Executive Compensation at the Girl Scouts

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (Girl Scouts) is a tax-exempt, non-profit 501 (c) (3) based in New York, NY. With more than 1.7 million girl members and about 700,000 volunteers the Girl Scouts works to build “courage, confidence, and character” in young girls.

There are 29 independent voting members (board members) of the governing body (board). 26 of the 29 (90%) are female while 3 of the 29 (10%) are male.

In 2020, the Girl Scouts reported total revenue of $112 million (compare to $122 million in 2019) which came primarily from 3 sources:  membership dues ($50 million), investment income, royalties, and gains ($28 million), and the sale of inventory ($17 million).

It is important to note the Girl Scouts had $188 million in net assets at the beginning of the year (and closed the year with $179 million after making adjustments).  In April, 2020 the Girl Scouts received $7.3 million as a payroll protection loan, which was accounted for as deferred revenue but will be reclassified as grant revenue when the conditions for the loan have been met and the loan forgiven.  The question begs:  How does a non-profit with nearly $200 million in net assets get a $7 million loan from the government that will be forgiven? The organization could clearly absorb the costs of keeping their employees (as they were also able to pay for first class or charter travel and make gross up payments and provide tax indemnifications).

Expenses totaled $110 million (not including $12 million in depreciation) with the largest expense reported to be compensation at $59 million.  558 employees received $59 million in compensation, which equates to an average compensation of $106,000.  170 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation with the 19 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $732,132:  Sylvia Acevedo, Former CEO (departed 8/2020)
• $511,733:  Anthony Doye, Former COO (departed 3/2020)
• $449,944:  Lynette McKay, Chief Customer Officer
• $442,422:  Angela Olden, CFO
• $437,073:  Barry Horowitz, Chief Revenue Officer
• $431,819:  Jennifer Rochon, General Counsel
• $395,066:  Sapreet Kaur Saluja, Chief Strat Ptshp, New Vent Off
• $349,158:  Florence Godfrey, Former Chief Brand Mtkg and Comm Officer
• $336,667:  Annette Freytag, Former Chief of Staff
• $312,808:  Amy Berkowitz, Former CIO
• $290,459:  Bernice Johnson, Former VP, Procurement/Sustainability
• $288,392:  Daniel Schultze, Former Senior Director, Prod/Plat/Svcs
• $284,247:  Andrea Bastiani Archiba, Former Chief Fam Eng Off (departed 10/19)
• $279,922:  Maureen McNerney, Chief People Officer
• $253,326:  Sofina Qureshi, Former VP, GS Cookie Program
• $242,958:  Barry Joseph, Former Director, Digital User Experience
• $231,974:  Diane Reiger, VP, IT Business Operations
• $168,512:  Amy Bodin, Chief Admin Officer
• $161,427:  Sarah Angel-Johnson, Chief Enterprise Integ Officer

15 of the 19 (79%) most highly compensated are male while 4 of the 19 (21%) are female. As illustrated above, many of the most highly compensated employees are former employees.

Girl Scouts paid for first class or charter travel and made gross up payments and tax indemnifications.

The Form 990 reports that some executives do not live in New York, NY where the headquarters is.

To facilitate the commute from their respective home states and the need that each work from GSUSA’s New York based headquarters, the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, and Chief Customer Officer receive an annual travel and living allowance grossed up for applicable taxes. These allowances were paid in 2019 but were suspected in 2020 due to reduced travel and remote work arrangements as a result of Covid-19. The allowance and tax gross payments are reported a taxable income in Part II, Colum B (III).

The annual travel and living allowance was based on a reasonable average NC cost to lease an apartment plus commuting expenses to and from their primary residences.