Sonya Gazdik has joined the staff as Chief Membership Officer.  Sonya comes to us with 17 years staff experience with Girl Scouts.  She was previously a Membership Specialist, and the Director of Program, Training and Volunteer Services and Membership at a sister council.  Growing up in a military family Sonya moved quite often and experienced Girl Scouts as a way to keep her connected with girls her age, in a familiar program.  She was even a Girl Scout in Athens Greece.  As an adult, she returned to Girl Scouting when she became her daughter's Daisy leader and is proud to have held leadership and service team positions for 9 years before joining council staff.  Not only does she have a background in Membership Operations she comes with 15 years of commercial property management and marketing.   Sonya has volunteered for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Various Youth Organizations including Boys and Girl Club and Youth Sports, and until moving to the area volunteered for the USO.  She values the time and energy that volunteers bring to community, and knows firsthand the amazing things they can accomplish.  She has worked with numerous volunteer committees to help service units and councils reach the goals they set for themselves and girls.  She is proud to be a Lifetime Girl Scout member. 

 Lori Tomlinson came on board as the Manager of Grants and Outcomes.  She has worked in the non-profit sector for nearly 17 years in a variety of roles.  For the past 8+ years, Lori has been involved with local youth-serving organizations, including ALSO Youth, Girls Inc., and Big Brothers Big Sisters.  In her newly created position with GSGCF, Lori oversees grant research, writing, and reporting, as well as the development and implementation of outcome measurements for all programs.  Originally from Ohio, Lori holds both an undergraduate and graduate degree from Bowling Green State University.  Lori shares with GSGCF her passion for empowering girls and young women while fostering positive social change.

Kathleen Coulter has joined our council as a Girl Scout Leadership Summer Intern.  She graduated from the University of Central Florida having earned a BA with Honors in International and Global Studies. She has spent the past year volunteering as an English elementary teacher with World Teach in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. She lived on a remote outer island, population 150, without phones or Internet, stores, a doctor, or reliable transportation. Kathleen will be attending the University of Alberta Faculty of Law this fall, where she will participate in a Dual JD program with the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Kathleen was a member of an east coast Girl Scout council - joined as a Girl Scout Daisy. She moved to Naples with her family and joined Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida as a Girl Scout Cadette. Kathleen was certified as a Leave No Trace trainer, council delegate for C3, representative at the 2005 National Convention Girl Congress in Atlanta, journalist for New Horizons - teen Girl Scout newsletter, and as an assistant leader for younger girl troops.  She earned her Silver and Gold Awards. In earning her Silver Award, Kathleen led a program to teach younger Girl Scouts the principles and practices of Leave No Trace, with cooperation from Collier-Seminole State Park. Kathleen also participated in the Environmental Leadership program and the Wet, Wild and Woodsy workshop. She wanted to incorporate her environmental background when she approached her Gold Award project. Kathleen coordinated a biodiversity study between Florida Gulf Coast University and the AP Environmental Science students at Barron Collier High School. She planned and helped run the program for two years, gathering data for FGCU and exposing high school students to real-life application of environmental science. The program continued for at least several years after her departure.  Kathleen is a Dr. Elinor Crawford College Scholarship Fund recipient.  In 2009, she worked at Honi Hanta as a camp counselor and last summer she volunteered at Vassaro Scout Centre in Sweden.  Kathleen is a proud Lifetime member and is excited to be working with the council!

Kallin Horne has been an active member of the Girl Scout movement for 15 years and has returned to GSGCF as a Girl Scout Leadership Summer Intern. She started out as a Brownie and became a lifetime member upon her high school graduation in 2010. Through her years as a Girl Scout she earned her Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards, and traveled abroad to London and Scotland as part of a Sister Troop exchange program.

Kallin also served as a Girl Representative to the Board of Directors, helped to initiate and serve on the Teen Board from 2007 to 2009, and was awarded the Dr. Elinor Crawford College Scholarship in 2010. Kallin has spent numerous hours at Camp Honi Honta, first as a camper then as a volunteer, then part of the kitchen staff in the summer of 2009, and finally as a counselor/arts and crafts director in 2010. She is currently a Junior at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, where she is working towards her Bachelors of Science in Accounting with minors in Marketing and Computer Information Systems. She works for the Office of Housing and Residence Life at FGCU as a Resident Assistant and is an active member of the Kappa Delta Sorority. Kallin plans to continue on with Girl Scouts in any way possible and is looking forward to this summer and future opportunities.

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