Gap Team Report

Defining a New Governance System While Aiming for High Capacity
In January 2005, the Governance & Organizational Structure Gap Team was charged with creating an efficient and effective council/GSUSA structure and governance system, which maximizes resources and supports the organization’s mission and Core Business Strategy.

Governance
The Gap Team has focused on expanding the dialogue about governance in order to clearly define how a new organizational governance system would operate on both local and national levels. As part of this process, the team has:

• Explored relevant studies and best practices in the field to determine how to best develop a nimble and effective system for conducting the business of the organization.
• Analyzed existing council and industry business models, and defined key elements integral to the organization’s governance system. These elements include a democratic system for doing business, and an adherence to the core values of the organization.
• Discussed ways to engage the voting body of the organization more rapidly, in order to be nimble in our decision-making.
• Defined a variety of governance models, which are being evaluated.

Organizational Structure
The gap team recommended that a realigned council structure be created based on a high-capacity model, which would produce councils with robust infrastructures. This is essential to moving the Core Business Strategy forward and supporting the growth of Girl Scouts for decades to come.

Progress to-date:

• Options for council realignment are currently being considered and recommended by state /regions throughout the country.
• Simultaneously, GSUSA has engaged a team of demographers to present demographic data and a resource map to council Board Chairs and CEOs, who will convene in early March.

Moving the Dialogue Forward

The 2005 Girl Scout National Council Session/50th Convention provided many opportunities to further the dialogue about governance and organizational structure. More than 1,800 National Council Delegates — volunteers from councils across the country — along with the National Board of Directors, gathered in Atlanta to talk about key governance issues and set the future direction of Girl Scouting.

During the Open Space sessions, Delegates, Girl Scout council leadership, staff and visitors discussed the question: What would our governance structure look like on a national and local level if it met the test of being efficient, decisive, and action-oriented?

These lively sessions, along with some of the Convention's Strategy Cafes, produced a variety of recommendations on governance — from "Mandate clear girl involvement" to "Use a 'Senate' form of governance (two seats per Service Unit)." The sessions also raised important questions, including "Will we become too corporate and forget 'the Girl Scout Way'?" Such questions and recommendations will inform the Core Business Strategy as it evolves and becomes integrated throughout the organization.