My Experience in Governance as a Girl Scout
Opinions 16 Comments 
delegate, democratic process, governance, gsg, national delegate
Well, the vote has been taken and National Delegates have overwhelmingly voted for Proposal 2 to pass as written. I have to accept this because I say that I believe in the democratic process, and I must believe that delegates voted thinking this was the best thing for our Movement. But at the same time, I grieve because I also believe the democratic process is dead in Girl Scouting, and in fact, died a few years ago. When I saw how many voted against extending the 45 minute limit on proposal debate during the Standing Rules adoption, I knew what was coming and that proved to me that delegates were not there to use the democratic process. They had already made their minds up as to how they were going to vote. And that’s not how it’s supposed to work.
I wrote a white paper about the democratic process in November of 2019 stating that it could fix all of our issues with our Movement. Earlier that year, I wrote a blog post called Death Spiral: Governance Edition that became the basis of my white paper. I did not state it as such, but it was about my personal observations as a delegate and National Delegate in my council. What saddened me most after I published it is how much feedback and response I got from others around the country who told me they experienced or were experiencing the same thing. Most of them had given up or had already left Girl Scouts. I knew then that the democratic process had already died. But I wrote the white paper anyway later that year out of sheer principle knowing full well nothing would come out of it. I sent it to a National Board member who had contacted me out of the blue previously, and he said thank you and supposedly forwarded it to Sylvia. I’m sure it went straight to the trash can at that point.
I write the following not out of bitterness, but because I want you to know my story. I really do not know where to go with my journey at this point. I’d like to add that we are under new leadership in our council now so the following is all in the past, but it still remains with me and I continue to struggle with what happened.
These are just a few of the things I dealt with when I was a council delegate for 5 years:
- Put up with shenanigans and games trying to ask standard questions and wanting our council to do things the way they were supposed to be professionally done
- Ignored and embarrassed after I presented proof that our council was cheated through a real estate deal
- Endured condescending responses from board and staff members after writing what I thought were heartfelt and professional letters about the state of our council’s affairs
- Trapped in a conference room and not allowed to leave by our CEO at the time who then threatened, verbally abused, and verbally assaulted me at length in front of another volunteer and staff member so loudly that the entire office heard it
- Received a devastating and hateful censure letter from our board of directors based on what I have good cause to believe was a forged letter in my name after the attack
- Dealt with harassment, humiliation, and intimidation tactics by staff and board members to the point where I resigned as a delegate and National Delegate to try to cut off contact with them
- Watched our council continue to tank and finally go into a tailspin while nothing could be done about it
This just scratches the surface. The saga behind the scenes was a nightmare now that I look back on it. Maybe one day I will write my memoirs about my bizarre experiences. But throughout it all, even though it became more and more obvious that I was beating my head against a wall, I kept going because when doors would open, I felt like I was supposed to go through them for some reason. I was energized by the girls in my troop and felt like it was worth it to fight for them. But even that eventually died out, and my troop experience began to drain me too. I wasn’t getting any positive charge from anywhere. We are under new leadership now, but I am so scarred from what I went through that I have said never again would I be involved in council governance.
So here I am now, after spending an ungodly amount of hours building GirlScoutGovernance.com and writing gobs of blog posts about the National Council Session, I just witnessed so many give up on the National Council and the democratic process. They also unknowingly gave up on themselves and on the history of Girl Scouting. I had no idea how much I was in the minority until I saw the number who voted against extending debate. I knew what was coming then. I am not as devastated as I was when I received the censure letter from the board, but I think back to all of the conversations I’ve had and continue to have with other volunteers in my council and around the country who say things such as, “Why do you even bother? It won’t make a difference.” I try to tell myself that no, they are wrong and maybe it will make a difference someday and somewhere, but today, it didn’t. And that is a very bitter pill to swallow.
I probably will not post for some time while I try to sort through things. Thank you for reading my posts throughout these past few months.
Amy, take heart. We over here at my council are disappointed too. Girl Scouting, for the most part, has a shallow institutional memory. So many new members do not understand the history of Girl Scouting and how its governance structure was set up by the founder. Thanks for doing the part you did. I surely appreciated it.
Even though the Proposal 2 vote did not go the way many of us wanted, your contribution to educating delegates and the membership on governance has been very important and was time well spent. Thank you for your efforts!
Amy,
I want to say Thank You for everything you’ve done w/ this site and on the FB groups and the Town Hall this past month. I have learned so much and am thankful I found your site and was able to read all you’ve posted to catch me up to speed. This is my first year as a National Delegate but I’ve been an adult member for over 15 years. I’ve followed the NCS sessions from different online sources but your explanations have been very informative and (for me) much appreciated. Take heart! You are appreciated! You did make a difference. Your words mattered and you mattered. Thank you and hold your head high. I hope to see you for many years to come teaching us about the democratic process and making us think!
Love in Girl Scouts!
Theresa
You have made a difference, and later, I hope, will continue to fight for needed change. Sometimes these things take a LOT of time. There is still hope for change. I have enjoyed and appreciated your Governance postings and all of your hard work, too. I know also how sometimes a break is needed, though. It sounds like you have been through a LOT. A huge thank you again, and I hope your break won’t be forever. Sending support, hugs, and love.
Amy, your voice makes a difference! You are a resilient, strong woman with a Girl Scout heart the size of South Carolina. The GS democratic process is an amazing governance system that works. All organizations that are over 100 years old have peaks and valleys, Girl Scouting is moving through a valley. We must stay in the fight to continue making a difference. I am honored to serve you and I could not be more proud to be your CEO.
Lora
Amy, chin up. I’m speechless and shocked. I keep thinking the Suffragettes had setbacks too – and they prevailed. Love you, my green blooded friend!
Amy, I’ll punch your validation “ticket” Step back, take a breather and try to recharge.
“Right is right, even if no one else is doing it” ~ JGL
Do keep that in mind.
know that you are NOT alone. it is so very clear that this reflects exactly the experience of many others in the intimidation, embarrassment, exclusion, and general bullying. I would argue that what we are seeing in this session is reflective of democratic process in society in general – rather than only in GS. The board has successfully convinced a good number of people that the efforts they made this summer in prep for the virtual conference are evidence of their new good intentions & processes because we live in a soundbite world where even teachers, politicians, and media follow the practices of advertising (neurological manipulation) to engage people superficially rather than in the debate our human intellectuality is capable of. (We’ve been seeing it in classrooms for over 10 years). Moreover the timing of this event with the national election has unconsciously invited many to mirror their participation here in GS to their participation in the national processes (that also do NOT facilitate exchange, but rather polarization).
To be honest – the fact that we spent 6 months training on parliamentary procedure to even get to this point (where it is clear many still do not understand all of it) while there are NO girl badges or programs to teach our girls how to grow into these leadership positions is particularly telling. The fact that these procedure were actually in the JUNIOR level HANDBOOK (not an optional badge, but regular troop governance procedure) is even more telling. The fact that when I mentioned reminding my fellow leaders in my SU of Robert’s Rules of Order my co-SUM says that will “make you look pretentious” is exceedingly telling.
To be honest I am not even sure how fire departments across the nation are even operating anymore. Everyone wants to be heard, but no one wants to follow the system to do so.
I respectfully disagree. I saw this whole process as a wonderful example of democracy and suppoted the outcome. There was a lot of information out there and delegates took responsibility to educate themselves. At least we all agree that we love Girl Scouts and what it does for girls. What it did for us in the padt and what it will be for girls in the future. Always good to take a break and reasses.
See my response to Suzann.
I want to say thanks for your volunteer years. I have been a GS for over 30 years and was taught and teach my girls to explore, and push limits and ideals, don’t be afraid to stand up for your beliefs and thoughts while maintaining the GS oath. I encourage them to not fall into the norm but unfortunately our current state of councils across the country have let’s us down.
From my experiences, in several councils I have belonged to, none enforce the practices and policies put in place because they are afraid of offending or causing conflict, instead we let volunteers do what they want and not follow the promise and law foundation. Now we are to lead them and guide them to follow what they are told, believe media and not to question because if you do you will be reprimanded, humiliated and discriminated against. I have witnessed council staff do this to not only a leader but to a Senior and Ambassador Girl Scout. So uncalled for and unacceptable Girl Scout behavior but then again we are a business for profit and to be run as a major corporation and not a organization ran for the girls.
Instead of follow Ms. Juliette Gordon Lows’ example by pushing, learning and creating their own paths it feels as if we are virtual and program constricted. I love the basis of what GS was and I have hope that one day it will be great again for the girls of our future and that is why I remain positive for the girls and remain to teach my girls to be bold and learn as much as they can, and excel beyond boundaries. Good luck to all and Happy Scouting (the traditional ways).
Amy, I respectfully disagree with your conclusion that many unknowingly gave away anything and I am sorry that you feel that way. While it was evident some NCS Delagates were unprepared for NCS based on the questions being asked, I also believe there are very many more that were prepared. I truly appreciate the effort that you and others put into researching the topics and providing insight into governance. I felt extremely prepared to vote and I voted my conscience in favor of Proposal 2. The points you put forward were often brought up in conversations, by myself or others, when speaking with with my NCS delegation, council delegates, service unit members, and guests at an NCS “mash-up” hosted by my counsel. NCS proposals were introduced at our spring delegate meeting and were the topic of table discussions at our fall delegate meeting, our delegation has literally met so many times I have lost count, I believe I attended every webinar offered by GSUSA and watched the videos. While I was unable to attend a full town hall sponsored by you and others, I did attend what I could. The discussions I have had often concluded in support for the spirit of Proposal 2, even though there was desire for the language in the second paragraph to be much tighter. Again thank you for all the time and energy you put into your blog. Your points of view we’re persuasive, I just chose to disagree with you. This to me shows democracy is still at work within Girl Scouts.
Suzann, thank you for your comment. But with all due respect, you have NO idea what it is like to be in a dysfunctional council. My experience as a National Delegate alternate (I was bumped up to ND status during the session) in 2017 was a complete and utter joke. You tow the party line and that’s that. I KNOW this happened at other councils around the country this time around too because I heard from a multitude of delegates about it. You should thank your lucky stars that you are in a council that actually had discussion and training. This doesn’t go on at a multitude of councils around the country, and it shows. THAT’S what I’m talking about. Did you even read the rest of my post?
Amy, thank you for all the time and effort you put into the blog. Your posts and white paper were always in the back of my mind when preparing for NCS. Even though this is a huge blow, we at least got them to admit the national board was part of the national council, and not a separate entity. This is disappointing, but we have to treat this not as an end, but as a setback. Is this going to be a long, hard road ahead? Yes. However, this is just a setback for our movement. It’s not a permanent roadblock, and it certainly isn’t the end. We are Girl Scouts, and we perservere through the hard times.
Take a break, and we’ll be here when you come back. Thank you for all you do.
You made it possible for the membership to be informed. THANK YOU! There should be requirements for councils to have links and input to the National Council session timeline for proposals, suggestions for discussion and ongoing NCS discussion.
To empower girls, we need to empower the adults who work with them. Governance begins with the troop, council and the National Organization.
You have done a great service and I hope you decide to continue to do so. Even though it might seem discouraging, your blogs and information DO make a difference. And, are a part of keeping the heart of Girl Scouting alive. Thank you.