Camp Fire USA Commemorates 100th Anniversary; Names New National CEO
Kansas City, MO. (September 1, 2010)
Camp Fire USA is celebrating its Centennial Year under new leadership. Cathy Tisdale, formerly an executive with Girl Scouts of America and The American Red Cross, has joined Camp Fire USA as President and CEO and is already crafting a vision for the next 100 years.
“Cathy’s arrival is timely,” states Glenn Cravez, chair of the Camp Fire USA board of trustees. “This is our Centennial year, and we were in search for a candidate that could lead us as we start our next 100 years – a candidate with an understanding of the changing world of the non-profit industry, as well as a leader who would honor our long legacy of serving youth. Cathy comes with significant experience in building and leading organizations to achieve mission, strategy, and impact.”
“Cathy has expertise in all the key functional areas of Camp Fire,” continues Cravez. “She understands the financials and capacity building, has strong branding experience, and recognizes the importance of serving our councils. Most importantly, she never forgets that our customers are children, youth, and their families.”
Ms. Tisdale started her career in the non-profit sector in 1978 at The American Red Cross. In 28 years of service at the Red Cross, she held a series of positions with increasing responsibility at both the headquarters and affiliates offices. She was frequently sought for Chapter CEO positions because of her expertise in building both strong board and management partnerships and consistently meeting program revenue and growth goals. At the National Headquarters she served as Director of Community Marketing, becoming an expert in fund-raising and brand management.
In 2007 Ms. Tisdale joined Girl Scouts of America, headquartered in New York City, as Vice President Mission-to-Market/Council Partnerships. In that capacity, she implemented the merger and integration of councils from 312 to 112, resulting in improved council performance, efficiencies and service.
“I have four immediate goals for my work at Camp Fire USA ,” states Ms. Tisdale, “to be a national advocate for America’s youth, to support the councils in their work, to promote Camp Fire USA’s strong brand, and to make sure we have the ongoing resources to be a sustainable organization for the next 100 years.”
“I am honored to be named CEO at this important moment in Camp Fire’s history,” continues Tisdale. “Certainly Camp Fire may not look the same in the future. Our programming will change as society changes. Currently the issues of childhood health and obesity are front-and-center today, and we’ve been at the forefront with programs and curriculum. Then there’s the renewed interest on the environment. We’ve been environmental stewards for 100 years, and our work in that area continues. This is an exciting time to be leading Camp Fire USA.”
“But at the end of the day, I see a larger overarching vision that transcends all we do,” Tisdale concludes. “We should never forget our primary mission at Camp Fire. Our goal is to build caring, confident youth and future leaders. We have an aspirational vision of preparing children to be productive, enlightened public citizens. Our goal is to give them the tools to craft a better future for our nation. I look forward to continuing our legacy and to crafting a vision for our next 100 years.”
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Camp Fire USA is celebrating 100 years of building caring, confident youth and future leaders. We do this by providing quality programs nationwide for children, youth and families that reflect our “Four Cs”: We CARE for children with after school programs, offer CAMPS where kids can explore and learn respect for the environment, inspire youth to CONTRIBUTE to their communities with service projects, and CONNECT children, adults, and families together in small groups. Camp Fire USA headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, has 83 councils in 31 states. Last year Camp Fire USA provided nearly 30 million program hours, to over 300,000 youth, in hundreds of communities across the United States. For more information, visit www.campfireusa.org.
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