What Volunteerism Taught Me
How a Girl Scout career became the foundation for a lifetime of service and leadership.
What Girl Scout Work Taught Me About Volunteerism, Leadership, and Trusting God's Plan
What I thought was a detour became the foundation for everything that followed.
Sometimes the jobs we take out of necessity become experiences that shape the rest of our lives.
After being laid off from a corporate position in 2000, I found myself facing a reality familiar to many single parents: I needed a job, and I needed one quickly. At the time, my daughter Maya was in elementary school, and I was determined to be the kind of mother who showed up.
I wanted to attend school assemblies and be there for special occasions. I needed the flexibility to be present for the moments that matter. Anyone who has ever navigated Atlanta traffic while balancing work and family responsibilities knows that this is easier said than done.
When I received an offer to work for the council formerly known as the Girl Scout Council of Northwest Georgia, I took it. The salary was lower than I wanted, and if I'm honest, I viewed it as a temporary stop along the way. What I didn't realize was that I was stepping into one of the most important chapters of my professional life.
Volunteers Choose to Serve
For seven years, I served first as a field executive and later as a communications manager. Looking back, the promotion was meaningful, but it wasn't the title that changed me.
It was the volunteers.
Every day, I worked alongside women and men who gave countless hours of their time to help young girls build courage, confidence, and character. They organized meetings, planned events, sold cookies, supported camping trips, completed training requirements, passed background checks, and showed up consistently because they believed in the mission.
I was in awe of them.
Many of the Girl Scout volunteers were mothers, but their husbands and the fathers of Girl Scouts were often just as committed. Later, when I worked with Boy Scouts, I saw that same spirit of service in both men and women who poured themselves into young people's lives without expecting anything in return.
Those volunteers taught me something that no classroom, conference, or management course ever could: Strong organizations are built on people who choose to serve.
I Worked for Them
As a manager of volunteers, I understood that they did not work for me. I worked for them.
Helping them succeed required trust, communication, appreciation, and respect. Volunteers were partners in the mission, and my role was to make sure they felt seen, heard, and valued.
That lesson has stayed with me for more than twenty years.
Understanding Family
One of the things I appreciated most about Girl Scouts was that the organization understood family. Because so much of our work happened in the evenings and on weekends, Maya often accompanied me to events and meetings. She was welcomed because she was part of the Girl Scout family, too.
If I worked in the evening, I had time during the day to be there for my daughter at school when needed.
The organization didn't just employ me. It embraced my life as a working mother.
Three years into my time with Girl Scouts, I became pregnant with my second daughter, Tierra.
In April 2003, she arrived five weeks premature, before I could even have a baby shower. What happened next is something I will never forget.
My coworkers and Girl Scout volunteers rallied around me. They purchased necessities, contributed gifts, and offered support when I needed it most. One volunteer handmade a baby blanket that Tierra still treasures to this day. More than twenty years later, I wish I could find Gloria, the former Five Forks Service Unit Director, so Tierra and I could thank her again.
Volunteers Stay When They Feel Valued
The older I get, the more I realize that what made Girl Scouts special wasn't the programs, the meetings, or even the cookies.
It was the culture.
Volunteers stayed engaged because they were not treated as an afterthought. They were valued and recognized as essential to the mission.
Later in my career, I worked for the Boy Scouts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and eventually became deeply involved with the University of Florida Alumni Association. Every volunteer experience I encountered was measured against the standard I learned in scouting.
Scouting was the bar.
I learned what volunteer leadership should look like. I witnessed how volunteers respond when they feel valued. It taught me that people may join because of the mission, but they stay because of the culture.
Those lessons would eventually help me grow as a volunteer leader, serve as president of the Atlanta Gator Club, earn recognition as the University of Florida Alumni Association's National Leader of the Year, and ultimately launch a nonprofit, Ancestors Dream Initiative (ADI).
Still Learning
As I work on ADI's first annual report, I find myself reflecting on the people and organizations that shaped my understanding of service, leadership, and community.
I am not a nonprofit expert. I am still learning, and I know I will make mistakes. My hope is that I grow from them.
The Detour Became the Foundation
Sometimes we spend so much time grieving the door God closed that we fail to recognize the purpose waiting behind the one He opened.
- I took the job because I needed a paycheck. God used it to teach me about service.
- I thought I was rebuilding my career. God was preparing me for a greater purpose.
- I thought I was managing volunteers. God was teaching me how to lead people with respect.
- I thought I was taking a detour. God was laying a foundation.
And I am grateful that I surrendered to the opportunity in front of me instead of remaining consumed by opportunities I wasn't ready for.
When I look back, I realize the job I once viewed as a temporary stop was preparing me for everything that followed.
What I thought was a detour became the foundation.
And for that, I will always be grateful.
