Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting is an important opportunity for members to participate in the governance of our council. The purpose of the Annual Meeting is to conduct the business of the council, Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.

Emailed invitations will be sent to all registered members 14 and older. A quorum of 50 members ages 14 and older is required to conduct a vote. Our governance operates by 'one member, one vote,' so your presence and vote is important.

Thursday, March 18, 2021

The Virtual Annual Meeting will be held on Zoom from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Attendees will also utilize Simply Voting to vote.

Registered attendees will recieve an email on March 16, 2021 with a link to vote. Please register for the Zoom session with the email you plan to use for voting. Each member of your household must register with a unique email to vote.

Meeting Agenda

2020 highlights
Vote to approve 2020 Annual Meeting minutes
Vote on Board of Directors Slate
Close of business meeting

More meeting agenda details coming soon!

Invitations are sent to all registered members 14 and older. A quorum of 50 members age 14 and older is required to conduct a vote. Our governance operates by ‘one member, one vote,’ so your presence and vote is important.

Members at Large – Girl Members: The following candidates have been offered by the Board Development Committee as ex-officio non-voting girl members of the Board of Directors for a 1-year term, 2021.

Annie Gulick, Dyersville
Starting Girl Scouts in Kindergarten, Annie is now in grade 11 at Beckman Catholic School in Dyersville, Iowa. Annie is passionate about helping her community and through her involvement in Girl Scouts, has hosted BINGO, provided manicures, and caroled at a local nursing home. She has also volunteered at food panties and lead events for younger Girl Scouts. She has achieved the Silver Award, Bronze Award, Summit Award, Service to Girl Scouting Bar, and President’s Volunteer Service Award for her commitment to making the world a better place.

Annie also works as a clerk at Dollar Fresh Grocery Store and as a waitress at Chan Garden. She is very involved at school and participates in concert and marching band, choir, musicals, dance team, color guard, art club, yearbook, school newspaper, and is a student ambassador. Annie is also a competitive gymnast and dancer!

Ally-Anna Wheeler, Anamosa
Ally-Anna is in her eleventh year as a proud and active Girl Scout. In addition to earning the Bronze and Silver Awards and Community Service and Service to Girl Scouts bars (Cadette and Senior), she has also received the Spirit Award. Ally-Anna was a 2020 National Delegate and currently serves on the council Girl Advisory Board. Today, she’s working toward her Gold Award and Volunteer in Training.

When Ally-Anna is not at a Girl Scout event, she is likely on stage for Show Choir, Color Guard, Winter Guard, Winter Drum Line, Jazz Band, Honor Choir, Theater, or enjoying extracurricular mathematics. Yes, extracurricular.

Gwen Canney, Cedar Rapids
Gwen has been a Girl Scout since Kindergarten! She is currently a GSEIWI Advisory Committee member, and has earned the Bronze and Silver Awards, and is working towards the Gold Award. She is the co-founder of the GSEIWI group, Solar Sister Astronomy Club. In 2019, her Solar Sisters team applied to a national Girl Scout program and won! Her team was flown to NASA for a week and trained there on all things astronomy. The group currently meets monthly.

Gwen is a sophomore at Kennedy high school in Cedar Rapids. One of her absolute favorite things to do is roller skate! She works at Starbucks and likes to collect pins and put them on her work apron. She has four cats, and one dog.
Members at Large – Renewing Terms: The following candidates have been offered by the Board Development Committee for the Board of Directors, Members at Large to renew their term of service for a 2-year term, 2021-2023.

Chelsea Hillman, Davenport

Tracy Schwind, Davenport
Tracy Schwind is Senior Vice President, Marketing and Human Resources at Northwest Bank & Trust Company. She is a member of Great River Human Resource Association and Quad Cities Chamber Human Resources Round Table, and a Lead(h)er Mentor. Tracy currently serves as the Chair of Women Lead Change Quad Cities Women Connect. In addition, she has been an active volunteer for the Davenport Public Library, River Music Experience, and Davenport Schools Foundation.

Tracy is a Lifetime Member of Girl Scouts and has always loved every step of being part of Girl Scouts along the way.

Theresa Dunkin, North Liberty
Theresa A Dunkin is the Assistant Director of the Office of Statewide Clinical Education Programs and the Director of the Iowa Health Professions Tracking Center at the University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine. She has been with the University of Iowa for 38 years. The tracking center that she directs collects demographic and geographic information on Iowa’s Healthcare providers; Physicians, Physician Assistants, Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentist. Theresa started out in healthcare as a Pharmacy Technician and continues to maintain her certification in the field.

She is a Lifetime member and has been active in Girl Scouts since she was in 1st grade, starting out in Shining Trail Council. Theresa has served in many volunteer positions over the years: Camp Counselor, Troop Leader, Service Unit director, Membership Recruiter Event Coordinator, Recognitions Coordinator Equestrian Trail Leader, National Delegate 100th Anniversary Committee Member, Strategic Learning Committee and currently on the Council Recognitions Committee and GSEIWI Board Member.

Anna Patty, Cedar Rapids
Anna is Marketing and Communications Director at Covenant Family Solutions, a leading innovative provider of mental and behavioral health care, as well as Owner and Doer of Good at Be The Good Consulting LLC. She has more than 15 years of experience leading communication and marketing efforts in the nonprofit and healthcare industries. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa with degrees in Journalism and Spanish. Anna has presented several times at national conferences and led nonprofit communications workshops in the Corridor. In 2018, she was recognized as one of the Forty Under 40 honorees for the Corridor (an award presented by the Corridor Business Journal).

Never far from the nonprofit world, Anna believes in giving back to the community. In addition to serving on the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois Board of Directors, she currently serves as Vice President of the Family Promise of Linn County board of directors and is a past board member and chair of the Women’s Equality Coalition of Linn County. If you ever catch Anna with a free moment to spare, you might find her in the garden or on a geocaching adventure with her husband and four energetic children.
Officers – Renewing Terms: The following candidates have been offered by the Board Development Committee for the Board of Directors, Officers to renew their term of service for a 2-year term, 2021-2023.

Jill Dashner, Chair, Cedar Falls
Jill lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and is the Assistant County Attorney for Bremer County. Jill is an active member of St John Lutheran Church, Cedar Falls. When time allows, she enjoys fostering rescue dogs and being active in her neighborhood. She belongs to a book club, and loves camping, hiking, cooking, and spending time with her family. In her line of work, Jill sees many young people follow the wrong path simply because it is the only path presented to them. She is proud to represent organizations like Girl Scouts, with the ability to empower young women to envision a different direction.

Teresa Colgan, Vice Chair, Burlington
Teresa is the Chief Clinical Officer for Great River Medical Center in Burlington, Iowa, and has been volunteering with Girl Scouts for 35 years, starting as the camp nurse at Camp L-Kee-Ta. She did a wide range of volunteer roles and in 1999, began her tenure as a member of the Board of Directors for Shining Trail Council. She became Shining Trail Council President in 2003. Teresa co-chaired the Realignment Committee during our realignment and continued offering her leadership on a multitude of projects including strategic planning and performance excellence. Our council has prospered under her creative, strong and steady leadership.

Sarah H. Beckman, Treasurer, Burlington
Sarah is a certified public accountant and shareholder of CPA Associates PC in Burlington, Iowa. She accredits her cookie sales experience as a former Brownie for fueling her passion for numbers. Sarah performs financial statement audits and prepares individual, business and not-for-profit tax returns. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration - Accounting from the University of Northern Iowa. Prior to working at CPA Associates PC, Sarah was a manager with Ernst & Young LLP in Des Moines Iowa.

Besides numbers, Sarah enjoys spending time with family, participating in farming operations with her husband and reading a great book.

Anne Ryerson, Secretary, Geneseo
Anne is the Manager of Product Safety and Compliance for John Deere’s Intelligent Solutions Group. In this role she leads a global team of engineers working to ensure safety and compliance of John Deere electronic products. An electrical engineer, Anne has experience in product development, electronics design, and product safety in her 20 years at John Deere. She is a Gold Award recipient, lifetime member of Girl Scouts, and has been a member of the GSEIWI Board of Directors since 2013.

Anne is passionate about volunteering and giving back to the community. She has many years of experience leading STEM outreach and youth programs, including FIRST Lego League, John Deere Inspire, and the Society of Women Engineers. A mother to three boys, she is also a Cub Scout den leader.
Board Development Committee – Member at Large: The following candidates have been offered by the Board Development Committee for the Board Development Committee, to serve a term of 3 years, 2021-2024.

Chelsea Hillman, Davenport

Annual Meeting

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Meeting Agenda

Members at Large – Girl Members

Members at Large – Renewing Terms

Officers – Renewing Terms

Board Development Committee – Member at Large