ALUMNI PROFILE
Amy Sykes Dosik
MAKING THE WORLD BIGGER
K
atie Couric, Taylor Swift, Gloria Steinem, Martha Stewart, Hillary Clinton, Sandra Day O’Connor. Like these successful women, 59 million women are Girl Scout alumnae. “We focus on issues young girls face today and help them to develop the skills and competencies they need as adults,” says Amy Sykes Dosik 99L, newly appointed ceo of Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta and former Girl Scout. With a renewed focus on leadership development, civic responsibility, education, and friendship, the Girl Scouts engage young minds with possibilities and change with the times. “We’re more relevant,” Dosik says. “As a national organization, we advocate for positive changes in public policy and legislation that will ultimately provide more leadership opportunities for young women.” In the Atlanta metro area, girls in grades k-12 meet with legislators on issues important to the scouts; attend an annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Expo; participate in a mentoring program matching older Girl Scouts and female business executives; and even explore future career options.
Girl Scouts has changed to become more relevant to issues girls face today. “Girls need to see what other women are achieving,” Dosik explains. For example, “They have shadowed young female engineers at Lockheed Martin and participated in business pitch ‘Shark Tank’ workshops with Deloitte. By working with adult mentors, they’re gaining real-world perspective that inspires them to think critically and succeed.” Today’s Girl Scouts promote health and wellness, financial literacy, and environmental awareness, as well as traditional skills development workshops and outdoor adventures. “For at-risk girls, we often become the anchor in their lives,” Dosik says. “For girls who hail from socio-economically challenged environments, scouting is made possible through financial assistance. We want Girl Scouts to be a place that embraces all the
B Y M I C H E L L E VA L I G U R S K Y
girls in our community. Our goal is to double the financial assistance we offer by 2020.” Beyond troop activities, leadership development takes top priority. “While a majority of girls want to be leaders, many girls face challenges including poverty, mental health issues, and a lack of positive role models that prevent them from making a successful transition to adulthood,” says Dosik. “For these girls, Girl Scouting can make a world of difference. More than 93 percent of girls tell us that Girl Scouting helped them discover their personal strengths and talents and allowed them to do things they would not get to do otherwise.” This past year, 113 outstanding young women in greater Atlanta received the Scout Gold Award for projects such as Charishma Chinoy’s documentary, “Breaking Barriers,” about refugees in Clarkston and Jennifer Hite’s “Mr. and Miss Special Gwinnett County Pageant” for raising social awareness of individuals with special needs. In addition, the Girl Scout cookie program is the single largest girl-led financial literacy effort in the country. “Each girl learns critical skills including goal setting, decision making, business ethics, money management, and customer service that will help her later in life. They learn to work together while deciding how to spend the portion of the proceeds designated to their troop.” Looking forward, Dosik hopes to expand the corporate and community partnerships of Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, which now serves 46,000 girls and 18,000 adults. “Our girls need positive role models from all professions and walks of life. By collaborating with well-respected public and private companies and institutions of higher learning like Emory, we’ll continue to widen horizons.” Dosik leads Girl Scouts of Atlanta after having served the business, legal, and tax needs of the nonprofit community for more than 20 years. Most recently she was a principal with Ernst & Young. She is thrilled to have the chance to wear her Girl Scout pin again. “Growing up, I was fortunate to have a lot of adults who helped make my world bigger by exposing me to new challenges, new experiences, and new places. The longer girls stay in scouting, the more their worlds open up. It’s truly exciting to participate in their journey.”
EMORY LAWYER SUMMER 2014
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Amy Sykes Dosik 99L is CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta.
Reprinted in part with permission from EmoryWire.