Girl Scouts Of North East Ohio

Girl Scouts of North East Ohio is all about the girls - Leadership experiences, outdoor adventures, STEM, the arts and strong partnerships with organizations throughout NEO. This Council provides quality programs for girls across a diverse 18 county footprint, providing the Girl Scout experience to girls living in metropolitan and rural areas and in between. The engaged Board represents corporate leaders that believe in Girl Scout values that help our girls grow into strong women. This Council is a good steward of resources and they actively support their volunteers and staff. I highly recommend investing in GSNEO - Time, Talent and Treasure.

I personally have seen the benefits of Girl Scouts with my three daughters. It really has brought them a sense of self reliance and confidence to pursue their goals. One works for NASA, the other is a teacher continuing to reach her goal of a principal license, and the youngest is now a Civil Engineer for Marathon Petroleum. Yes, it has a lot to do with the volunteers they are around, and we had lots of them willing to step up and make a super troop for each one. You don't have to be the leader, just be willing to give time helping the leaders and the girls once in a while. So, if you can help form the young girls into strong women please step up to share your knowledge, whatever it may be. Volunteers are what really makes the troops what they are. You will benefit from the time also. I still get thank you's and wonderful stories from the girls that were in my troop many, many years ago. The memories are priceless to all of us.

Girl Scouts do a wonderful job helping girls to be confident and successful. The organization has new leadership which has taken it to new heights. It is so wonderful to know that they are still going strong and have such a wonderful impact on young girls.

It looks like I am not the only one who feels this way. I am a leader and feel so "out of the loop" It is as if we are thrown to the wolves. No direction, real training, just sort of the figure it out for yourself vibe. The troop I have has a great time but, I feel I am just making things up as I go along. I have been involved with the boy scouts for 7 years and can not even begin to compare the girl scouts with them. They are such a well maintained organization. It is sad because the only reason I stay with it is because my daughter has fun. The moment she changes her mind I would stop.

The CEO and Board of Directors seem to feel as if they can do No wrong and they rule the world. If you express your opinion, and they don't agree, than they find a way of trying to get rid of you. The thing they don't seem to realize is that we don't just disappear and we know more of the membership than they do. They feel as if a Good Volunteer is dispensable and a new one will come along. They, also, don't have any regards for the Girls that are out there making their paychecks.

It is becoming more difficult to volunteer for an organization that has fled its traditions and values. The Girl Scout Law promotes fairness and honesty and I do not see either with the current administration of GSNEO. There has been a lack of honesty in the presentation of data supporting the decision to sell four more of what, in 2007, was 14 camps owned or leased by GSNEO. That leaves 3 camps to serve a girl membership of 40,000. The failure of the BoD to acknowledge and adhere to a cease and desist resolution passed by the voting membership in October, 2011 is another example of their failure at honesty towards and respect for the membership. The resolution called for stopping the sale of the camps until a re-evaluation could take place. The administration has also failed miserably in treating the girls fairly throughout the council. Those of us in the outlying regions have seen a loss of our camps, reduced programming, and poor customer service overall. Camps and programs need to be available in ALL areas of the council so ALL girls have opportunities to attend the programs and go to camp. We need programs that are not duplicated in the schools, such as financial literacy, which is required in the freshman year in Ohio. STEM is a whole other thing. We already do STEM when we take girls camping. Girl Scouts should be creating its own niche, offering something unique that other organizations do not offer. Camping is one of those unique offerings. That does not mean sitting in a computer lab at a premier leadership center, an idea which appeals to a few, but not to the majority. We need to replace the current CEO with one who has past Girl Scout experience and doesn’t present an attitude that volunteers are a dime a dozen. We need staff that is not constantly turning over. Customer service needs to be improved. We need a BoD who will listen to the membership because it is the membership that has direct contact with the girls. Quite frankly, without the adult membership (volunteers) and the girls, there really is no Girl Scouts.

We need to free ourselves of the corporate structure that has been forced upon us. It is a raging failure, not only here in northeast Ohio but in many councils throughout the country. This council, as many others are, is just too big to be effective and responsive. Disband GSNEO and go back to the legacy councils where volunteers had more personal contact with the council staff. Stop sucking money out of some areas and dumping it into others. Hire council staff that has Girl Scout experience, either as a girl or as a volunteer. If I could see some positive changes in this organization, my answers below could change. Until then, I am hard pressed to support GSNEO either with my time or with my money.

Girl Scouts in North East Ohio is in termoil. The Board and the CEO have disregarded the wishes of the majority of the girl and adult membership in regard to selling camp properties. The CEO and board treat their volunteers very poorly. The worst thing is that the kids are not receiving the local programming their parents are led to believe they will receive when they become members. There is tremendous room for improvement before I would recommend donating funds to this organization. The only bright spot here is that individual troop leaders have great opportunities to make a difference in the lives of the girls.

My personal experience with GSNEO has been a roller coaster. Generally the paid staff do a great job, but the CEO seems to not really like the Girl Scouts and is there to put a feather in her cap. The Board of Directors is horrible. They do not follow the Code of Regulations. I am a delegate and we are suppose to work in partnership with the Board in determining the general direction of GS in this Council. They voted to sell 5 out of 7remaining camps and the membership does not want that. They say we are in the black but our CEO must need a golden parachute.