2023 NCS and Phenom Review

National Governance 7 Comments 2023 NCS, bonnie b, democratic process, farthest north council, girl scout universe, governance, gsusa, national convention, national council, national delegate, noorain, roberts rules

Well, that’s a wrap on the 56th National Council Session (NCS) and Phenom Girl Scout Convention. Where to even begin? There’s a lot to unpack, but I’ll go through it as best as possible. Buckle up!

My favorite part of the convention was finally meeting up with friends that I have made through online networking channels. Some folks I’ve known for years, but this was the first time we’ve ever met in-person. It’s really neat how you instantly click with them. It had also been almost six years since I had seen some other friends at the Convention in Columbus. That’s too long of a wait!

I want to thank those of you I spoke to in Orlando who gave me supportive comments about the work I do in Girl Scouting. It has been like a ride on a rickety wooden roller coaster for the past however many years since I started delving into deeper waters, but hearing from you really does make the journey smoother. It was a great pick-me-up at just the right time. Continue reading

July 12 2023

Can You Keep a NCS Secret?

National Governance 7 Comments 2023 NCS, democratic process, gsusa, national delegate

We’re down to single digit days before it’s time for the 56th National Council Session (NCS) to commence, and GSUSA has finally — FINALLY — sent out a “What You Need to Know” email for all of us guests. My travel anxiety kicked into high gear a few days ago, and I had been forced to find out things piecemeal from friends who are delegates and Facebook groups which wasn’t helping matters. Lots of rumors about security and water bottles and social media guidelines were swirling around, but now GSUSA has OFFICIALLY published a guide (and an app!). But there’s something weird right at the very end of the guide.

The very last page of the 15 page document details the social media and communication guidelines that attendees of Phenom and the NCS are supposed to follow. Most of it is pretty standard, but there is one thing that strikes me as odd. The document states that attendees aren’t allowed to share “National Council Session voting outcomes.” What? Continue reading

June 30 2023

My Concerns about the 2023 NCS

National Governance 5 Comments 2023 NCS, blue book, gsusa, national council, national delegate, OFFICIAL scarf, roberts rules

Is this me, perhaps? Is the NCS falling?

We’re a little over two weeks away to the start of the 2023 National Council Session, and I’m trying to get these SWAPs made in time. It’s slow going. But I’ll get there. Look for me. I’ll be the one in navy and wearing an OFFICIAL scarf.

I have to admit I’ve had some very, very wild mood swings over the past few months when it comes to this NCS. I’ve experienced a different perspective this time around since I’m serving on a council resource team for a proposal. I’m going to keep the specifics to myself, but it has been very disappointing and discouraging to see how things have been handled. I feel that councils who have proposals that GSUSA doesn’t support are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to trying to rally support. I’m saying this ahead of time so that it doesn’t come across as sour grapes depending on what happens with the proposal. Continue reading

June 18 2023

Personal Updates

Experiences as a Leader 1 Comment 2023 NCS, ambassadors, blue book, gsg, leader issues, OFFICIAL scarf, swaps, trailblazers, troop 2562

Hello readers. I am still in the midst of a pretty bad case of writer’s block, so bear with me if things sound stilted and awkward and updates are few and far between. I have an idea of what’s causing it, but time will tell if or when I will ever snap out of it. It was a miracle that I was actually able to scratch out this post. Continue reading

June 11 2023

Kindness for Kelaia

Experiences as a Leader No Comments

Normally, I keep things such as GoFundMe campaigns private, but I felt called to publicize this one, and I received permission to do so. This is something that has hit my local service unit very hard on multiple levels. I’ll let Tracey, Kelaia’s leader, explain in the GoFundMe campaign directly:

She is getting close to her goal. Some of the other healthcare items the family is looking for include these things specifically: a Hoya electric lift, a tilt in space wheelchair (customized for a child), and a Raz tilt shower commode chair.

As a service unit, we made a commitment to bringing back programming that will focus on bullying and mental health as we feel we had gotten away from it the past few years. It’s too important to not do it. I am just heartbroken over this.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

May 17 2023

GSG Town Halls and the NCS Workbook

National Governance No Comments 2023 NCS, gsg, national council, national delegate

We’re getting closer and closer to the National Council Session! Here are two quick hits:

First, the NCS Workbook has been published. You can download it from GirlScoutGovernance.com here: 2023 NCS Workbook

And GSG NCS Town Halls are back by popular demand! We will be hosting a series of three Town Halls open to both National Delegates and non-delegates alike in June, and registration is now open! We will be reviewing the seven proposals that will be featured at the 2023 National Council Session, and if time, the discussion topic.

After each proposal is presented, participants will be allowed to ask questions or speak for or against the proposal. Every speaker has up to 2 minutes to speak (much like what is done at an NCS). However, the total time allocated for each proposal could possibly limit the number of speakers. Continue reading

May 4 2023

Discussing the Democratic Process at the 2023 NCS

National Governance No Comments 2023 NCS, core business strategy, councils, democratic process, governance, gsg, national board, national council, national delegate, volunteers

This blog post is a continuation of a series that will cover topics of interest for the 2023 National Council Session (NCS). I shared my thoughts about the CEOs on the National Board and Delegate Formula proposals previously, but now it’s time to tackle the discussion topic. And it’s about something that’s near and dear to my heart — the democratic process.

I’ve written about the democratic process ad nauseam over the past few years with multiple blog posts, a 2019 white paper, and even a 2023 NCS proposal (“Ensuring the Importance and Effectiveness of the Democratic Process in the Movement”) for my council. Out of sheer enthusiasm (and a little bit of naivety), I once attempted to give a presentation on the democratic process during one of my council’s Town Halls to show that it could be used as the way to rebuild our council (much to the consternation of our interim CEO at the time). In fact, I’ve written about it so much that when I attempted to write this post, I had a very severe case of writer’s block for quite some time. Continue reading

April 5 2023

Why It’s Critical for the Delegate Formula Proposal to Pass

National Governance 2 Comments 2023 NCS, blue book, councils, democratic process, farthest north council, national board, national council, national delegate

This is going to be the second in an undetermined number of blog posts about some of the 2023 National Council Session (NCS) proposals. Last month, I gave my thoughts on the CEO Representation on the National Board proposal, and next up is the National Delegate Formula sponsored by everybody’s favorite council, Farthest North. If you haven’t read the proposal in its entirety yet, I highly recommend you do so that you know the specifics of the language within the GSUSA Constitution.

Before I begin my spiel, I would like to state for the record that I am a part of the Farthest North NCS resource team. So with this post, I am OFFICIALLY representing Farthest North and its proposal. What I hope to accomplish with this blog post is to go into a little more detail and answer some questions that we didn’t cover with our recorded webinar that you can view on YouTube and the National Delegate webinars. Continue reading

April 2 2023

Volunteer Systems 2.0 Levels Up

National Operations 2 Comments councils, gsusa, volunteer systems

<<At a local council office, a council staffer sits down and logs into Volunteer Systems 2.0.>>

Computer: Hello, council staff person.

Staffer: Who said that?

Computer: It is I, Volunteer Systems 2.0.

Staffer: Excuse me?

Computer: It’s me, VS 2.0, the GSUSA common technology platform. I’m talking to you. Continue reading

March 21 2023

The Middle Tennessee Council Lawsuit Update and Thoughts On It

National Governance, National Operations 3 Comments bonnie b, cei, councils, gsusa, membership dues, middle tennessee council, money, national board, national council, volunteer systems, volunteers, vtk

I’ve been asked from time to time about the status of the Middle Tennessee council case after I wrote my initial post about it (you may want to start there before continuing). I kept up with it but had only been doing so by a cursory glance on this page waiting for a final ruling or something along those lines. But recently, there have been some major developments so I thought I would catch everybody up with what’s going on.

Here’s a brief timeline. I have purposely separated out my personal thoughts on the lawsuit from the timeline and the facts because if you don’t want to read my strong reactions, then you can skip it and determine what you want based on what I’ve presented and the court documents themselves. Continue reading