Girl Scouts Chief Executive Brings Extensive Government Background
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
September 18, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
New role: Anna Maria Chávez, 43, will take over in November as chief executive of Girl Scouts of the USA, in New York.
Who she succeeds: Kathy Cloninger, who is retiring after eight years as the group’s chief executive.
Previous job: Ms. Chávez, who became a Girl Scout at age 10, has served as chief executive of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas since 2009.
Other experience: She held many state-government posts in her native state of Arizona, most notably serving as deputy chief of staff for urban relations and community development to Janet Napolitano when she was governor. She also served as senior policy adviser to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater.
Education: She earned a law degree from the University of Arizona College of Law and a bachelor’s degree in American history from Yale University.
Her agenda: Ms. Chávez said she intends to spend the first year of her new post traveling and speaking to the public about the Girl Scouts’ history and current mission and learning more about the needs of today’s girls.
Salary: She declined to reveal it. The organization’s budget for 2012 is $63-million.
Favorite Girl Scout cookie: Samoas.
