Laurel Richie Appointed SVP/Chief Marketing Officer, Girl Scouts of the USA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 24, 2008

CONTACT:
Girl Scouts of the USA
Tony Riggio (212) 852-8523
ariggio@girlscouts.org

NEW YORK—Girl Scouts of the USA has announced the appointment of Laurel Richie as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, effective March 24th. In her new position, Richie will be responsible for Girl Scouts of the USA brand, communications, publishing, marketing and Web-based initiatives.

"We are delighted to have Laurel on board," said Kathy Cloninger, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. "She will play a major part in the rollout of our new brand strategy, and will help ensure that a comprehensive media and communications strategy is in place to support our brand efforts. This work will strengthen Girl Scouts' position as the leading experts on girls and girl leadership, and will help attract a new generation of girls and adult volunteers to the Girl Scout Movement."

Prior to her new appointment, Richie held the position of Senior Partner, Executive Group Director, at Ogilvy & Mather, where she worked on a long series of noteworthy campaigns for clients including Campbell Soup, American Express, Chesebrough-Pond's, Oscar Mayer, Maidenform, Pepperidge Farm, Springs Industries, and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The bulk of her career at O&M was spent working in partnership with Kimberly-Clark, where she played a key role in building Huggies into a leading global brand and helped transform Kotex into a more modern brand for today's young women. She sat on Ogilvy New York's Operating Board and was a founding member of Ogilvy's Employee Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion.

Richie's pro-bono clients included the Museum for African Art, the Hospital for Special Surgery and the New York Human Rights Commission. In addition, she has mentored young women and girls as part of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the 4A's Multi-cultural Advertising Intern Program, Xavier University's Youth Motivation Task Force and the Advertising Educational Foundation. Richie is a recipient of the YMCA's Black Achiever's Award and Ebony Magazine's Outstanding Women in Marketing and Communications.

About Girl Scouts
Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls, with 3.6 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouting is the leading authority on girls' healthy development, and builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. The organization serves girls from every corner of the United States and its territories. Girl Scouts of the USA also serves American girls and their classmates attending American or international schools in 90 countries. For more information on how to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts, call (800) GSUSA 4 U (800-478-7248) or visit www.girlscouts.org.

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