OPEN AUDIT of the GSUSA MANAGEMENT TEAM and NATIONAL BOARD

PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

How does GSUSA respond to the following claims?

That the hiring practices at GSUSA repeatedly bind the organization to executive and technical management personnel who lack the requisite knowledge and experience.
That a self-serving management culture has had a devastating impact on nearly every aspect of the modern Girl Scouts movement in recent years.
That astoundingly inadequate planning and oversight at the management level continues to drain the movement of millions of dollars each year.
That rather than leveraging the experience and expertise of its technical staff, GSUSA IT management repeatedly abdicated its role in setting technical direction to naive GSUSA business managers lacking a basic understanding of Software Development Life Cycles (SDLC) or Application Lifecycle Management (ALM).
That lacking the capability to identify and correct the systemic issues plaguing the organization, GSUSA executive leadership has invested millions of dollars year over year engaging outside consulting firms while demonstrably failing to follow through and execute on their recommendations.
That despite years of low morale, high turnover, lack of staff development/involvement, and a catastrophic project failure rate, the organization's leadership is not held accountable and continues to make the same obvious mistakes.
That GSUSA's IT Department management repeatedly redirected the budget for staff training/development and for standard HW/SW tools to cover project cost overruns.
That GSUSA has continued to pay out executives who are no longer with the organization, and high-priced consulting firms, apparently choosing instead to control costs through staff layoffs.
That the movement has not, and cannot, live up to its tremendous potential until the political infighting, runaway spending, and radical acts of narcissistic mismanagement at GSUSA are acknowledged and dealt with.
That tens of thousands of hours of employee "personal time" (i.e., the uncompensated overtime hours put in by GSUSA staff) to offset management planning mistakes and staffing shortcomings went largely unrewarded, unacknowledged, and unreported.

These are just a few of the areas of concern that have been raised. So, how does GSUSA respond to these qualified claims that have been submitted with supporting documentation by ex-employees and partners? Well, currently they do not. However, we anticipate that will change quickly based on the GLP Open Audit process.

Unhealthy and in Denial?

Respectfully, GSUSA has been like a person with a chronic illness. Perhaps it is not their fault that they have become ill. Regardless, despite their attempts to "get better", they seem unable to shake their illness. Nothing they have done seems to help.

The corrective approach(es) prescribed may need to be looked at more closely. (This is the reason people seek second opinions.) For years, GSUSA management has sought, invested in, and presumably followed one treatment plan after another with no noticeable improvement. Are they following the plan? Is anything being missed?

It is time for a specialist with a comprehensive diagnostic approach to have a look.

GSUSA Open Audit

We believe that unless the corrosive elements that have plagued the organization and its mission are identified and fixed NOW, Girl Scouting may not pull through. It is apparent – from data that has been provided to the GLP thus far – that the GSUSA "patient" has exhibited behaviors that have repeatedly impeded any chance for a successful outcome. We do not believe that this has been intentional. But it is a fact.

The GLP is prepared to work with Girl Scouts Council representatives, members of the National Board, the GSUSA executive management team, and key GSUSA staff and consultants (including those who are no longer engaged with the organization) to diagnose the relevant problems and their root causes. But it all starts with transparency and cooperation from GSUSA. (With suitable contractual assurances of confidentiality to protect the Girl Scouting movement.)

But what if the patient is uncooperative, withholds key information, attempts to subvert the diagnostic process, or does not provide proof that it is adhering to the treatment plan? Any unanswered audit questions or gaps in the data requested for analysis will be directly addressed through the "GSUSA Open Audit" process. It works this way:

The GLP will repeat the questions and/or request the pertinent data in a wide open and publicly visible manner.

Our goal is to not require more than one such escalation. However, there are multiple channels available to the Open Audit process designed to ensure that the patient does not hijack the process, deviate from the treatment plan, or subvert the efforts leading to a healthier Girl Scouting movement.