Mimi and Mike Murray (left) received the 2016 Promise Circle Award. Previous honorees include (standing, from left) Dan and Katie Sullivan, Wayne Loftus, Susan and Larry Favrot, and David Groce; and (seated) Jan Loftus and Barbara Groce.

Spotlighting Mimi and Mike Murray
Katie and Dan Sullivan hosted our Promise and Legacy Circles appreciation event (photos) in spectacular fashion last month. Mimi and Mike Murray were named our 2016 Promise Circle awardees for their outstanding contributions to Girl Scouting. As a teen, Mimi earned a Curved Bar — now called the Girl Scout Gold Award. She later received the Thanks Badge, our highest adult honor. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Mimi led her daughter’s troop, with key support from Mike. She has volunteered on the local and national levels of our organization for 36 years. As an operational volunteer for Girl Scouts of the USA, Mimi helps councils across the country strengthen their fund development and board governance functions. The Murrays are members of both the Promise and Legacy Circles, which recognize generous friends who donate $1,000 each year or remember Girl Scouts in their estate planning, respectively.

Cristina De Almeida Amaral, an SDSU freshman, spoke about her Girl Scout leadership experiences, including participating in a United Nations conference, traveling to India and earning her Gold Award.

Congratulations to Mimi and Mike, and thank you to our circle members for their unwavering commitment to girls!

Carlo and Nadine Daleo (far left) attended the tree planting picnic. Other guests included (left to right) CEO Carol Dedrich and Ron Moss with his daughter and son-in-law, Glenda and Ron Johnson.

Growing girls’ futures
During a fall picnic celebration at our new Balboa Lodge, contributors to the “You Grow, Girls!” campaign planted native Valley Oak trees in honor of their loved ones. Other friends of Girl Scouts San Diego stopped by that day to see their personalized bricks in the adjacent patio. (See album.) To learn about upcoming donor opportunities, contact Interim Chief Development Director Merle Brodie at (619) 610-0804.

Intuit’s Kylie Taitano (pointing at laptop) and Diane Schwantes (center photo), a member of the Women of AT&T, were among volunteers leading STEAM workshops. Tammy Johnson (far right) was the keynote speaker.

Girls going full STEAM ahead
More than 150 Girl Scouts explored STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) careers through two leadership experiences we recently co-produced with community partners.

During You Can Be … in Tech hosted by Intuit, female technology professionals talked about their careers and led workshops about coding, innovation and prototyping. Next, the Women of AT&T professional group hosted Girls in Future Technology Day. Girl Scouts experimented with app development, programming and tower engineering, and listened to panel discussions with STEAM professionals. The keynote speaker for both events was AT&T Senior Training Manager Tammy Johnson, a troop leader who attributes her high-tech success to following the Girl Scout Law.

Macy's parade spotlights Girl Scouting
The 90^th Anniversary Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will feature its first-ever Girl Scout float. Fifty million viewers are expected to watch NBC’s broadcast of the parade on Nov. 24, 9 a.m.-noon.

Local residents can be part of the magic! Girl Scouts of the USA invites members to take the 2016 Girl Scout Challenge. By sharing how they “lead to build a better world,” girls can enter to win a $500 MetLife scholarship. In addition, the Fashion Valley Macy’s store will host a free parade-themed community event on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 3 p.m. with prizes, activities and refreshments. For details, contact Membership Recruitment Specialist Alex Metz at (619) 610-0793.

Driving away hunger
These members of Troop 2151 are in the giving spirit and getting ready to take action! They are among the hundreds of Girl Scouts participating in the Stuff the Bus food drive, our annual councilwide service project. We’re partnering with Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank, Armed Services YMCA San Diego, Metropolitan Transportation System (MTS), the North County Transit District (NCTD), Albertsons and VONS for this important campaign.

Help Girl Scouts feed low-income families and seniors this holiday season by donating nonperishable food items at any VONS or Albertsons between Monday, Nov. 28 and Saturday, Dec. 3. Girls will volunteer at the grocery stores on the last day, inviting customers to join them in fighting hunger. MTS and NCTD buses will transport collected groceries to the food bank. Girl Scouts interested in volunteering can register online, or contact Anne Canter at (619) 610-0786.

Board Chair Rick Brooks and CEO Carol Dedrich share ideas with GSUSA Interim CEO Sylvia Acevedo (center).

Rick, Carol join national dialogue about building Girl Scouting
Councils from throughout the country are working together to build a stronger, more innovative organization that will be relevant and impactful for girls in the 21^st century and beyond. Carol Dedrich and Rick Brooks just returned from Girl Scouts of the USA’s 2016 CEO and Board Chair conference in Philadelphia. The gathering provided a forum for our movement’s leaders to collaboratively advance Girl Scouts as a whole.

With the theme of Partnership: Leading Strategy Implementation, this year’s conference focused on councils’ strategic objectives of reaching more girls and having a higher impact, stronger brand, effective operations and increased investments. Attendees also developed plans for aligning across the movement in regard to our brand, operating model and the girl leadership experience.