Executive Compensation at the Girl Scouts (2022)

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 2.5 million members (an estimated 1.8 million girl members and about 700,000 member volunteers) the Girl Scouts works to build “courage, confidence, and character” in young girls.

There are 28 independent voting members (board members) of the governing body (board), although 29 are listed on the Form 990 (2021 for the year ending September 30, 2022) – 25 of the 29 (86%) are female while 4 of the 29 (14%) are male.

In 2022, the Girl Scouts reported total revenue of $120 million out of which came from investment income, royalties, and gains on sales of assets ($21 million), memberships dues ($37 million), contributions, gifts, and grants ($29 million), and the sale of inventory ($21 million).

Expenses totaled $108 million (not including $10 million in depreciation) in 2022 with the largest expenses reported to be compensation ($48 million) and office-related expenses ($21 million). 447  employees received $48 million in compensation (compared to 478 employees who received $42 million in compensation in 2020) – or an average of $107,000 each.

132 employees received more than $100,000 with the 12 most highly compensated reported to be:

• $552,933:  Judith N Batty, Interim CEO and Ex Officio BD (thru 1/2022)
• $330,000:  Sylvia Acevedo, Former CEO and Ex-Officio BD (to 8/20)
• $398,298:  Angela Olden, Chief Financial Officer
• $389,062:  Jennifer Rochon, General Counsel (thru 6/2022)
• $378,275:  Barry Horowitz, former Chief Revenue Officer (thru 5/21)
• $339,796:  Sapreet Kaur Saluja, Former Chief Str/Ptrnshp/New Vent Officer (thru 11/2021)
• $318,094:  Maureen McNerney, Chief People Officer
• $293,249:  Wendy Lou, Chief Revenue Officer (as of 5/2021)
• $265,893:  Kenneth Distefano, Deputy Chief Financial Officer
• $260,611:  Amy Bodin, Former Chief Admin Officer (thru 6/2022)
• $246,198:  Philip Kagan, Executive, Former IT and Security Officer (thru 9/2022)
• $244,632:  Kelly Parisi, VP, Executive and Brand Communications (thru 6/2022)

Sylvia Acevedo, a former CEO who received $1.6 million in 2021 although she departed in August, 2020, received $330,000 in 2022.  Over the past 4 years, Sylvia Acevedo received more than $3 million in compensation:

• $. 330,000:  2022
• $1,576,925:  2021
• $  732,132:  2020
• $  598,527:  2019

As illustrated above, many of the most highly compensated employees are former employees who were employed by the organization in previous years or worked just part of the most recent year, which means there has been significant staff turnover.   9 of the 12 (75%) most highly compensated employees are female while 3 of the 12 (25%) are male (note: Gender is not disclosed on the Form 990; determinations were made based on name and google searches).

It is important to note the Girl Scouts had $188 million in net assets at the beginning of 2020.  In April, 2020 the Girl Scouts received $7.3 million as a payroll protection program (PPP) loan, which was accounted for as deferred revenue but was reclassified as grant revenue when the conditions for the loan were met and the loan forgiven by the Small Business Loan Administration in July, 2021.  In May, 2021, the Girl Scouts received a second PPP loan in the amount of $2 million which was treated as deferred revenue (and forgiven in 2022). By the end of 2021, net assets were $219 million – more than $30 million higher than before the pandemic.

The question begs:  Why  does a non-profit with more than $200 million in net assets get loans of $9 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 in 2020; note these expenses were discontinued in 2021). And, it is important to note the Girl Scouts had 80 less employees in 2021 than in 2020.

Even though the Girl Scouts spent $2 million less than the organization raised in 2022, net assets deteriorated from $219 million to $188 million at year-end because of unrealized losses on investments and pension related losses.

78 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the five (5) highest reported to be:

• $4.9 million:  Salesforce, of San Francisco, CA for technical services (staffing)
• $1.9 million:  The Goodkind Group, of NY, NY for staffing
• $1.6 million:  Adobe Systems, of Chicago, IL for IT development
• $1.5 million:  Vision Integration Technologies, of Detroit, MI for IT development
• $1.2 million:  SAP Public Services, of Newton Square PA for technical services

To read the IRS Form 990 (2021 for the year ending September 30, 2022), click here.