As Tri Delta’s Day of Giving approaches on Nov. 11, host Meredith Davies, Rhodes, chats candidly with Lisa Diskin, Toledo, Tri Delta’s Day of Giving Volunteer Coordinator. Volunteers like Lisa give their time, talent and now their testimony, all in service to Tri Delta. Lisa is full of heart and energy as she shares her story of sisterhood, perseverance and purpose, all of which led her to this powerful volunteer moment.
Lisa shares her story of how a second chance changed everything. This episode celebrates the beauty of second chances and the moments that remind us that failure isn’t final and that sisterhood can light the way back. Lisa opens up about losing her way in college, rediscovering herself through Tri Delta and transforming that second chance into a lifelong commitment to philanthropy and giving back. Hear how her story comes full circle as she proudly volunteers for Tri Delta’s Day of Giving in a brand-new role, leading hundreds of ambassadors who inspire others to give to Tri Delta’s Foundation on Day of Giving, all while raising vital funds to support scholarships, emergency assistance and opportunities for Tri Deltas everywhere.
The giving link is now open!
https://give.tridelta.org/campaign/day-of-giving-2025/c688073
[A Heart for Giving—Lisa’s Second Chance Story]
This transcript was created using automated technologies and may contain errors.
Welcome back to another episode of Let's Talk Tri Delta Podcast. I'm Meredith Davies
from our Delta side chapter at Rhodes College, and I serve Tri Delta on the brand
advancement team as brand support manager partnerships, which is a fancy way of
saying, I manage our partnership with St. Jude, other outside partners like Perpetual
Napa Valley and shop Tri Delta and also work on collaborative brand partnerships.
Previously, I served Tri Delta as development manager. And in that role, I supported
the work of Tri Deltas Foundation, fundraising primarily through our young alumnae and
collegiate members. And I also managed Tri Deltas Scholarship Program. That was the
best. That's why I'm so passionate about philanthropy and Tri Delta's foundation. So do
you know what's coming?
and transformational programming, and we're so proud of the work that we're able to
do, and that's all because of the donors who support us on Day of Giving and
throughout the year. So on today's podcast, I'm excited to welcome Lisa Diskin from
our Phi Alpha Chapter at the University of Toledo. Lisa has a super fun new
Tri Delta volunteer role. She'll be serving as our Day of Giving volunteer coordinator.
It's a brand new role. She will help lead hundreds of investors on Day of Giving
to help them spread the word and inspire others to give. And truly, there is no
one better suited for this role than Lisa Diskin. So please welcome, Lisa. Lisa,
say hello. Hi, hi, everyone. Meredith, you are so kind. Thank you for that lovely
introduction made me feel like I was like a superstar. You know, Mary Catherine
Gallagher, love it. I am so excited about this volunteer role that Beth Berks called
and asked me if I would be interested in. So lovely that they,
you know, that they even would recognize me in that way. I've had lots of volunteer
roles with Tri Delta. Most recently, I was the alumni chapter coordinator for Region
6. I seem to have spent most of my volunteering career,
which would be after college, I have spent it on the alumni side of the house. Not
that there is a single thing wrong with the collegiate side, not one single bit. I
just have managed to stay very involved with our active alumni chapters and members
and that kind of So, but I'm super excited about Day of Giving, greatest day ever.
I mean, just, I sit there on social media. Oh my gosh, all day long for the last
three or four years. Just, you know, watching the total go up and, you know, making
graphics with hearts and all the things. It's all the things. It's so much fun. So
much fun. So much fun. Refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh, fresh, all day
long. I know, I did all day, refresh, refresh, refresh. It only, it only refreshes
once a minute. I learned that loud.
It's just the best. It is. Undoubtedly.
So, Lisa, I want, I want to go all the way back to the beginning. I want
everybody to have a chance to get to know you. So let's talk about your Tried Elsa
experience. Why Toledo and what drew you to try Deltzer? What funny you should ask.
So I grew, I was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. Great, great town right in the
northeast part of the state, 30 minutes or 45 minutes away from Michigan.
We even have family in Michigan, so we would travel back and forth. So I am one
of four. My older brother, who is five years older, when he went away to college,
I remember thinking, oh my gosh, I want to be just like him. I want to go to the
school he went to. He went to Ohio Northern. And he had a very fun time,
his first year, quite an expensive first year, and ended up graduating from Bowling
Green State University, which is just down the road from Toledo. But his experience
pushed my mom and dad into the philosophy that we needed to stay closer to home to
prove ourselves. And if we did and got good grades, et cetera, that then they would
send us anywhere we wanted to go. So,
funny enough, we used to call the University of Toledo. We used to call it Bancroft
High because it sits on Bancroft Avenue. And a lot of us considered it just sort
of an extension of high school, even though it was not. And I mean, the university
has been around for a very long time. We have a law school and a medical school
and, I mean, just a fabulous university. A lot of it is a commuter sort of school,
so a lot of us didn't live on campus. A lot of us did, but a lot of, like, we
didn't live on campus. My brother and I, we lived at home, and then we commuted.
My mom and dad decided to pick up the family in 1986, which was only my second
year in school. They moved to Vegas, which is where my whole nuclear family is now.
But my younger brother and I, Alan, we stayed behind and we finished at the
University of Toledo. Great experience. I mean, just top to bottom,
front to back. It was just an incredible experience. The way that I stayed at UT,
so we had summer orientation before school started in August.
My orientation advisor was beautiful woman by the name of Gretchen Goddhart. I think
probably the single greatest Tri Delta next to Sarah Ida Shaw that's ever lived, in my
opinion. Gretchen was my orientation advisor. So I got to know her.
Of course, she said she was Greek, had no idea what organization didn't even really
know anything about being Greek because nobody in my family was. So I had no
experience going in. I had no preconceived ideas, but being very active in high
school, I thought, you know, okay, I'll try this sorority rush thing. I don't know
if it's for me, whatever. Went to my first couple of parties and saw Gretchen,
found out that she was a Tri Delta. Realized very early on that Not only did I love
her, but loved all the girls in the house, felt immediately at home. Even though I
was down to three houses at the end, I remember our advisors saying, do not
suicide. Whatever you do, do not just write down one organization. You better write
down three, because I'm telling you, if they don't select you, if you select them,
but they don't select you, you'll have nothing. And I thought to myself, hmm, If
Tri Delta doesn't want me, then I don't want anybody else. I love everybody else.
Oh, but for me, it was Tri Delta or nothing. That's what Lisa wrote down on her bid
card and come bid day the following day. When I opened up that bid and it said
Tri Delta, I can't even tell you how exciting a time that was for me.
It was far and away, anything,
there was just nothing in my life to that point in 18 years that could match the
excitement that I had on bid day. Nothing.
I love that so much. Not a single thing. There are so many things I think about
this a lot. And I think people probably think this is cheesy. There are so many
things that I think Sarah Idishaw is orchestrating like before we even know that
she's working in our lives she's working in our lives 100 % and your orientation
leader being a Tri Delta that was there like we can't do these things I love it
it makes no and what did I turn around doing I ended up being an orientation
advisor for the four years that I could be an orientation advisor I was in school
longer than that, but it was, it was just such a great opportunity to meet girls,
to meet, you know, to meet incoming freshmen, to sort of spread her influence
abroad, if you know what I mean. So it was just, it was great all the way around.
I can't say enough about my collegiate days. They were just, it was just an
incredible time in my life. I miss college. It is truly the best time.
It is. And it was gone in a blink. I know. I know. But I know there was a time
when you tried out to experience where you sort of lost your way. Things were going
well in school. What was going on? What was your turning point? Tell us about this
letter. So I'll tell you about the letter in a second. But Did you know,
Meredith, fun fact, did you know that of all the colleges and universities in the
entire United States, I'm only going to like narrow it down to the United States,
did you know that not a single one offers wait for it, Tri Delta as a major?
Did you know that? Unfortunately, I do know that. It's really, it's,
I, it's been a problem for some. I wish that my advisor,
my academic advisor, had said, well, of course, Tri Delta is a major. Of course you
can major in Tri Delta. Because what was Lisa doing? Majoring in Tri Delta. There
wasn't, there was nothing that got past me. And I don't even mean like going to
parties and, I mean, we did all those things, but that isn't even what I mean. It
didn't matter what it was. It didn't matter what the event, what the cause. It
didn't matter. Lisa was there. I was large and in charge. I was pledged class
president. Loved it. Just couldn't get enough. It was truly why I thought I was put
on the planet, was to represent Tri Delta. So here I am.
I'm sort of going along and back at that time, because I'm way older than you,
Meredith, and probably way older than a lot of people that are going to watch this.
But at the time that I was in the chapter, we believed wholeheartedly,
and they told us that the office would seek the girl and not the other way around.
So you couldn't, you couldn't stand there with your banner and say, and say,
hey, I am wanting to be a, You know,
I am large and in charge here, and I'm trying to be a whatever. Making the
president. I want the job. Yeah. They, they, they, they didn't allow you to do
that. Rather, we had each class, freshman,
sophomores, and juniors, I think seniors must have done it too. Maybe it was
sophomore, junior, senior. They got together. They created a slate of officers. It
was presented to one group that then went through them all and then came up with a
slate. We presented it at our meeting. We voted on it. And then those people would
take over in the office in which they were given. Twice in my college career,
and let me just say that the University of Toledo at the time was on quarters. So
we had four quarters in the year. You had to make grades fall quarter in order to
go active in January, which I did. But then in order to be eligible for an office,
you had to make grades. There was a, I think it must have been by fall quarter.
So my first year in school, I made grades. I got an office. I was, I think, in
charge of our apartment. We didn't have houses at the time. So we had a suite and
an apartment building. each of our sororities had a suite. So I was in charge of
keeping it clean and, you know, making it presentable and all those things. And I
got the chapter involved and I made these little cute little punch cards. And if
you did something, you know, really great at the apartment, I did a little punch,
whatever. I was all crafty at the time as well.
Come time for the next round of slating, which would have been late into my
sophomore year, going into my junior year, I didn't make grades. So I was put on
academic probation and I was ineligible for an office. And I thought, okay, well,
I really need to buckle down here. You know, I am not majoring in Tri Delta. I am
majoring in communication. I need to really buckle down.
Come time for slating my junior year, which would have been going into then my
senior year to have an office in my senior year,
I did not make grades. So twice in a row, I didn't make grades.
After I was apartment chairman, I never held another office while I was a Phi Alpha
at the University of Toledo. It crushed me. I mean, it just absolutely crushed me
because at the time I was so pompous, I thought, well, there is a
I was supposed to be studying and doing all the things. But socially, and in every
other corner of my life, all I wanted to do was Tri Delta, morning until night. And
now all of a sudden, Tri Delta said, wait a minute, you're supposed to be here, to
be going to school. You're supposed to be getting grades, good grades, because that's
why you're here. That's why you're in college. And I wasn't doing that. I wasn't
meeting the mark. I wasn't meeting the standard. I was put on probation twice,
academic probation twice, kept me from holding an office.
I grew bitter. I was angry at everybody, but the person that I should be angry
with, you know, you know who. And I thought the heck with it.
And I stopped paying dues. I stopped going to meeting. I stopped going to meetings.
You know, we had chapter meetings on Sunday night, stopped going to meetings, stop
paying dues. So in my senior year, not only did I not go through circle degree
because I did not graduate in May of my senior year like I should have,
I was so far behind that it took me an entire another year and a quarter to
finish college. So I didn't go through circle degree,
missed all of the pivotal things that you would experience in your junior and senior
years when you're in college because I was mad. I was mad at Tri Delta. Tri Delta
did me wrong. Little did I know. So I stopped paying dues. Went about my life.
Stop hanging out with the girls. Buckled down. Ended up getting my BA in
communication. Graduated in December of
you know, you made a commitment. So I pulled out my checkbook. I think I had $200
in my account. And I thought, okay, I know it's going to do nothing except in my
own mind, satisfy my own mind that I will have paid my dues and what I owed to
Tri Delta. And that would be that. I figured, you know, Tri Delta didn't want me more
because I was jerk and I let Tri Delta go. I let Tri Delta down. I let Tri Delta go.
It was bad all the way around. I wrote the check for $122 .50 and I sent it to
whatever alumna was in charge of
girls that have graduated, you know, all the money side of things, not in the
chapter, but the advisor, the financial advisor. And then,
lo and behold, on March the 17th, and I wasn't expecting anything,
but on March of 17th, which was St. Patrick's Day, I got a letter in the mail.
And if you'll indulge me, I'm going to stand up like Van of White, and I'm going
to walk over to my wall. And I'm going to get a letter because I finally, I
finally framed it.
Meredith, I literally carried this letter around with me for 10 years,
folded, unfolded it. I then made color copies of it. This is a copy of the letter,
okay? And I'm going to read it. I am going to put my glasses on so that I can
read it without, you know, too much difficulty. It says,
oh, and it's dated March 17,
1989. Your financial assistant, Ms. George, has notified us that your debt of $122
.50 to file off a chapter has been paid in full. We are pleased to tell you that,
effective today,
Tri Delta records have been changed and reflect your membership is in good standing.
We hope that you continue to enjoy your lifetime membership in Delta, Delta, Delta,
loyally.
even explain. It finally occurred to me as a sort of young adult that Tri Delta
wasn't throwing me away. I threw Tri Delta away. I, in my haste as a young person
who sort of didn't have a focus where she should have had it, allowed pride to get
in the way of commitment.
And it literally almost cost me the single greatest thing next to the birth of my
daughter that has really ever happened, which is membership in Tri Delta in our
organization. Greatest thing really truly that's ever happened. I literally carried
that letter around, folded in my purse. I then, once I got a job,
I would stick it in my portfolio. I pulled it out often. I didn't want it to get
ruined, so I made color copies and only carried those around. And finally, after 25
or so years, I finally said, I'm going to frame it and it's going on my wall as
a constant reminder that of the power of a second chance,
because that's really what that letter is. It's a second chance. And I've never, I
hope that I have never squandered it since. So when I say that I love our
fraternity, I love our fraternity. You could cut me in half. This side bleeds
Tri Delta and so does this side. So that's the story of the letter. And that's why
I'm so passionate about giving back, about the foundation, about everything that
Tri Delta has given to me. And for our young collegians, and some of them may even
be watching this tonight, you don't even realize what a lifetime memory.
that's that's sort of that was sort of the turning point in my life Meredith and
um thank god for Louise D. Smith and miss George who got the check and cashed it
this is this is such a valuable lesson I think for our members I mean honestly
Lisa my my collegiate experience is very similar to yours time and time again I
didn't get slated and who was I not thinking about maybe the person that I was
presenting as to my sisters that who thought that I was not suited for an officer
position. Right. And I felt the same way. I had very negative feelings about Tri
Delta and shifted my mindset. And here I am in my late 20s working for Tri Delta.
I've been a Tri Delta volunteer.
It's doing great and amazing things. If it's I'm having reflect within.
Don't let Tri Delta go. Tri Delta is going to be there for you. And it's so much
more than what happens in those four years. And you are living proof of that.
I want to talk about why you said yes to this volunteer role. Because we're sort
of getting into your wide. So tell us about this. So I have always loved
philanthropy. I think I've always been a natural salesman, even though I don't sell
things for a living. I'm not, you know, I'm not a pharmaceutical rep. I'm not,
I don't sell car parts. I mean, I just, I don't. However, what I do have is an
innate ability to connect with people that I have always had my whole entire life.
People are drawn to me. I don't know why they just are. I think it's a God -given
gift that, you know, God said to me, look, you know, you need to really,
you know, act a certain way because people are going to be drawn to you and what
you say will affect them. I have held a number of roles within Tri Delta,
but far and away, my favorite of all of them, I was amongst the very first
philanthropy specialists that we had.
It's a wonderful partnership. We have raised scads of money for St. Jude. And
personally, I have our alumni chapter here in Fredericksburg,
which is where I am. We've raised a lot of money for St. Jude. But then it really
came to, it really came to me that our foundation is we are helping our own
sisters. And if we don't give to ourselves first, then we really can't help anybody
else. We have to help us first. So when Beth Burke's called, and actually she
didn't call, she emailed me, and then we talked afterward, when she offered me this
day of giving volunteer coordinator position, I thought, I'm in hook,
and sinker. Heck yeah. I've been an ambassador every year that they've had
ambassadors, which I think is three or four years.
The one thing that I have learned in my life, and again, I think I said just a
minute ago, I am going to be 60 next month. The one thing that I've learned is
that people will give if they believe in you. They'll give to what you believe in
because they believe in you. I have a natural ability to convey my love for
whatever it is that I'm trying to impart to somebody. I can never sell anything
that I don't believe in. And so that's why I am wholeheartedly on board with
supporting our foundation because it helps our sisters, sisters helping sisters. There
isn't anything better or more powerful. And to rally people around that mission,
bonus. I'm so grateful that Beth called me. So grateful. I'm grateful that Beth
called you. Oh, my gosh. Love Beth. What would you say? Hang up. Okay, Beth Berks.
Love her. The queen of the foundation, queen of fundraising, incredibly smart. She
is. Incredibly mission -driven. I love her so, so much.
She's been such a great mentor to me as a young professional. Oh, I'd go on it. I
can have a podcast just about how much I love that works. You do. I
10 years ago, 30 years ago, or almost 50 years ago, in my case. Think about that
one sister that changed the way that you looked at the world.
For me, her name was Gretchen Goddhart.
Once she got married, it was Gretchen Gathelden. But Gretchen was incredible.
And because of her,
as I said earlier, it changed my life. It changed who I would become. So think
about that person, that sister, that changed things for you. Who is that sister?
Maybe you'd like to either honor her or remember her with a gift to our foundation.
Maybe it was the relationship you had with your little sister or your big sister
or, you know, another officer that you were,
that you served with. There is a reason why at this point in your life that you
are still involved with Tri Delta. And
it might just be time to consider giving back.
And by giving back, I don't mean that our foundation is some mythical thing that we
don't ever. It's like some big brick building over there that nobody ever sees or
it's like a thing. It's not. It's a living, breathing embodiment of who we are as
Tri Deltas. And to support that is supporting our fraternity in ways that you may not
even realize, not only is it emergency assistance for sisters in dire need,
dire straits. It's transformational programming. If you've ever been to convention or
VLC or volunteer leadership conference, most of the programming is paid through the
foundation. It is a, it is who we are at our very core.
And it is who we are that Sarah and, you know, that Sarah Ida Shaw thought about
and Eleanor.
think of it as being a drop in the bucket or anything. We need all of those
donations to be able to sustain us in the future. You know, Danny Thomas said it
best. He said that he would rather have a million people give one dollar than one
person giving a million dollars. And the reason he said that is because those one
million people that gave one $1 are going to be invested in the mission of St.
Jude. So all the people, all of our sisters, and even people that aren't Tri Deltas,
that are husbands of Tri Deltas and friends of Tri Deltas, anybody who gives is making
a tangible difference. So don't think that your X amount of a donation,
whatever it is that you can give, is not going to be the best part of your day
on the day that you give. Because I'm telling you that for our foundation, they're
going to take that money, they're going to let it grow, and they're going to use
it to help our sisters in every possible way. I can't say enough.
I don't have enough hours in the day to tell you how great our foundation is and
why we need to make sure that it's around for hundreds of years,
long after us. Yes. I like to remind people or ask them to think about their
greatest day in Tri Delta, their greatest little memory, wherever that is in your
Tri Delta journey. Maybe it was in college. Maybe it was a good day. Maybe it was
after you graduated when you got a letter in the mail from Tri Delta. Never know.
Supporting Tri Delta s foundation ensures that our sisters all get to have that best
day in Tri Delta. Because you never know what roadblocks going to prevent them from
getting there. They might need a scholarship to stay in school. They might lose
their car in some crazy way. Crazy things happen in the universe.
And if Tri Delta 's Foundation weren't there to support them in those moments, they
might not be able to continue to be a member. So we're allowing everybody to have
their best days in Tri Delta by investing in the foundation. Because sometimes the
big step feels not as personal. The transformational programming,
these are big words that we use, but really we're making sure that our sisters have
every opportunity to stay in our organization and flourish into wonderful people with
Tri Delta in their hearts. I mean, just a few years ago we saw our foundation come
to the rescue of how many collegians that were actually in college during COVID when
all of a sudden they were told, uh, hello, pack, because you're going home. Now how
are they going to get, how are some of these young women going to get home? Let's
say home is across the country. Our foundation was there. Our foundation provided
airline tickets and bus tickets and train tickets and, you know, assistance for those
sisters to get home. And had we not had a foundation? Yeah, there probably was some
rich alumna somewhere that they could have tapped for it. But we didn't have to
because we have a foundation and that's why it's there. It's there when you need
it. Even when you don't think you'll need it, that's why it's there. And that's why
it's important for all of us to give. Give as much as you can give because just
know that whatever it is that you do give, it is going to be used in the best
possible way. Remember, it's a living, breathing thing. It's not something over here
up on a hill that, you know, is surrounded by moss because it's been around for
170 ,000 years, and we've got 800 billion, you know, endowments,
you know, that isn't us. I hope someday it is. But it's going to take all of us
making a concerted effort to give today so that we will be around up on the hill,
hopefully not with moss growing around it, maybe pansies. I'd like to see some
pansies around that building, that foundation building. I'm just saying.
I don't want to say anything else. I think that is such an inspiring message for
our sisters to think about as they prepare for a day of giving and open their
hearts to generosity in the holiday season. So we're leaving it there.
Mic drop. Lisa Diskin says give to Tri Delta’s Foundation. You have to Trin Elsa.
Yeah. Lisa, I can't thank you enough for sharing. Yeah, it has been the best
possible way to spend 30 minutes with you, with our sisters that are watching.
And I'm telling you, if you have not seen it, you need to be on any social media
platform. And I'm telling you, watching it scroll. And it is fabulous.
I'm telling you you're going to be standing up there with some pom -poms going, go
Tri Delta. Go Tri Delta. I promise you. Yep. And you can, when you see us hit the
goal, everyone can know that I'm crying on the other side of the computer as I do
every year when we hit our goal. And by the way, our goal this year is $250 ,000.
We hit about $2 .30 last year. We need about 200. Our goal is $250 ,000.
And I know that we can do it. I know the link will go live on November 4th,
the day that this airs and it's never too early to make a donation or two or ten
just saying yep visit Tri Delta .org slash foundation slash day of giving maybe it'll
just pop up right when you get to the website like magic it'll be all over social
media you won't be able to miss it follow along on social media on day of giving
for lots of videos updates special announcements throughout the day and we'll And
we'll be sending lots of emails. It's the one day we really do blow up your phone.
We can't help it. We're just really passionate. And we hope that you will all be a
part of our Day of Giving celebration. And to my Phi Alpha sisters, we need to
hear from you. Come on, Toledo. Let's go.
You heard it. People do what Lisa says. Thanks so much. Oh, my gosh.
Of course. This has been so fun. We have so much to talk about I need to keep
talking to you next time we see each other. We have, I think, a lot more in
common than I realized.
These podcasts are always so fun. Please like, subscribe, and rate our podcast. We
love five -star ratings. Thank you for joining us. Until next time, Lisa and I are
sending all of our Delta love. Goodbye.
Thank you.