10 Years of GSWAC (Not a Council)!

When I first started as a leader back in the fall of 2010, I told others about the crazy adventures I had as a Girl Scout growing up. At one point, someone suggested I write these stories down and perhaps they could be in the form of a blog.  I gave the idea some thought, and eventually I took the time in April of 2014 to set up a WordPress site on my web account. I would love to give you an inspiring explanation of why I picked the name “Girl Scout with a Cause,” but honestly, I don’t remember why I chose it.

Initially, I wrote about very random subjects that suited my mood at the time, but as I started getting more involved in Girl Scouts, I became curious about why things were the way they were. Meaning, why was everybody so up in arms and why was our organization so out of sorts? I participated in Facebook conversations with folks all over the country and began to piece together the upheaval that Girl Scouts went through right before I started my volunteer journey. And in October of 2015, there was a big online hullabaloo due to a white paper that Suellen Nelles, CEO of the Farthest North council at the time, published and sent to the National Board. I read the paper and became even more curious about the thought process of what was known as the “Core Business Strategy.” To try to make sense of it from the viewpoint of a volunteer, I wrote a summary of the white paper with my thoughts on it. I published it and went about my day. Later that evening, a volunteer in my service unit stopped me at church and said that my blog post was going viral on Facebook. When I got home, I couldn’t believe the response it was getting.

A couple of months later in 2016, I began to write more about “national” topics and even dabbled in local governance subjects (not very well, but I was still very new to it). More of my blog posts began to be shared across social media, but I still didn’t really think anything of it. All of that changed in 2017 when Farthest North filed its lawsuit against GSUSA over membership dues. Like before, curiosity led me to wondering what the big stink was over because there seemed to be confusion over what really happened at past National Council Sessions (NCS). I was completely fascinated by what seemed to be a Mandela Effect when it came to everyone’s collective memories over membership dues and NCS proposals. Research into this lawsuit led to me becoming involved in national governance. Up until that point, I don’t think I had even cracked open a Blue Book.

I don’t believe I’ve ever revealed this publicly, but I became a National Delegate Alternate for the 2017 NCS because of this blog’s viral posts about membership dues. I was then bumped up to full delegate status halfway through the session due to someone realizing she had confused the dates for a wedding. You really can’t make this stuff up. It’s a roundabout story that maybe I’ll tell one day in my memoirs. I’m not sure whose idea it was to make me a National Delegate (Alternate) in the first place, but that was like throwing B’rer Rabbit into the briar patch.

Attending the 2017 NCS and convention opened up a whole new world to me, and because of it, I got to know some folks who have been instrumental in my further development in the areas of Girl Scouting and writing. I continued to do research into the past, and my thoughts about how to “fix” Girl Scouting began to gel. In January of 2019, we launched GirlScoutGovernance.com. By this point, I felt like everything centered around the democratic process in Girl Scouting, and I wrote some blog posts that ended up becoming the basis for the white paper I wrote in November of 2019.

But not everything was about governance during this time. I dove into a research project involving two of my council’s camps – Camp WaBak and Camp Mary Elizabeth. It’s amazing how what I wrote about years ago helped me form the basis for Friends of Camp WaBak and the CME grant our council recently received. And of course, there’s OFFICIAL scarves. Who can forget them?

During this time, I continued to follow and write about the Farthest North lawsuit which, by far, were my most popular posts behind cookie memes. Can’t forget the cookie memes. I don’t think my FN posts made many friends behind the scenes, but I felt like it was an important topic to cover, and inquiring minds wanted to know!

Everything came to a head at the virtual 2020 NCS after a flurry of blog posts throughout the year. I’m not going to revisit it, but it was like a baseball bat to my face. I learned a lot, although it did come at a cost. Up until that point, I had a very naïve belief when it came to the volunteer base, but 2020 was a dose of reality in many different ways. I took a much needed break from governance.

In 2021, the Farthest North lawsuit was settled, but I continued to write about national topics (admittedly with a much more cynical slant than in years past). I kept up with how much our organization had spent on its mammoth IT platform and wrote extensively about it.  In the fall of 2021, I decided to delve deeper into a topic I had wanted to research further for quite some time – the Core Business Strategy. After a few months of research, I published my paper on the CBS in January of 2022. Later in 2022, I became hooked into governance again thanks to the Heart of the Hudson council and was inspired to write a proposal on the formation of a task group to study the democratic process in Girl Scouting. Although at the time, I was absolutely crushed to learn that it was one endorsement short of making it onto the 2023 NCS agenda, things happen for a reason. GSUSA created a national task group anyway called the Movement Governance Advisory Team (MGAT) which is currently meeting and will present its findings sometime in 2024 or 2025.

Through a series of curious events, I served as the resource team for the 2023 NCS proposal about the delegate formula written and supported by the Farthest North council. Even though my own  proposal didn’t make it on the agenda, I ended up being able to participate in the NCS in much the same way due to FN. The proposal didn’t pass, but regardless, it was an extremely valuable experience that I learned a great deal from and met a few more supportive folks along the way.

To say that my path in Girl Scouting as an adult has been eventful would be such an understatement. I’m leaving out some crazy personal anecdotes like the one involving a hoarder because I’ve got to save some stories for later! But seriously, this blog has opened some amazing doors, and I’ve met incredible people from all over due to it. I never would have guessed what would be in store 10 years ago when I published that first blog post about camping.

So what lies ahead? I have no idea! Right now, I feel like I’ve started a new chapter in Girl Scouting with everything I’ve got going on. I also feel like we’re on the cusp of reinventing ourselves as an organization, so I’m in wait and see mode.

Thanks again for all of you who have kept up with the blog through the years and for all of the encouraging and thoughtful words of support. It’s been a roller coaster ride, for sure. Here’s to another ten years!