Girl Scouts announce new CEO

The Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, the largest council in the country, announced the newest addition to its leadership team, Chief Executive Officer Maria Wynne.

Wynne accepted the position as the first Latina CEO of the recently merged council with more than 94,000 girls and 25,000 adult members, in 245 communities in Illinois and Indiana.

"I'm looking forward to enhancing the vision Girl Scouts has for our younger generations of Illinois and Indiana girls -- to expand leadership opportunities for all girls. Together, we will expand our reach to all girls, focusing on increasing diversity and connecting girls from different neighborhoods and communities and life experiences," said Wynne, the first Hispanic female to lead this organization.

One of many new business strategies is forming this council's inaugural Girl Scout Advisory Team, the girl leadership arm for the council. This girl advisory team will help develop from the ground up, in true "girl driven" fashion, decisions on what they want to be called, how they will govern themselves, and how they can advise the girl leadership on the board of directors.

"What better way to create leadership opportunities for girls than to truly listen to what they want to be, what they want to do, with their Girl Scouting experience," said Wynne.

Wynne's executive background has earned her a reputation as a leader in corporations including Microsoft, Xerox, and Ameritech. She most recently directed the Office of Citizenship and Innovation at Microsoft for the public sector, focusing on "digital divide" issues faced by many local and state governments.

The northwest suburban resident has generated success in sales, marketing, business development, and operations management for technology leaders in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. As a senior executive leader, she has held Vice Presidential and General Managerial roles in sizable sales organizations serving both public and private sectors.

Maria Wynne serves on the board of trustees for the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. She also serves on the advisory board for POWER, a mentoring organization for professional women.

The announcement comes on the wave of recent changes made by the Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana Council and Girl Scouts USA. The new, more business-oriented approach is reflective of its national "Girl Scout Leadership Experience." Within the outcomes-based model, girls are engaged in discovering self, connecting with others, and taking action to make the world a better place. This transformation has impacted everything from the girls' uniforms, to the Girl Scout program, to the staff and volunteer structure.

The new "Girl Scout Leadership Experience" program is based on the Girl Scout Research Institute original study, Change It Up! What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership. The study revealed girls embrace a leadership style that focuses on ethics, personal principles, and social change values. Thirty-nine percent of the girls said they wanted to be leaders, despite facing barriers that include a lack of self-confidence in their own skill set and competencies, stress, fear of speaking in front of others, peer pressure, and stereotypes about what it means to be a girl in today's society. Girls said they feel that places for them to develop their leadership skills are scarce. CEO Wynne plans to change that in the greater Chicago and northwest Indiana area.