Community Connection
 
Girl Scouts Featured in San Antonio Woman Magazine
SA WomanGirl Scouts of Southwest Texas is featured in the 2011 January/February issue of San Antonio Woman magazine. A 16-page section of the magazine spotlights the incredible achievements of our girls, volunteers, donors and staff. You can find a copy of this free publication at more than 300 locations, including H-E-B, Jim's Restaurants, and a variety of small businesses who support female entrepreneurship.
 
The current issue of San Antonio Woman magazine profiles Girl Scout alumna, Suzanne Wade, President of H-E-B's San Antonio Food and Drug Division. The 16-page insert shares the story of today's Girl Scouts with feature articles on the Girl Scout Cookie Program, unprecedented partnerships with leading businesses and San Antonio Independent School District, the Girl Scout Research Institute and the dynamic women leading the Girl Scout Movement into the 21st century.

We would like to give special thanks to our supporters who made this possible: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Broadway Bank, Inspire Fine Art Center, Spurs Sports and Entertainment, McCombs Foundation, Frost, AT&T, Jefferson Bank, Clay Casa, and PixelWorks. 

 
Cookies
Craving Girl Scout Cookies?
No university has produced as many female business leaders as the Girl Scout Cookie Program. The program has helped girls throughout the years grow into leaders by developing five essential skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. These skills allow girls to acquire the talent and resources to make the world a better place.

Local Girl Scouts began taking orders for Girl Scout cookies in January and will continue their sales beginning the first week of February in front of neighborhood stores. Cookie booths will be setup outside businesses with each box priced at $3.50.

Generating more than $700 million for girls and communities nationwide, the Girl Scout Cookie Program not only helps girls fulfill their goals, but also helps communities grow. All proceeds from selling Girl Scout cookies stay within the region to provide direct services to girls and adult volunteers and girls get to decide where the money goes. Girl Scouts have used proceeds to pay for a fresh change of clothes for an abuse victim or to cheer up a soldier far from home so...your purchase of Girl Scout cookies can do a lot.

To find a Girl Scout cookie booth near you, visit girlscouts-swtx.org or call 210-349-2404 (toll free 1-800-580-7247).There's an app for that! Call **GSCOOKIES (**472665437) from your mobile phone to download the free app to find Girl Scout cookies near you (standard text message and data rates may apply).


 Volunteer Diane Hileman is behind Gamma Sigma Girls D Hileman
 Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas recently launched an unprecedented partnership with San Antonio Independent School District benefiting hundreds of teen girls as part of the national pilot of Gamma Sigma Girls. Gamma Sigma Girls (GSG) combines the proven outcomes of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience with a "sorority-type" setting, targeting teen girls in high school who have a limited history of Girl Scouts. The pilot brings girls from 10 high school campuses together through the bond of sisterhood and allows them to explore common interests in a safe space.
  
Longtime volunteer, Diane Hileman, currently serves as the lead advisor for Gamma Sigma Girls. Prior to her service as GSG lead advisor, Diane served as a Girl Scout troop leader, service unit director and association chair. Diane has developed a remarkable program that not only teaches girls to become leaders, but does so in a way that makes it enjoyable for each girl involved. She spearheaded the first-ever Gamma Sigma Girls Leadership Development workshop, which is where participating girls learned practical leadership skills to prepare them for their roles as elected officers for each campus.
 
Diane's latest project is planning a Girl Leadership Summit that will bring Gamma Sigma Girls together before the new school year starts. By engaging with several successful women, this event will provide the girls with tools and experiences to expand their skills. Diane brings many years of experience with her to the Gamma Sigma Girls pilot and is working to develop a more complete and comprehensive Gamma Sigma Girls manual for advisors as we work through this inaugural year. Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas would like to give special thanks to Diane Hileman for all of her hard work and support. 


Anna Maria Chávez selected to serve on the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Board of DirectorsAnna Maria Chavez with Girl Scouts
 GSSWT's CEO, Anna Maria Chávez, was chosen to serve as Chair of the Education and Workforce Development Committee for the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber has been serving the community since 1894 and is dedicated to continuously improving the business climate by building opportunities for growth for our region.

The Education and Workforce Development Committee's mission is to address the advocacy needs of all levels of education and is dedicated to establishing a strong working relationship with area superintendents and higher education leaders. The committee also helps to facilitate collaboration among educational institutions and businesses in San Antonio to ensure a quality workforce for the future of the city.

Congratulations, Anna, for being selected for this prestigious position.