Ozarks Profile: Ann Soots

Anne Soots

Chief executive officer and executive director, Girl Scouts of Dogwood Trails Council Inc., 210 S. Ingram Mill Road. The Dogwood Trails Council was formed in 1954 to deliver the Girl Scout program to girls and adults in a 25-county area. A United Way agency, the council serves about 9,000 members through troops, groups, activity centers, special interest programs and programs for individually registered girls. Governed by a volunteer board of directors, it is the vision of the Dogwood Trails Council to be the premier organization serving girls in southwest Missouri, helping them to develop to their fullest potential with the skills needed to become self confident, resourceful women for tomorrow's diverse world. Soots became the executive director in January after serving as the assistant executive director since 1995. She is a member of the Association of Girl Scouts Executive Staff, the National Guest Faculty of Girl Scouts of the USA and is a lifetime member of Girl Scouts of the USA.

Age: 41

No. of years in Springfield/area: 4 1/2. Soots moved to Springfield from Florence, S.C., in 1995.

Education: Soots attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., but graduated from High Point University in High Point, N.C., in 1981 with a degree in human relations. She is also a graduate of the American Humanics program, earned the Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Mandel School of Applied Science at Case Western Reserve University and is a certified instructor of trainers with the Girl Scouts.

Early career: Soots began her Girl Scout career as a field director in Florence, S.C., after graduating from college. She worked there for more than 14 years in a variety of executive staff positions. She has been a National Guest Faculty member with the Girl Scouts for eight years. She moved to Springfield in 1995 to join the Dogwood Trails Council.

Current projects: Soots is working to meet the demand for a membership outreach program that serves girls at risk and with Kaleidoscope Inc., a camp planning firm in Fayetteville, Ark., to develop a master site plan for Finbrooke Outdoor Center and design a new camp for the council's new property on Table Rock Lake.

Management philosophy: "Create a work environment that values staff members and encourages them to use their talents and creativity to develop new ways for all girls to benefit from the Girl Scout program. Encourage all staff and volunteers to work toward bringing this quote from a former national president of Girl Scouts USA to life: We must see Girl Scouting as today's girls see it, not as we remember it.'"

Spare-time pursuits: "There's not much my job keeps me very busy! But I like to garden, read, cook, do needlework and support the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons and the Washington Redskins."

Family data: "My father lives in North Wilkesboro, N.C., and my sister lives in Charlotte. I live with two very spoiled cats Chessie, a Maine Coon, and Beau, a Persian."