The National Association of Junior Auxiliaries, Inc. recently announced Columbus resident Paige Johnson Spears as the 2023-24 NAJA President.
Spears, originally from Oxford, received her Bachelor of Arts in English Education from the University of Mississippi. Spears moved to Columbus in 2005 and is married to her husband, Jason.
Together they are the parents of three sons Barrett, 11, Pearson, 9, and Henry, 5, and the two recently celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary. The couple has a newly established nonprofit called Step Up for Sports, which provides gently used sports equipment for local children.
Spears, with her family, attends First United Methodist Church in Columbus where she serves as a small group leader for fifth grade girls.
Spears currently serves as the President of the Heritage Academy Board of Directors and has previously served on the Executive Committee of the United Way of Lowndes-Noxubee counties.
Spears is a Life member of the Junior Auxiliary of Columbus chapter of NAJA and served as a dedicated active member from 2010-16.
During her years as an active member, Spears served on the executive board as Welfare Chair, Education Chair and Public Relations Chair.
Spears also served as Chair of the finance project, Report to the Community, which organizes and oversees the chapter’s largest yearly fundraiser. During her time as an active member, Spears served many hours on various welfare, service and civic project committees.
Spears was an essential part of great success for many projects including: Imagine U, What TaDoo, In My Shoes, Choose Your Path, Reality Fair, Stand Up Speak Out, Fit and Fabulous Forever (F3), Clothing and Scholarship.
After her tenure as an active member, Spears continued to serve Junior Auxiliary through the larger platform of National Association of Junior Auxiliaries. Spears served on the Education Committee from 2018-20, serving as Education Chair for the 2019-20 year. Spears has served on the NAJA Board of Directors elected as NAJA’s 3rd Vice President for the 2020-21 year and was elected NAJA’s 2nd Vice President for the 2021-22 year. For the 2022-23 year, Spears was elected and served as 1st Vice President.
NAJA’s Annual Education Conference was held on May 5 through 7 in Franklin, Tennessee. Spears was announced as NAJA’s President to a room full of Junior Auxiliary members from chapters from across the Southern United States, and she received a standing ovation. 22 members of the JA Columbus chapter were in attendance and witnessed first hand as Spears delivered her Presidential speech.
“Born for such a time as this,” is the theme that Spears has chosen for her time as NAJA president. When she spoke to JA members attending the Annual Education Conference, she reflected on her active years in the Columbus chapter and shared the story of a boy she had the opportunity to mentor through the Columbus chapter’s mentorship project. She noted she has kept this encounter and opportunity to brighten this child’s day close to her heart over the years. When asked what she hopes to accomplish in this upcoming year serving as NAJA president, Spears states, “It is my hope that this upcoming year will be a year of refocusing on our ‘why’. Our members are doing amazing things in their communities, but it is so easy to get bogged down with outside stress and then lose our passion for serving others. I want us to collectively come together as an association, focus on why we are serving and plan how we can make the biggest impact on the children of our respective communities.”
Recently, Spears also spoke to the members of the JA of Columbus chapter to share her story of what JA means to her. In addition, she gave structural knowledge of NAJA and encouraged each member to not lose the spirit of service when life becomes busy.
Spears states, “I don’t say this lightly when I say serving as a member of JA of Columbus has been life changing for me. I grew up in a household that believed in service to others and helping those in need, but I didn’t really learn what that meant until my time in Junior Auxiliary of Columbus. Serving in JA taught me to be more compassionate, to be more forgiving and to be more thoughtful in my actions. It allowed me the space and time to really learn how to serve others in a meaningful way, and what the term love in action means. I carry the wonderful memories of the children I served with me and keep those memories as a reminder that one small act can truly make all the difference in the life of a child.”
The 2023-24 chapter president, Misty Sharp, was in attendance and expressed her excitement and support of Spears becoming NAJA president. “What an incredible honor it is to have one of our very own Life members of Junior Auxiliary of Columbus named President of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries,” Sharp said. “Paige is a dedicated volunteer with a servant’s heart who has a true passion for this organization and its work. She has been a sincere force locally, and I, personally, cannot wait to see what great things she will accomplish as a leader at the national level.”
Spears is the sixth Life member to serve as president of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries.
The first Life member to serve as NAJA president dates back to 1950, just seven years after the chapter received its charter. Over the years, Columbus’ presence at the national level became more prominent and now, the Junior Auxiliary of Columbus chapter has the most Life members who have served in the presidential role.
As the conference drew to an end and Junior Auxiliary chapter members from across the South began their journeys home, a quote from the new NAJA president, Paige Spears, was reflected on. “I firmly believe that NAJA volunteers are exactly where they are supposed to be, at exactly the right time, to make an impact in the lives of those they serve,” Spears said. “It only takes one small act to change a child’s life, and our members all over are changing lives because they said yes to being a part of something bigger than themselves.”
If you would like more information about current projects or ways to support Junior Auxiliary of Columbus, visit the chapter’s website, jacolumbus.org/.
For more information on the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries, visit najanet.org.
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