Category Archives: CEO and Board Chair

An Update on our Council’s Fiscal Health

Dear Girl Scout Volunteers,

As we continue to monitor and adjust our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, always prioritizing the health and safety of our girls, their families and our broader community, I want to reach out and express the staff and my deepest gratitude for your continued commitment to Girl Scouting and the girls we serve. While you’ve been juggling the changes that COVID-19 has caused in your own life and family, your level of engagement in supporting one another, the girls, the council and the community has been truly remarkable.

We’ve seen thousands of you learn new technology skills to conduct ongoing virtual troop and service unit meetings. So many of you and your girls have animated the Girl Scout Promise and Law through numerous service and take action projects, including mask making, collecting food for our food banks, and gathering thousands of pounds of cat and dog food as well as other supplies to help Hopi and Navajo families who have been severely impacted by the coronavirus.

This kind of engagement and commitment to the Girl Scout Movement through this pandemic and economic instability, is why this Movement has survived many challenges over the last hundred plus years. We’ve heard that some of you are concerned about the long-term financial health of our council, given that the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and social unrest could escalate and/or linger for many months. Like most organizations and businesses, these are indeed very difficult times for our council and the national Movement. Our revenue streams have been significantly impacted and we have yet to see how this pandemic will impact our largest revenue stream – our Girl Scout cookie program. Thankfully, our council’s board and staff have managed our financial resources with fiscally conservative diligence over the past two decades. The council has the financial reserves, set aside for times just like these, to help sustain our council over the next couple of years, as our annual report shows. Nonetheless, we will need to be prudent and adapt our business practices in order to weather this storm. We’ll also need to continue to bring in as much revenue as feasible to sustain our organization and maintain our facilities for a future when we can all enjoy our camps and in-person events and program activities again.

We’re approaching the summer and upcoming fall season with a mixture of caution and hope. We will continue to prioritize the health and well-being of all our members and the numerous communities throughout our jurisdiction. We look forward to a time when we can gather again, in-person, to continue to learn, celebrate and enjoy what Girl Scouting offers us as individuals, and as a Movement that has helped build the social fabric, strong values and beliefs that promote civic engagement and sustain our democracy. We stand on the shoulder of the girls, women and men who lived through wars, natural disasters, and other pandemics. I have faith that our girls and volunteers like you will lead us through the current challenges with amazing innovation and passion.

Tamara J. Woodbury
GSACPC CEO

A Message from our CEO and Board Chair

Dear Girl Scout Friends and Family,

We must not be silent. We choose to be present in the conversation, we choose to be of the times, and deliberate in our actions. We choose to live up to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who once described Girl Scouts as “a force for desegregation.” We choose equality and equity for all people. We recognize and claim this as a moment for us all to stand up and speak out against racism and violence. And to speak up for justice for all humankind.

For far too long, our Black sisters and brothers, and all people of color, have faced discrimination in education, jobs, voting rights, health care, law enforcement and opportunity. And far too many have suffered abuse, and even death, at the hands of people misusing their authority and power caused by systemic racism.

We must not be silent. This is a critical moment in time and history. We hope and pray that this moment is a pivotal and powerful turning point to justice. We must pay attention – that’s why the protesters are marching across the nation and calling us all to claim this moment and to be a collective voice and outspoken advocate for real change. We must listen and we must act. We must call out the injustices. Change will only come from action.

This is everyone’s problem. What can you do, you ask? Take action. That’s what Girl Scouts do. Here are three suggestions:

  1. Take the Pledge to Stand Against Racism. Educate yourself about racism and its historical context in this country (read a book, take a class, go to a seminar). It’s not easy, but it’s necessary.
  2. Remember, you don’t have to be a perfect ally to speak up. Speaking up about human rights violations is not political, it’s moral. Don‘t be silent.
  3. Become more civically engaged locally. If there is violence or brutality against people of color in your community, speak up – call or text your local district attorney, your mayor, and your police chief to pressure for justice.

More suggestions for taking meaningful action. 

We stand together with our Black Girl Scouts and their families, and all people of color, in the sisterhood that is Girl Scouts. We love and support you. As an anti-racist organization, Girl Scouts stands firmly against the racism and violence that continues to silently seep into every part of our society.

We must not be silent. We choose to amplify our mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character whose actions will make the world a better place. Our girls and young women are watching us, and we endeavor to live the values we believe. 

In the coming days, our council will be looking at what more we can do to support racial healing in our community and Girl Scout family and will be looking for your involvement to help us find our way. Together we can create a more just world for everyone.

Yours in Girl Scouting,

Tamara Woodbury & Lupe Camargo

GSACPC CEO           GSACPC Board Chair