Ana Simpson, CEO, Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast

Now, turning to our program, please welcome Marilyn Krause, principal of Krause Communications, who will introduce our speaker.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My friend Anna Simpson is the CEO of Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast.

That's the preeminent organization that's dedicated to helping all girls develop confidence, determination, and the skills they need to thrive in today's world.

Ana brings 30 years of experience in multiple sectors.

They include retail, banking, insurance, and non-profits.

She's got a strong track record of executive leadership and community impact.

Before joining the Girl Scouts, she served in several leadership roles and most recently led community and economic development for WIDA, the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

Throughout her career, Ana has been a passionate advocate for equity, entrepreneurship, and leadership development, especially within marginalized and diverse communities.

She's held board positions with a number of organizations you would recognize, including Family Service of Waukesha, La Casa de Esperanza, La Familia de Arte, and she currently is the board chair of Tempo Milwaukee.

Governor Tony Evers appointed her to the Governor's Council on Financial Literacy and Capability, and she also is a director on the Zilber Family Foundation Board.

Ana is a former Girl Scout troop leader, and she's an active mentor to young professional women throughout our area.

And she's deeply committed to fostering the next generation of change makers.

She's been recognized with numerous honors, including Waukesha Women and Girls Fund, the Women of Distinction Award, the Business Journal's Women of Influence, Temple Milwaukee's Mentor Award, Madison 365's Wisconsin Most Influential Latino Leaders, and the Waukesha Business Alliance Emerging Leader Award.

Please join me in welcoming Ana Simpson.

I'm a little taller.

All right, can everybody hear me okay? On both sides of the room? All right.

All right, while I'm catching my bearings, I like to do this.

Show of hands, who was a Girl Scout? All right, if you want an alumni sticker, I might not have this many, but come see me after and I got you.

Some of us really like stickers.

All right, so thank you so much for letting me join today.

I'm excited to participate in this important meeting.

For those of you that I have not met, Marilyn just provided a really lovely bio that makes me sound fantastic.

But my name is Ana Simpson, and I am the proud CEO of Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast.

As we come together, I'm going to be sharing some key findings from the recently released Wisconsin Girl Report and Girl Scouts National State of the Girl 2026 Report and their relevance to girls in Milwaukee.

We'll also walk through some recommendations based on this striking data.

If you were here to learn a little bit more about what Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast is currently doing, I'm not going to be touching on that, but find me and we can gladly have that conversation because we are doing some pretty exciting things.

All right, so before we begin, I wanted to share one of our traditions with you, the Girl Scout promise.

Girl Scouts of all ages recite and live by the ideals listed in the Girl Scout promise and law.

Similar to the Rotarian four-point test, they remind us to do our best in being kind to others, respecting ourselves, making the world a better place, and so much more.

So if you'll join me, if you're able to stand, please stand.

and raise three fingers, allies as well.

On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country to help people at all times and to live by the Girl Scout law.

Now you're all honorary Girl Scouts.

Including you, Andrew, because I saw you in the audience.

All right, thank you.