A Message from the Board Chair & CEO
Dear Friends of Girl Scouts,
What an incredible year it has been for Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey! As we reflect on Fiscal Year 2024, we are filled with pride and gratitude for all that we’ve accomplished together.
This year marked 112 years of Girl Scouts preparing girls for a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success. Thanks to the dedication and generosity of our volunteers, Board of Directors, staff, donors, and members, more than 19,000 Girl Scouts across our five counties benefited from the Girl Scout Leadership Experience through activities across our four pillars of STEM, the outdoors, life skills, and entrepreneurship.
To ensure our Girl Scouts and volunteers have the tools and support they need to thrive, we focused this year on executing on our Property Master Plan, investing in human resources to support our diversification of membership and growth strategy, and announcing the exciting future opening of a Girl Scout DreamLab at our Paramus Service Center. These efforts will allow more girls to explore, grow, and connect with each other in meaningful and memorable ways.
With your continued support, we know we can keep moving forward in our mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
It is our pleasure to present this 2024 Annual Impact Report, and to thank you for believing in girls and standing with us as we shape the next generation of changemakers.
With appreciation,
Shanna Jafri Chair, Board of Directors
Sandra A. Kenoff President/CEO
Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey Board of Directors
Shanna Jafri Board Chair
Germaine Lacqua 1st Vice Chair
Matthew Lamb, Pharm.D, R.Ph. 2nd Vice Chair
Leslie Franklin Treasurer
Nashira Spencer
Secretary
Sandra A. Kenoff
President/Chief Executive Officer
Leslie Achter
Elisa Buckley
Danielle Furze
Julia Helliesen
Damon L. McDade
Christina Tso Metz
Christyl Lucille Murray
Catherine P. O’Hern
Tracy Schoenberg
Nikki Sumpter
Dr. Janelle Hall
Pia House Walker
Karen Worthy
Girl Scout Representatives
Emily Ruzicka
Julia Thompson
Ellie Wapner
Program Highlights
At Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey, during Fiscal Year 2024, we remained committed to delivering the Girl Scout Leadership Experience to girls in grades K-12 to help empower them to find their voices, build skills, and further explore their world.
As the 10th largest Girl Scout council in girl and adult membership out of 111 nation-wide, we held a 12% market share, which was the second highest in the nation. We served more than 19,100 girl members and 10,200 adult members and formed 1,873 Girl Scout troops in Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Sussex, and northern Warren counties of New Jersey.
Throughout the year, we provided a variety of staff-led program activities and excursions that helped girls explore the four pillars of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (STEM, Outdoors, Life Skills, and Entrepreneurship), and discover a wide range of cultures beyond their own communities.
Noteworthy fun patch and badge-earning activities included Intro to Camping: Glamping at our camps; STEM Investigators at Richard Rodda Center in Teaneck; Ultimate STEAM at Urban Air; STEM in Action (held during Black History Month and highlighting women of color in STEM fields); Sensational Stars in our traveling Star Lab; Apple Cider Making; Earth Day Hike and Tree Planting; Wild Habitats; Fancy Dance Native American Heritage Celebration (featuring dancers from the Redhawk Native American Arts Council); and our Hispanic Heritage Month Festival, to name a few.
Wildly popular with our members were unique and engaging programs developed with the support of community partners. These included:
• Financial Literacy Workshops and Career Conversations for Girl Scouts (in Finance) presented by Morgan Stanley
• Career Networking Day hosted by BD in Franklin Lakes
• Morning Chores on the Farm at Fosterfields Living Historical Farm in Morristown
• Broadway Bound (a week of attending Broadway shows and sessions with cast members in New York City).
Staff-led excursions this year included our Martin Luther King, Jr. Continuing the Dream Tour in Washington DC; a visit to the United Nations to explore the topic of National Human Rights;
Program Highlights
• Media relations: Our Media Girl Scouts represented our council at events and provided communications support in sharing our stories with the media throughout the year. They hosted monthly news broadcasts and shared their own video content on our social media channels. We extended the age range for the program during FY24 to include Girl Scout Daisies and Brownies as our younger Media Sprouts. This year, our Media Girl Scouts attended MLB’s PLAY BALL Weekend kick-off in Times Square with GSUSA’s CEO Bonnie Barczykowski and GSNNJ Board Chair Shanna Jafri.
We served 4,834 Girl Scouts through our in-person program activities (individual members may have attended more than one program activity).
To recruit more volunteers and better support our existing members, we provided more turnkey membership materials. Our council participated in a national pilot program to develop the Girl Scout Daisy free monthly meetings in a box initiative, which provided easy-to-follow plans and supplies for new troop leaders to help them lead meetings with confidence. This was further developed to become the Girl Scout Leadership Experience Boxes (now for Daisy and Brownie level troops). New Troop Year Plans for every Girl Scout level were also introduced nationally to facilitate meeting planning.
In addition, our council provided Troop Camper Training weekends to teach volunteers the necessary safety measures and skills for camping with Girl Scouts. And Major League Baseball provided new
GSNNJ by the Numbers
10th Largest Council out of 111 in girl & adult membership
114 girls earned the Girl Scout Gold Award
4,834 girls participated in program activities*
1,572 new girls served through Community Engagement programs
334 girls earned the Girl Scout Silver Award 680 girls earned the Girl Scout Bronze Award
*Individual members may have attended more than one program activity.
Membership by County
1,002 girls attended GSNNJ camp
1,506,453 Girl Scout Cookie packages sold 95,311 cookie packages donated
Membership By Program Level
Gold Award Girl Scouts
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable and proof that not only can Girl Scouts make a difference, but through their Gold Award projects, they already have. Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors who earn the Gold Award tackle issues that are dear to them and drive lasting change in their communities and beyond. The Gold Award is a key that can open doors to scholarships, preferred admission tracks for college and military service, and amazing career opportunities. The following are the GSNNJ Girl Scouts who earned their Gold Awards this year.
Amy Acres
Sabrina Adam
Erica Adu
Anushka Agarwal
Rhea Agarwal
Annie Alden
Arianna Allonardo
Angelina Galiano
Sara Garg
Grace Gilbert
Elizabeth Gillen
Sophia Gillen
Gianna Gross
Danielle Penny
Katelyn Petak
AnnaKira Poneros
Mackenzie Armstrong
Anika Arora
Maria Arostegui
Selena Bahl
Ruari Bamrick
Olivia Barragan
Samantha Bassin
Emily Beltrani
Katelyn Hoffelder
Ciara Horgan
Kathryn Hunsinger
Riya Jain
Rebecca Prowse
Lilian Putrino
Shannon Quigley
Manaal Qureshi
Ishika Ranka
Erin Rebecca Meehan
Abbey Riina
Nidhi Karnik
Emily Keizer
Sarah Keppler
Isha Korgaonkar
Mackenzie Rivier
Gabriella Biamonte
Olivia Biondolillo
Madison Booth
Grace Bosco
Cara Boyce
Alicia Brownstein
Lindsay Bush
Eva Calderon
Kathryn Kriz
Kaitlyn Kwan
Samantha Landolfi
Olivia Laszcz
Miya Roberson
Ashley Roughgarden
Naya Saker
Maya Schlessinger
Victoria Lizardi
Aurora Luer
Kiersten Macri
Sarah Mainwald
Anna Schunke
Samantha Seeber
Manasvi Shah
Tiya Shah
Maggie Shaw
Kelsey Snellen
Sofia Sorvino
Johnna Marcus
Isabelle Cammarata
Diana Carbone
Samantha Cebulski
Michelle Cheng
Kalia Cheung
Ella Delatush
Michela DeRosso
Carley Dumaresq
Madi Stitz
Kaitlyn Markley
Madison McBride
Angela McDonough
Anastasia Milliman
Sophia Minnich
Lindsey Mirda
Aldila Spada
Sofia Squizziato
Amelie Syto
Athena Ferrentino
Eloise Field-Deneen
Norah Findley
Ava Finkelstein
Shaeleigh Fleidner-Book
Sydney Fojas
Savannah Fragetti
Ariel Franzone
Adi Mittler
Miloni Modi
Audrey Monks
Katheryne Morales-Ward
Eva Morrison
Lauren Moss
Alessandra Mulvey
Emma Nagler
Erin O’Shea
Olivia Pantano
Ashleigh Tasnady
Lily Tobachnick
Dana Treier
Maddie Tybur
Addison Viscardi
Madeline Voinov
Hadley White
Ava Wynkoop
Elizabeth Zeman
Kelly Zeman
Brooke Zidle
Girl Scout Adventures
In December 2023, we held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome our fleet of Build-ABear® fuzzy friends to our council facilities. In attendance were members of our Board of Directors, staff, and our Media Sprouts. In partnership with Build-A-Bear® Workshop, GSNNJ installed a bear-building workshop in our Riverdale location. Girl Scouts and others could now create their own friend dressed in a matching Girl Scout uniform or purchase a GSNNJ Shop Gift Certificate for the experience. This new revenue-generating initiative for our Council Shop has not only promoted the Girl Scout brand through add-on accessories, but has also served to provide us with a means of offering desirable incentives to girls for the Girl Scout Cookie Program, membership recruitment, and camp registration.
In September 2024, we hosted a free, bilingual interactive financial empowerment event for new and already registered Girl Scouts and their family members. Our Girls Make Dollars & Sense: Family Financial Empowerment Event was held in partnership with the City of Paterson Financial Empowerment Center at Philips Academy Charter School of Paterson, where we brought together bilingual families from several of our under-represented communities for a unique learning opportunity.
Participants learned the tools needed to make smart money choices. Girl Scouts earned financial literacy badges as they discovered how to practice and develop healthy financial habits, learn about managing money, and build financial skills. The program was made possible by FINRA Investor Education Foundation.
As one of our Annual Corporate Sponsors, BASF enabled more than 270 Girl Scouts from our Community Engagement Program to spend time in the Spark! Lab at the Morris Museum throughout the year. Spark! Lab, the flagship educational initiative of the Smithsonian, is a hands-on invention workspace where children and their families can learn about and engage in the history and process of invention. It offers an informal approach to igniting ingenuity with compelling and openended challenges, and inspires visitors to create, collaborate, and innovate.
Gold Award Girl Scout Katelyn Liloia of Randolph was awarded the 2024 National Gold Award Girl Scout scholarship from Girl Scouts of the USA. One girl per council is awarded this annual honor, and as our council’s recipient, Katelyn received a $5,000.00 scholarship for her take-action project, Katelyn’s Pages. Inspired by her time spent as a young patient at The Valerie Center in Morristown and the great care and interaction she had with the Child Life Professionals, she wanted to give back through her Girl Scout Gold Award work to this incredible profession by making their jobs a little easier. Katelyn created a website (www.katelynspages. com), where she curated an abundance of downloadable activities and videos for children that could be used in hospital settings. “I created this website because I wanted to contribute to the child life profession since they made such a lasting impact on me, as well as find my own way to bring joy to kids who are going through similar situations,” Katelyn said. “There are over 1000 activities on my website, including printable coloring pages, games/ trivia/activity pages, book readings for the children to listen to, printable birthday cards, Spanish lessons, and weekly sheets each with a quote, fact, joke, and power word. Everything there is free to be used by Child Life Professionals and for the children to enjoy,” she adds.
Community Engagement
Our Community Engagement outreach initiative provides a staff-led Girl Scout Leadership Experience to girls from under-resourced communities within our jurisdiction. We continued to expand the impact and reach of Girl Scouting in under-represented communities such as Clifton, Englewood, Hackensack, Morristown, Passaic, Paterson, and Teaneck. We led program activities throughout the school year during lunch hours and after school, as well as hosted events with the support of sponsors such as BASF, Morgan Stanley, BD, PSE&G, and FINRA Investor Education Foundation. A special focus this year was on exploring STEM careers, improving financial literacy, discovering how to work for a just society, practicing mental wellness, and creating positive change in the community. In addition, through collaborative programming, we strengthened our long-standing relationships with the Boys and Girls Club in Clifton, Neighborhood House in Morristown, and the City of Paterson Recreation Center.
• 1,572 girls were introduced to Girl Scouting
• More than 270 Girl Scouts spent time in the Spark! Lab at the Morris Museum with the support of BASF
• 250 Girl Scouts participated in the STEM in Action Black History Month event at American Dream
• Bi-lingual Girl Scouts and their families participated in financial empowerment workshops with the support of FINRA Investor Education Foundation
• Girl Scouts attended career networking seminars with Morgan Stanley and BD
• Social Justice badges were earned with the support of PSE&G
Thank You to Our Donors
The following is a comprehensive list of our Donors in alphabetical order. We are grateful to all contributors and salute their choice to invest in the girls and volunteers of Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey. Every dollar makes a difference, but for the purpose of this report, we are listing the names of donations greater than $100. The list below represents contributors whose gifts were received from Oct. 1, 2023 - Sept. 30, 2024. Thank you to all of our donors for their continued support.
In FY24, we introduced a monthly giving program known as our GEM (Give Every Month) Society. Donors who make recurring donations of $10 or more to Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey through our monthly giving program, become one of our GEMs! This special community of supporters are committed to building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Your monthly gift to Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey can help us expand the reach and impact of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience on an ongoing basis.
The Juliette Gordon Low Society recognizes donors who support the mission of Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey even after their lifetime through planned giving. It was established to thank and honor friends of Girl Scouting who choose to make Girl Scouts part of their legacies and a beneficiary of their estate plans. View our listing of JGL Society Donors.
The Circle of Friends Giving Society was founded in 2017 by generous champions of Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey who made multi-year pledges of $5,000 or more to ensure the long-term sustainability. View our listing of Circle of Friends Giving Society Donors.
Donors ($100+)
A Melanin Life, LLC
Theresa Abarno
Accurate Proclean
Acu-Data Business Products Inc.
Ginny Adams-Kafka
AJ O’Connor Associates
Alfred N. Sanzari Foundation
Jill Andersen
Annaliesa Anderson
Anselmi & Carvelli, LLP
Anserve, Inc.
Emily Aprea
ASCO / Emerson
Atlantic Health System
Hyung Bae
BAE Systems
Cari Balderama
Bank of America Charitable
Foundation
Gregory Barber
Chiquita Barnes
Bonita Barnhart
Frank Barra
Lisa and Roland Barral
Edwin Barreto
Carol & Bill Barrett
Barrington Press
BASF Corporation
Bayer Fund
BD
Behnke’s Paramus Building Supply
Kelly Belanger
Benevity Community Impact Fund
Bergen County Executive, Jim Tedesco
Tymara Berry
Dorothy & Spotsel Bing
Raquel Bini
Margaret Blewett
Bloomberg
Barbara Abney Bolger
Denise Boyer
Louanna Branca
Bressler, Amery, & Ross, P.C.
Kate Breyer
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation
David Brotman
Lynnferd Brown
Jacob Buchanan
Elisa Buckley
Kristin Buffardi
Caitlin Burns
Meris & Christopher Butler
Sean & Hilary Calhoun
Karla Camean
Judith Carey
Annelise Catanzaro
Rachel Cawley
Lucy Chen
Natasha Chinn
Aashna Choudhary
Citizens Bank
Clyde Paul Insurance Agency
Cathy Coloff
Community Chest of Rutherford
Community Foundation of New
Jersey
Karen Connelly
Katie Cook
Debby J. Cooke
Amy Cooke
Dahlia Cooper
Shannon Cornine
Virginia Laughlin
David Lee
Jessica Lee
Susan & Stephen Leeds
Erlisa Levin
Mary-Ann Lewis
Nicole & Christian Licciardi
Lillian P. Schenck Fund
Carol Lindsay
James Loeffler
Marisa Lonardo-Xu
Luminar Solutions
Megan Lunde
Rosie & Harold Lunde
Darlene Lyden Cooper
M&T Bank
Chelsea Ma
Karyllan & Joe Mack
Bridget Macklin
Cristen Mackwell
Madison Area YMCA
Nona & Thomas Maher
Sandra Major
Kim Manfredo
Joann Manicone
Kathryn Marsh
Steven Martin
Angela Mason
Jennifer Mazawey
Damon & Christina McDade
Emily & John McDevitt
Tracy Merwede
Lori Miller
Susan & George Miller
Mellanice Miller
Mimi Washington Starrett Foundation
Erin Miro
Mia Mischuk-O’Brien
LaKreisha Montique Jean
Morgan Stanley Wealth
Management
Jeanne Morris
Cheri Morris
Morris County Economic Development Alliance
Sharon Mullen
Mutual of America
Jean Myers
Lydia Nadeau
Helene Nagurka
Janine Napierkowski
Reena Narula
Joseph & Sharon Nazzaro
Thomas and Carol Neilson
Tonia Nesheiwat
New Jersey Natural Gas
Michele and Robert Newhouse
NJM Insurance Group
Northeast Podiatry Group
Nygala Corp/FLOMO
Linda O’Sullivan
Catherine & Jim O’Hern
Kristin O’Callaghan
Adriana Oliver
Kissel Ortiz
Serena Otazu
Palmer & Cay
Bhavani Parameswar
Kimara Patton
Kevin and Beth Paul
John Pavlik
PediatriCare Associates
Joe & Karen Pennisi
PepsiCo Foundation
Arliss Perfetti
Delia Perretta
Helgard Perretta
Ira Petric-Buchberger
Pfizer’s Vaccine Research & Development
Loren Pierce Alexis
Amanda Piskunov
PKF O’Connor Davies Advisory LLC
Samantha Plotino
PNC Bank
Leanna Porter-Harris
Matt Potter
Presbyterian Women
PSEG Foundation
“As a former Girl Scout, I know first-hand how impactful being a Girl Scout can be. I support GSNNJ to ensure that every girl has access to programming that shapes girls of courage confidence and character.
- Krista, Juliette Gordon Low Society Member
Nicole Psota
Mary-Jane Rader
Ana Ramirez
Laura & Gautam Ranji
Carrie Rauschenberger
Regeneron
Riverdale Police Department
Annabella Robb
Mary Roberts
Rockefeller Group
Lauren Rodriguez
Cynthia Rohde
Karen Rojas
Alan Rollow
Courtney Rosenkrantz
Veronica Ross
Christopher Rotella
Ann Rowan
Susan Rugnone-Sadler
Doris Sanders-Headley
Diana Sari
Leigh Anne Sauchelli
Schenck Price Smith & King, LLP
Scott & Margaret Scheuber
Tracy Schoenberg
Dawn Schultz
“Girl Scouts has been helping young girls explore their world and build leadership skills for over 100 years. As a science major, I care deeply about the Girl Scouts’ STEM pledge and am proud to support GSNNJ as they grow and shape our future leaders.”
- Karyllan, board member & Assistant General Counsel, BASF Corporation
Ingrid Scully
Margaret Sfraga
Brett Sharpton
Kaitlin Shinholster
Mikele Simkins
Bette M. Simmons, Ed.D.
Lynelle Slivinski
Jennifer & Xue Song
Raymond Soroka
Nashira Spencer
Joseph A. & Linda Spencer
St Joseph’s Health
Nikki Sumpter
Target Corporation
Tarpey Group
TGI Office Automation
The Flavor Lab
The Paton Law Firm, LLC
The Tudor Foundation
Thorlabs, Inc.
Tilcon New York Inc.
Olivia Timmons
Kristina Tiralosi
Cecilia Tiralosi
Kevin Torluccio
Lisa Torres
Tri-Tech Energy Inc
Jillian Frances Trinidad
Amy Trochanowski
Troop 96304
Troop 96611
Christina Tso Metz
Brian and Lissette Tufaro
Mari Tuohy
Regina Ulrich
US Charitable Gift Trust
Julie Vales
Myriam Velez
Visions Federal Credit Union
Margaret Walk
Camille Walker
Gina Waluk
Waste Management
Stephen Watson
Rose Anne Weissel
Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC
Aaron Wexler
Wiley, Malehorn, Sirota & Raynes
Melissa Williams
Wilson Family Law, LLC
Katherine Wnek
Wonder Group Inc.
Karen Worthy
YWCA of Northern New Jersey
Dr. Katherine Zatz
“Due to a challenging situation, I was faced with getting my daughter into a new troop so she could start to build new friendships. She was welcomed with open arms, but the costs for her participation started to mount. When I reached out to my troop leader, she told me that there was help. Little did I know, the process to apply for financial assistance was so easy and not embarrassing at all. We were able to begin to heal because of generous donors. We really do appreciate everyone at GSNNJ for giving us our normalcy back.”
- Nicole, Mom of Girl Scout
GEM Society
Erica Adu
Jill Andersen
Emily Aprea
Bonita Barnhart
Janet Barnes
Chiquita Barnes
Elisa Buckley
Rachel Cawley
Aashna Choudhary
Katie Cook
Dahlia Cooper
Shannon Cornine
Claire Crowder
Angelina Cuadrado
Carmen Dacosta
Monica Eichman
Caroline Fairchild
Jennifer Farino
Leslie Franklin
Danielle Furze
Lauren Gallo
Dara Garcia
Tearah & Jose Goncalves
Melissa Harris
Jessica Hoffman
Shanna & Rafi Jafri
Sandra & Eric Kenoff
Krista & Justin Korinis
Germaine Lacqua
Matthew & Jessica Lamb
Carol Leo
Darlene Lyden-Cooper
Joann Manicone
Steve Martin
Damon & Christina McDade
Tracy Merwede
Mia Mischuk-O’Brien
Cheri Morris
Jeanne Morris
Jennifer Norato
Catherine & Jim O’Hern
Adriana Oliver
Linda O’Sullivan
Matt Potter
Courtney Reinfried
Rebeca Rios
Annabella Robb
Leigh Anne Sauchelli
Diana Scanlon
Tracy Schoenberg
Mikele Simkins
Olivia Timmons
Christina Tso Metz
Lailu Walls
Karen Worthy
Juliette Gordon Low Society
Anonymous
Eva & Erik Andersen
Janet Slater Anderson*
Ann C. Smart Charitable Trust
Janet Boetticher
Wendy and Richard Bongo
Paulette Brauch
Denise Cannizzaro Garcia
Diane G. Cifelli
Casey Croes
Esther and Robert Endres
Joy Firshein
Adrienne Fulcher
Betty Garger
Virginia Gibson
Kathie Harrington
Susan Harwood
Dawn Hopper
Rose Mary Iannone
Shanna & Rafi Jafri
Sandra & Eric Kenoff
Maria Lorene Kirschner
Krista & Justin Korinis
Virginia Laughlin
Darlene Lyden Cooper
Meral Malady
Barbara McNally
Lori Miller
Sarah Molnoski
Danielle Nebres
Michele and Robert Newhouse
Rebecca & Michelle Newhouse
Margaret Nicolais*
Jessica Panagiotou
Lori Pimenta
Beth Purdy
Veronica Ross
Terry Schile-Morales
Candy Shanks
Bette M. Simmons, Ed.D.
South Shore Outdoor Store, Inc.
Helen Wronski
*deceased member
Circle of Friends
Giving Society
Jill Andersen
Emily Aprea
Carol & Bill Barrett
Kristin Buffardi
Leslie Franklin
Bonnie & Stephen Holmes
Shanna & Rafi Jafri
Sandra & Eric Kenoff
Krista & Justin Korinis
Germaine Lacqua
Matthew & Jessica Lamb
Virginia Laughlin
Harold & Rosie Lunde
Karyllan & Joe Mack
Susan & George Miller
Veronica Ross
Bette M. Simmons, Ed.D.
Nashira Spencer
Independent Auditor’s Letter
