Local Girl Scout Caity McQuade of River Forest enjoys giving back to her community, and she says every girl should consider taking the lead to do it. And she is probably right.
The top-achieving senior at the Latin School in Chicago is already making her mark. She has been co-captain of her field hockey team and the school’s Scholastic Bowl, was a co-leader of Model United Nations, and writes for her school’s literary magazine and newspaper. She also participates in the Student Academic Board and Women’s Ensemble.
After the first of the year, busy McQuade joined a select group of Girl Scouts nationwide and acquired the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award.
But this summer she received the icing on her cake as the local delegate to Camp CEO, a new program sponsored by the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana (formerly Girl Scouts/Illinois Crossroads Council). In its second year, the unique leadership salvo is a corporately funded weeklong experience where 25 teenage Girl Scouts connect with women mentors, who are also business executives.
Mentors advised girls on how to choose a job and live off its salary, dress for success, shake hands with authority, and brag without bragging-a business practice women need to work on, says Mary Lee Montague, chairwoman of Camp CEO and the executive vice president of DHR International.
McQuade’s highlight of Camp CEO was being with her mentor, Margaret Stender, president and CEO of the Chicago Sky basketball team, who taught her that in business and life, passion is paramount, and if anyone works hard enough, dreams can come true.
“Margaret also taught me that confidence looks different for different people,” says McQuade.
The big merger
The biggest breaking business news for the local Girl Scout troupe, says Sandra Royer, brand and communications transition vice president, is the recent merger: Girl Scouts of the USA remapped the local region, creating a council with 10 counties in Illinois and Indiana serving 97,000 girls and 25,000 adult volunteers.
“Girl Scouting is doing very well,” Royer says. “We really feel that this realignment of Girl Scout councils will help us identify a strong brand and communicate it to the public and show them that we are relevant to girls today, and in the future.”
McQuade’s Girl Scout leader Donna Krier Ioppolo is enthusiastic about the new leadership push of the upcoming curricula and growth potential here.
“There is no dearth of girls we can serve in our communities,” says Ioppolo, whose two teenagers are in her troupe at Oak Park and River Forest High School. “We serve a lot of girls in Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park, but not half.”
-Deb Quantock McCarey