November 2008
The CRC met in November and decided on the headquarters for the new council – Anchorage. The group also decided to keep the Service Centers in Fairbanks and Juneau to start the new council. Decisions to add additional branches will be the work of the new council board and CEO. The work of the subcommittees has begun particularly the Governance and CEO Search. Many decisions will be made in the next 10 months, several of which will require member input. We encourage members to complete any information-gathering surveys that are sent by the Girl Scouts. Member opinions count and will help us better serve girls in Alaska. Updates on CRC progress will be placed on the website, so check back frequently. Thanks in advance for your patience and support through this exciting transformation.

To share with us with your thoughts and comments, please contact Suellen Nelles, Executive Director at fngsc4@alaska.com.

Our Realignment Process
The Alaska Girl Scout Realignment is underway! In August 2006, the GSUSA Board of Directors approved a plan to consolidate 312 Girl Scout councils across the country into 109 high-performance, community-focused councils by 2009. Based on the criteria of a high-performance council, the three councils in Alaska (Farthest North Girl Scout Council, headquartered in Fairbanks, Girl Scouts Susitna Council, headquartered in Anchorage, and Tongass Alaska Girl Scout Council, headquartered in Juneau) will be combined into one statewide council.

Alaska is in the final wave of this national transformation, and the process kicked off with the first meeting of the Council Realignment Committee October 4 at the Fairbanks Girl Scout Service Center. The three councils have chosen 12 individuals, 4 from each council, to form this committee which will steward the process of designing our new council over the next year. The target date for the new council is October 1, 2009.

At the first Council Realignment Committee (CRC) meeting, the group made some important decisions. First, the name of the new council will be Girl Scouts of Alaska. This is a unique opportunity to bond girls together and celebrate the pride of living in Alaska. Second, the CRC assigned sub-committees to create our new council. These include Governance/Nominating Committee, CEO Search, Finance, Fund Development, Human Resources and Information Technology.

Look for future communications on our website to introduce you to the members of the CRC; to help you follow the work of the sub-committees through this year of transformation and to engage you in the process along the way.