West, TX Update

Fellow Girl Scouts, At this time, we know that leaders in West are safe and that, to our knowledge, so are our girl members. We have been in touch with the Service Unit Director and right now they are holding tight until they can assess what is needed.

We have been getting a lot of questions about how we can help the community of West as they deal with the fallout from last week’s tragedy. The outpouring of support has been incredible but right now we are getting the message that the community is overwhelmed with donations. Presently they are still grieving, planning funerals and trying to get into their homes. We know that many funds have been set up to collect cash and gift card donations but until we vet the organizations collecting the donations we will not put out this information. Unfortunately, scams abound in these situations. After talking with the area SUDs and the Mayor’s office, we are going to wait and see what the community needs in the coming weeks and then plan our response. We are looking at some type of project around gift cards and if we finalize that we will let everyone know.

If you are in the Waco area, there is a need for volunteers to sift through donations at the Disaster Warehouse. If someone is interested in helping they can call Captain Debbie Alderson on her cell at 254-733-2680. The warehouse is located at 101 Apron Dr., Waco 76705, which is on the TSTC Campus.

I will keep everyone appraised of any new developments. In the meantime, prayers are very welcome and needed.

Feel free to share this information with your volunteers as we know they are concerned and anxious to help, like the true Girl Scouts they are.

-Carol Keierleber, GSCTX Interim CEO

Austin Workplace for Women Spotlight - Amelia Bullock Realtors

Amelia Bullock Realtors

For more than 40 years, Amelia Bullock Realtors has been a leader in the Austin residential market, building a reputation as a respected company with stellar agents, expertise in corporate relocation, and a strong commitment to the Central Texas community. Based on the premise that purchasing a home should be a win/win for everyone, the company owes its success to two extraordinary women—co-owners Amanda Bullock and Barbara Wallace, who support a nurturing culture that values family, cooperation rather than competition, and empowers an overwhelmingly female staff with the training and resources to be the best in the business. Both genteel southern women with an abundance of charm and determination, they have complimentary skill sets: Amanda has a background in fashion design and is adept at advertising and promotion, while Barbara holds in a degree in business education and excels in the financial areas and heads up the firm’s thriving relocation services. Amelia Bullock Realtors currently has over 90 agents who work from two locations; one in Northwest Hills and another in West Lake. The company is dedicated to providing service with quality, value and integrity and to maintaining an environment where courtesy, civility and service are paramount to all else.

For more information on this year's Women of Distinction events, please visit our website. 

Austin Women of Distinction Spotlight - Melinda Garvey

Melinda Garvey

As publisher of Austin Woman Magazine (AWM), Melinda Garvey has revolutionized the way women communicate in Austin. Seeing a need for a woman’s magazine she and lifelong friend Samantha Stevens took a chance. A decade later with distribution at over 1500 locations, AWM has become the go-to magazine for women in Central Texas. In 2011 she and her husband and co-publisher Christopher Garvey launched ATX Man, also a major success. The Garveys not only support hundreds of organizations through the magazines and associated events, but has chaired the first Go Red Campaign, co-chaired a campaign to help families of premature babies, and is a past president of Wonders & Worries. Reared in Indianapolis, she is a graduate of DePauw University and worked in DC for over ten years—first in advertising and then for a community newspaper. She was inspired to start AWM because she realized that “people love to read about people.” A modest woman ever ready to credit her staff, she is a self-confessed TV junkie and is passionate about good food and wine. She and Christopher, who has overseen the marketing and events for the magazines since 2010, have a five year old son, Beckum, and enjoy spending time with on the water with Melinda’s parents in Horseshoe Bay.

For more information on this year's Women of Distinction events, please visit our website. 

Austin Women of Distinction Spotlight - Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr

Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr

Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr is a fourth-generation firefighter and the first woman to serve as Chief of the Austin Fire Department. An active young girl and sports enthusiast, she received a degree in physical education and was teaching high school in Fort Lauderdale when a friend suggested that she apply for cadet training at the local fire department. It was a turning point in her life, and the start of a stellar career. She earned an associate’s degree in Fire Science Technology and two certifications from Harvard, rising through the ranks to become an officer and then second in command at the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department. In 2004, she became the first female Fire Chief in Little Rock, winning accolades for her innovation leadership. Five years later, she would beat out a group of national candidates to head the Austin Fire Department, where she has won high marks for her innovation, ability to build consensus and community outreach. Chief Kerr is the past chair of the Human Relations Committee of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Director of the National Society of Executive Fire Officers, and actively involved in community organizations including the local chapter of the American Red Cross and the Austin Area Urban League.

For more information on this year's Women of Distinction events, please visit our website. 

Austin Women of Distinction Spotlight - MP Mueller

MP Mueller

Mary Pat “MP” Mueller is an astute business woman and entrepreneur well known in the Central Texas community for her colorful and occasionally outrageous sense of style and her willingness to share her talents and expertise with a broad range of community non-profits including the Austin Breast Cancer Research Center, I Live Here I Give Here, New Milestones Foundation, People’s Community Clinic, the Humane Society and the Alamo. Starting out as a one-person operation working from her bedroom, she went on to found Door Number #3, an award winning marketing and public relations agency with a staff of 12 and annual billings of $5,000,000. Additionally, MP authors a highly entertaining blog on marketing for the New York Times, is a nationally known guest speaker on marketing topics, and is particularly proud of her membership on the Board of Foster Angels, which helps Texas children in the foster care system. MP has two young adult children, Lawrence and Helen, and is busy planning an October wedding with George Gau, a business professor at UT Austin. She credits Girl Scouts with teaching her girls can do anything; how to set goals and reach them, and how to create the perfect sit upon.

For more information on this year's Women of Distinction events, please visit our website. 

Austin Women of Distinction Spotlight - Meredith Cooper

Meredith Cooper

Meredith Cooper was one of the first professionals in Austin to become certified in the emerging field of Child Life Support, a rigorous process with interdisciplinary training to develop a friendly and family-centered approach to serving children hospitalized with chronic or long-term illnesses. She began working with Children’s Hospital, first as a Junior League volunteer, and then as the first pediatric oncology child life specialist at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. But recognizing another need, she shifted her focus to children with a family member experiencing a catastrophic illness. In 2001 she joined with Missy Hicks to co-founded Wonders & Worries, an Austin-based non-profit to offer services to children of cancer patients. Since then Wonders & Worries has helped over 1,000 children in families affected by illnesses ranging from diabetes to Alzheimer’s. As Executive Director for the past two decades, Meredith is widely admired not only for her compassion and abilities as a healer but her administrative savvy and fundraising talents. Meredith is married to Duane Cooper, a financial adviser at Wells Fargo Advisors, and has three grown children, Ross, Kristen and Caroline. She is proud of her family’s tradition in Girl Scouting—her mother Caryl was her troop leader and both daughters were Girl Scouts.

For more information on this year's Women of Distinction events, please visit our website.

Austin Women of Distinction Spotlight - Sylvia Acevedo

Sylvia Acevedo

As a young girl growing up in Las Cruses, New Mexico, Sylvia Acevedo saw first-hand how Girl Scouting can empower women and change lives for the better. With the support and encouragement of their local troop, her mother Ofelia learned to speak English, enabling her to file for US citizenship. Sylvia holds engineering degrees from both New Mexico State University and Stanford, and held prestigious positions with Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Dell and Apple. But deeply motivated by social equity issues, in 2007 she marshaled her professional expertise and formidable networking abilities to develop scalable solutions in education, workforce and health. Within six years, Sylvia created national mobilization campaigns that drew over 225,000 attendees and created systems to give books, toothbrushes, playground balls and eyeglasses to children in need. Named one of the top 100 American Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math by US News & World Report, she was appointed to the White House Commission for Educational Excellence for Hispanics in 2011 and presented with the Ohtli Award, Mexico’s most prestigious civil rights recognition for non-Mexican nationals. Sylvia and her partner, Dr. Janet Osimo enjoy sports and travel and are devoted to their rescue dogs, Cali and Nisso.

For more information on this year's Women of Distinction events, please visit our website.