CEO Welcome

Welcome to the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois website. We hope that you will find our new website informative and will help you learn more about Girl Scouting in Southern Illinois. We are so excited at this opportunity to share with you the wonderful programs, services and experiences that we are providing for approximately 16,000 girls and young women in our communities. Of course, none of this would be possible without our 4,800 dedicated and caring adult volunteers who are the heart of Girl Scouting.

I am privileged to be part of this significant chapter in the history of Girl Scouting as we merge two excellent Girl Scout councils into one, high-performing, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois. I am committed to making GSSI, the premier leadership experience for our girls – an organization of choice that is dynamic, vibrant and relevant and meets the needs of our girls. The leadership opportunities and challenges for growth we provide our girls today will have a profound impact on the women they will become tomorrow – and their subsequent influence on their families, their communities, their nation and the world.

Together we can develop and mobilize a strong volunteer system that is diverse, engaged in programs and services and is active in fund raising. Working together, we can continue to provide girls with the exceptional programs and services they want and need. Together we can develop the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois into the premier leadership organization that builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. I invite you to join me, our team of dedicated Board members and staff as we write the next chapter in the history of Girl Scouting in Southern Illinois.

Villie M. Appoo
Chief Executive Officer