Girl Scouts remains a priority for Doak
Original article published in Edwardsville Intelligencer on 3/11/23
As the father of two grown daughters who were Girl Scouts, Kevin Doak knows the value of scouting.
Doak, a vice president and wealth adviser at Busey Bank in Edwardsville, is in his second stint as a member of the board of directors for Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois.
Doak’s older daughter, Samantha, is 24 and a graduate of Edwardsville High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and earned a master’s from the University of Illinois Springfield. She lives in Edwardsville and works for Cushman & Wakefield, which is a real estate services firm.
His younger daughter, Libby, is 22 and is also an EHS graduate. She is a senior at North Central College in Naperville. She has been accepted into the occupational therapy program at Maryville University in St. Louis.
Both women were longtime Girl Scouts, which is how Doak became involved with the organization.
“In 2012 I was invited to join the board of Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois and served a three-year term until 2015,” said Doak, who is in his 18th year with Busey Bank, formerly the Bank of Edwardsville. “It made sense because my girls were heavily involved in it. After my term expired, I stayed involved with Girls Scouts in other capacities. In 2021, I was invited to rejoin the board and I’m on the finance and audit committee.
“For years I worked at Boatman’s Bank and its successors in St. Louis, and I wanted to get back to my local community. I had an opportunity to join the Bank of Edwardsville in 2005 and because of that, I’ve been able to do a lot more over here.”
Girl Scouts is just one of many organizations to which Doak contributes. He is or has previously served on the board of directors for Goshen Rotary Club, Benjamin Stephenson House, Main Street Community Center, United Way and the Edwardsville YMCA.
“Busey has been very supportive, and they want their employees to get out in the community and volunteer and get involved,” Doak said. “I have a financial background and boards like people who have financial backgrounds to provide oversight and I’ve been the treasurer for several boards.”
Doak believes that being a Girl Scout taught his daughters valuable life lessons that they still use today.
“It’s always been important for me to encourage my girls to be brave and speak up and that’s what Girl Scouts is all about,” Doak said. “They started out when they were young and scouting helps them with courage, confidence and character, which are the three Cs of scouting.
“As girls get into their teens, that’s when they worry about self-image and the Girl Scouts support positive self-image and having the courage to speak out. Some girls go into scouting, and they’re shy and reserved, but after a year or two they’re very vocal and it’s a wonderful transformation.”
Doak noted that the COVID-19 pandemic presented a challenge for scouting organizations across the nation, and Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois was no exception.
“A big part of scouting is getting together for troop meetings and that had to move toward Zoom meetings,” Doak said. “That might have chased a lot of girls off because scouting is very personal and active, going to camps and things like that. That took a bite out of it and the numbers for the Girl Scouts are still recovering from that.”
During Doak’s first stint as a board member, Girl Scouts was going through a time of uncertainty when many councils were merging, and the organization was looking for ways to improve its financial stability.
“Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois had several camp properties that we sold because it didn’t make sense to keep them,” Doak said. “Nowadays there are so many camp properties available that if the girls want to take a trip or go camping, they can easily find someplace to go. We decided it was better to let someone else deal with the maintenance and insurance.”
The one property that Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois did keep was Camp Torqua, which is located just outside Edwardsville.
“Camp Torqua has been around forever and we’re concentrating on improving that property,” Doak said. “I think it will be a premier camp in this area.
“I think we’re in a much better place financially now. We’re at a point that we can manage the one camp that we have and still give girls a true camping experience.”
The Girl Scouts are still perhaps best known for Girl Scout Cookies, and their importance hasn’t lessened over the years.
“Cookie sales are winding down this month, but you can see Girl Scouts out in front of Sam’s Club and various other retail establishments,” Doak said. “It’s still our largest fundraiser but it’s not so much about selling cookies as it is about building confidence in these young women and teaching them about finance. The Girl Scouts also have a program where you can buy cookies and donate them to military families."
As times have changed, the programming for Girl Scouts has changed as well to reflect new technologies and ideas.
“STEM activities are really big in Girl Scouts now with science and technology,” Doak said. “For example, through community collaboration, GSofSI provides a program that allows girls to participate in robotics competitions. That’s something that wasn’t around 50 years ago.
“There are many leaders today that grew up in scouting, include our own astronaut Dr. Sandra Magnus who grew up in Belleville. Media greats Katie Couric and Barbara Walters and Robin Roberts as well as star athletes such as Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and public service figures such as Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice were all Girl Scouts. A lot of them picked up the foundation for their skills through scouting when they were younger.”
Doak said the diversity of its board members is another plus for Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois.”
“We have some active troop leaders and people from different backgrounds,” Doak said. “I have a financial background, but we also have people with backgrounds in HR (human resources), fundraising and academia. We all bring our own specialties and talents to the table.
“Loretta Graham is our CEO. She’s the most dynamic and outgoing person you’ll ever want to meet and she’s a tremendous advocate for the Girl Scouts.”
Diversifying revenue sources, meanwhile, is a future priority for Doak and other board members.
“Selling cookies is great, but you don’t want to depend too much on once source,” Doak said. “That was a challenge 10 years ago and it will remain a challenge. The community is very generous as far as fundraising events and we’ll continue to rely on that, but some major corporate donors have stepped up and that’s always appreciated.”
Written By Scott Marion
Scott Marion is a feature reporter for the Intelligencer. A longtime sportswriter, he has worked for the Intelligencer since December 2013. He is a graduate of Brentwood High School and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
March 15, 2023
