Amy Dosik: A day in the life of a nonprofit leader/CEO
Amy Dosik: A day in the life of a nonprofit leader/CEO, bringing opportunities to girls every day
The first thing I did was check my Google news feed to see what Girl Scouts around the country have been up to over the past 24 hours.
My morning ritual includes coffee (lots of coffee), talking with my son about his day, and scanning the local and national newspapers and our social media channels to understand what’s on the minds of our girls and volunteers.
My biggest challenge was negotiating a partnership agreement with a national ride-sharing company to promote Girl Scout cookies during National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend.
I celebrated the fact that 94 girls earned the Gold Award – Girl Scouts’ highest honor – this year and that our members donated more than 500,000 hours of community service back into Greater Atlanta last year!
What I love most about my work is seeing the impact that Girl Scouting has on girls and knowing we’re providing experiences and skills that will last a lifetime!
My favorite part of the day was mentoring a young woman at another organization who is just starting her career in the nonprofit world.
Least favorite – my commute!
I wish I had more time to be outside! We’re so fortunate to have a great climate in Atlanta where we can be outdoors almost all year round.
Something that surprised me was seeing Girl Scouts selling cookies at the Oscars this year! Chris Rock gets the award for best cookie dad ever!
Did you have a plan for your day? Did it go as planned? John Lennon once said “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” That’s often true about my days…but they’re rarely boring.
I want to recognize Gil Benjamin, our Board Chair at Girl Scouts, for always helping me get to the heart of an issue and see what’s important.
For lunch I realized at 4 p.m. I had probably missed lunch.
A personal activity I do just for myself is sing in a choir that performs a few times a year.
For dinner I cooked tuna steaks on the grill with my family. Family dinner is an important time when we look forward to connecting and sharing how the day went.
My favorite technology that I used today is my iPad. It helps me keep projects moving when I’m out visiting with our partners and supporters.
I am inspired by Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, who had the vision to create an organization that is still relevant and exciting for Girls after 104 years!
Did you meditate? Did you exercise? Does running between meetings count?
One strategy I use to make my time more effective is continually evaluating whether how I spend my time aligns with my goals and the goals of our organization. I’ve learned to be better at saying no on occasion where there is not a good fit.
I am passionate about helping young people find their passion and their purpose in life and helping them develop a road map to be successful.
Something I wanted to get done but didn’t get to do was visiting our Girl Scouts at a cookie booth. I love being a “mystery shopper” and surprising the girls with a special treat.
Today I felt focused!
Tomorrow I am looking forward to checking out some zip lines and challenge courses to make our Girl Scout camps an exciting place for girls to spend their summer.
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As CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, Amy Dosik leads the largest youth-serving nonprofit in the State of Georgia, serving 42,000 girls and 17,000 adult volunteers. At Girl Scouts, Amy has developed partnerships with the business and philanthropic communities that focus on addressing the biggest challenges facing Atlanta, in particular workforce development and the lack of qualified STEM professionals that put Atlanta’s position as a regional economic leader at risk. From a partnership with Google that provided thousands of Atlanta girls with their first coding experience to Girl Scouts’ sponsorship of the first all-girl robotics team from Georgia to advance to the international robotics championship, Amy is making a difference in creating a strong pipeline of female leaders in Atlanta.