Baseball, Nichol understands the importance of access. She uses her resources to open doors and opportunities for youth from all backgrounds. In addition to her professional achievements, she mentors countless professionals at all stages of their careers. In 2021, she was a Fellow in the University of Southern California’s Center for the Political Future where she helped advance civil dialogue and explore solutions to the most pressing national and global challenges. Included in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Thriving in Their 40’s” list, Nichol fights for the opportunities and support all communities deserve.

The New York native has been recognized throughout the industry for her exceptional contributions having earned the distinction as a 2025 Nonprofit Executive of the Year Finalist bestowed by the Los Angeles Business Journal. She also received the California Black Women's Trailblazer Hall of Fame Legacy Award, the 2024 National Foster Youth Institute’s Champion of Children and Youth Award, and the Woman of Excellence Award from the LadyLike Foundation. In 2023, Nichol received the Woman of Inspiration award bestowed by Women In Sports Entertainment (WISE), 2023 Community Impact Award from the Langston Bar Association, 2023 YMCA Brotherhood Award, 2022 Benjamin E. Mays Award from A Better Chance, Up2Us Sports Legacy Award, and was named a finalist for the CEO of the Year by the Los Angeles Times. In 2020 she earned the National Medical Fellowship Leadership in Philanthropy Award, the Visionary Award presented by Southern California Leadership Network, and the MOSTe Motivating Our Students Through Leadership Experience Lantern Award among many others. In 2018, she received the Sports Business Journal Game Changers Award and the Anti-Defamation League's Deborah Award. Her 2017 honors include Ebony Magazine's Woman Up Award and The Pink Tea Rose Foundation's Progressive Leadership Award.

Nichol holds positions on the advisory and regional boards of Cerity Partners, ESPN Return to Play Fund, Shoes That Fit, Davinci Schools Board Fund, YMCA Metro LA’s Sports and Impact Panel, the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport and Positive Coaching Alliance.

Additionally, she serves as an Ambassador for the LA Opera and is a member of the Women’s Leadership Council and Women in Sports and Entertainment. Attracting attention from acclaimed journalists, she has been featured in outlets including the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, and the LA Times.

A product of Nichol’s unwavering dedication, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation is now the proud owner of an ESPY. Named the 2020 ESPN Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year, the highly-coveted award recognized LADF’s work as the team’s official charity. Celebrating the meaningful and specific work that Nichol leads, LADF is the recipient of the Aspen Institute 2020 Project Play Champion, 2020 Beyond Sport Award for Reducing Racial Inequalities, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2021 Sports Award, the 2022 Liberty Hill Visionary Award among others.

With a firm belief that each person has the power to positively impact a life, Nichol's journey continues to be full of inspiration and hope as she fights for young people to realize their dreams. She resides in Los Angeles with her two sons, Timothy Jr. and Nicholas.

Sponsorship Opportunities

By supporting Celebrate JLLA, sponsors play a pivotal role in helping JLLA fund our projects and programs. In return, sponsors will enjoy various benefits while helping JLLA make a significant impact in the Los Angeles community. We invite you to partner with us to enhance the effectiveness of our community work and increase our impact and presence in the surrounding Los Angeles area. Ultimately, sponsorships contribute to a stronger, more thriving community.

Benefits of Sponsorship

Recognition in event materials

Networking opportunities with community leaders

Visibility to over 300 influential guests

Contribution to meaningful community programs

Table Sponsorships available now!

Individual tickets go on Sale September 23rd

If you have any questions or comments about Celebrate JLLA, please reach out to Development VP-Elect Jessica Begley at celebratejlla@jlla.org.

2025 Celebrate JLLA

Centennial Luncheon & Fundraiser