VOX POPULAR
Vox Popular Q&A with Angela Woods
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s CEO of Girl Scouts Heart of the South, Angela Woods has a lot to be happy about. Not only has this council had the most product sales increase out of all of the councils nationwide in 2012, but this year marks the 100th anniversary of the national organization, Girl Scouts of the USA. In light of this milestone, Woods says, “We estimate nationally that more than 50 million women in this country have been impacted and participated in Girl Scouts. My appeal would be to get back in touch with us and let us know how Girl Scouts impacted you, and let’s keep connected so we can grow our network of Girl Scout alums.”
Woods: Yes, and I think I went up through Junior Girl Scouts. My mom was a troop leader, but when she stopped being a troop leader, I stopped being in Girl Scouts. Coming back to lead this organization years later was an interesting path for me in philanthropy.
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RSVP: How did you hear about the CEO job at Girl Scouts Heart of the South?
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Woods: I got a phone call from a recruiter, and at that time, I was thinking about what was going to be my next step after United Way because I had been in the system at that point for almost 12 years and had done all the jobs I could do. I was really looking for more of a direct service opportunity when I got that phone call from a recruiter, who was talking about the transformation that Girl Scouts was undertaking, which peaked my interest. RSVP: When you started at Girl Scouts Heart of the South in January 2010, were there any immediate changes you wanted to make? Woods: [Laughing] Maybe you should ask my staff that. I think not immediately. I think my approach in leadership has always been to try and learn the organization because I’m not doing my job as a leader unless I’m helping others in the organization become leaders as well. Part of how I learn is to observe and figure out what works and what doesn’t work, so I spent really the first six months just talking to people and visiting the large area that we cover. We cover 59 counties, and I’m sure I hit at least 48 of them and talked to volunteers, parents, staff and everybody about what they liked and didn’t like about Girl Scouts Heart of the South. From there, I kind of had an idea of understanding the cultures, and we cover a lot of different cultures. We cover Western Tennessee and the top half of Mississippi, so we go all the way up to Obion County, which is the Kentucky border, and go all the way down to the Delta, down to Humphreys County, and go all the way over to the Alabama state line into Itawamba. It’s a large area, and it’s urban, suburban and rural all mixed together. There are pockets of wealth, but there are
huge pockets of poverty. The way in which we deliver Girl Scouts’ services and the way in which we connect to communities has to be exceptionally localized. We can’t be corporate-centric and spread out—it’s grassroots kind of organization and driven by volunteers. That was a learning curve I had—how you attract people to your mission and retain folks you already have. Photos by Don Perry
RSVP: Were you a Girl Scout?
RSVP: Is there anything people in this area would be surprised to know about the history of this council? Woods: I’m sure there are a gazillion things. You know, this council was born of four separate councils, so in 2008, this council came together as a result of a merger, which was kind of precipitated by Girl Scouts of the USA. It was Reelfoot Council, which is Jackson and the whole West Tennessee area; Northwest Mississippi, which is kind of the Delta region; Northeast Mississippi, which stretches from Tupelo all the way to Itawamba; and the MidSouth, which is the greater Memphis area. Each of them had their own distinct history, and each of them had their own distinct personalities. I think what people might be surprised at is how rich and deep the traditions of Girl Scouts still are in many of our smaller, rural counties, particularly in the Delta. If there are not a lot of girl services or youth services, there’s always been Girl Scouts. If you come to more urban or metropolitan areas, people have heard of us, but a lot of people have the idea that Girl Scouts is more of an older kind of thing–it’s not necessarily right in their radar screen. RSVP: How many girls are in Girl Scouts Heart of the South? Woods: We serve more than 10,000 girls. We’re looking to move that number up to 12,000 girls. I think nationally the membership has gone down throughout the last several years for a number of reasons. I think in this area it’s especially challenging because of the diversity of economics of the choices that girls now have in terms of