Kathy Hopinkah Hannan is both Global Lead Partner at KPMG and GSUSA’s National President and Chairman of the Board
I
can’t believe that a year has passed since I was elected National President of
Girl Scouts of the USA at our 2014 National Council Session/53rd Convention in
Salt Lake City. Wow—what a great year it’s been! I could not be more proud to
serve an organization that positively impacts so many lives. From coast to
coast and overseas, I had the pleasure of meeting many, many girls, volunteers,
leaders, parents, and alumnae who have shared their Girl Scout stories with me.
As I reflect on the past year, some of the highlights were: helping to lead approximately
5,000 girls and 1,000 volunteers in a bridging ceremony across the Golden Gate
Bridge in celebration of our partnership
with the National Parks Service; assisting with the unveiling of our partnership
with the Peace Corps for the Let Girls Learn initiative on International
Women’s Day; camping
out at the White House with 50 extraordinary fourth-grade Girl Scouts and
their leaders to highlight our support for the Every Kid in a Park and the Let’s
Move! Outside initiatives, all while the girls worked to earn the
first-ever Girls’ Choice badges; and, serving as part of a Girl Scout
delegation to the Vatican for a global
meeting of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides.
It’s
also the everyday interactions I’ve had—when I mentioned my affiliation or someone
saw me wearing my Girl Scout pin—that have reminded me of the importance of our
organization, one that has been centered for more than 100 years on Girl
Scouts’ strong belief that all girls matter. In 1912, Juliette Gordon Low
founded Girl Scouts when she exclaimed, "I've got something for the girls
of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we're going to start it
tonight!" I know that Girl Scouts still has something—something important—for
all girls today because people share inspiring stories about their Girl Scout
experiences with me all the time. Yet, some volunteers and parents have also
told me that the organization has not always made it easy for girls to become
Girl Scouts or for volunteers to lead troops. And, I recognize that this has
made it tougher to attract and retain the girls who we know can benefit from
our program, as well as the volunteers who serve as supportive adults in
helping girls try new things, make new friends, and dream big.
As
I think about the past year, I also have to share how impressed I have been by
the strength and dedication of our Movement’s leaders at the local and national
level—from the enthusiastic troop leaders who inspire girls to the dedicated CEOs
who lead our local councils to the hard-working individuals who serve our
national organization. Their shared sense of urgency and boldness to help Girl
Scouts thrive for the next 100 years has led us to create a new Movement-wide
strategy to address our challenges and seize new opportunities for our future. Our
new strategy is grounded in our mission, our core purpose, and our shared
ideals to serve as many girls who want to be Girl Scouts as possible—regardless
of their means, neighborhood, or family background. Over the next few months,
CEOs, board chairs, and other leaders in our Movement look forward to
continuing to discuss the strategy and the next steps in implementing it with
our members.
Clearly,
our society at large recognizes that we, nearly three million proud Girl Scout
members, have the ability to effect real change in the lives of girls and in
our communities and that it is the selfless leadership of so many that makes
this possible. We all know that investing in girls is without a doubt investing
in our collective future too. The world demands it of us and our dedication to
our mission makes us more than ready to meet this demand.
So,
as I reflect on the past year and look forward to the next, I’m truly excited
about everything we’ve been doing at Girl Scouts, around the corner and across
the globe. Together, we are furthering Juliette Gordon Low’s legacy by
continuing to demonstrate to everyone that investing in girls makes our world a
better place.