Nola.com
reports that Girls Scouts Louisiana East welcomed national CEO Anna Maria
Chávez to its headquarters in Jefferson on July 24 to speak about the
opportunities and challenges that are facing Girl Scouts across the country.
Chávez, who is a lifetime member of Girl Scouts and the former CEO of Girl
Scouts of Southwest Texas, said the organization has been undergoing a
transformation since 2005 to stay relevant to the communities that it serves.
Chávez was in New Orleans the night before, being honored by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) with its Graciela Olivarez La Raza Award at the organization’s annual convention.
According
to Nola.com, Chávez has begun to bridge the technological gap by hiring the
first chief information officer in Girl Scouts history to enhance communication
from the national organization to grassroots levels. She also discussed plans
to take sales of the famous Girl Scout cookies to an eCommerce platform next
year, and mentioned upcoming plans to collaborate with Michelle Obama that will
be “very helpful in the near future.”
Marianne
Addy, vice president of communications and marketing of Girls Scouts Louisiana
East, told Nola.com she believes that the Girl Scouts of New Orleans are in
especially unique positions to be leaders.
“We
want to get these girls involved in Girl Scouts at a young age to have service
be a part of their DNA, and for them to seize the opportunities to be problems
solvers to address the problems in our community,” Addy said.
Last
year, Girls Scouts Louisiana East served nearly 16,500 girls and 7,000 adults
in its 23 parishes. Two of those Girl Scouts were present at Wednesday’s
luncheon as recipients of the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement
within the organization that requires at least 80 hours of community service.