Girl Scout Council
of the Nation's Capital
4301 Connecticut Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20008
gscnc.org
800.523.7898
TEL 202.237.1670
FAX 202.274.2161
TDD 202.274.2160
Maryland Offices
Waldorf 301.638.5373
Frederick 301.662.5106
Virginia Offices
Leesburg 703.777.5644
Lorton 571.642.0253
Manassas 703.365.9600
West Virginia Office
Martinsburg 304.263.8833
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Lidia Soto-Harmon, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital (GSCNC) has a proven track record of success in the corporate, non-profit and government sectors. On August 25, 2010, she was appointed CEO for the Girl Scout Council, after serving six years as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer (COO). GSCNC is the area’s preeminent leadership organization for girls, serving over 90,000 members, 64,800 girls ages 5-17. The council serves the Greater Washington Region, which includes the District of Columbia and 25 counties in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Girl Scouts celebrated the 100th anniversary in the Nation’s Capital with the largest gathering of Girl Scouts in history. 250,000 attended the June 9th Girl Scouts Rock the Mall event on the grounds of the Washington Monument. Lidia and her team were responsible for orchestrating this one of a kind celebration for the nation. Ms. Soto-Harmon is directly responsible for developing strategies to achieve the organization's vision and mission, directing a $15 million operating budget with 112 employees located in six offices, and a volunteer structure that includes over 25,000 dedicated adult volunteers. As CEO, Ms. Soto-Harmon’s priority is to continue the winning membership strategy to reach all girls in the region; create a culture of philanthropy to support the cultivation of donors from the corporate and private sectors; and as spokesperson, establish positive and effective relationships inside and outside the organization.
In her former role as COO, Ms. Soto-Harmon was directly responsible for membership services, adult volunteer development, public relations and girl programs. To her credit, Ms. Soto-Harmon created many innovative programs to reach girls from underserved communities. She developed an annual conference, Encuentro de Chicas Latinas de las Girl Scouts, which reaches young Latinas with the message of leadership and academic success. She convened girls from the District of Columbia and Prince George’s County to Howard University to attend an annual conference, Your Turn to Lead, to encourage leadership skills and academic success. And— Ms. Soto-Harmon also developed the DC Step Showcase at Trinity Washington University to celebrate the rich history of African-American stepping. Today, the annual event is enjoyed by all Girl Scout troops in the region.
Prior to joining the council, Ms. Soto-Harmon served as Senior Vice President for Community Development for First Book, a national children’s literacy organization dedicated to getting new books into the hands of children from low-income families. She also served as the Deputy Director of the President’s Interagency Council on Women, chaired by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, at the U.S. Department of State, where she represented the United States at various United Nations’ conferences including the annual Commission on the Status of Women. She was instrumental in the federal response to “Beijing Plus Five”, the five-year follow-up to the United Nation’s Fourth World Conference on Women. Lidia traveled to Peru, Thailand and Switzerland as a State Department official to attend United Nations preparatory meetings. Ms. Soto-Harmon was also the Senior Director of the Fannie Mae Foundation’s Targeted Outreach Department, designing the first corporate nationwide multilingual strategy to reach new immigrants to promote homeownership in the United States in the late 1990s.
She was a 2000 Fellow for the National Hispana Leadership Institute and participated with her NHLI Class in the Executive Seminar at Harvard’s Kennedy School. She completed Leadership Greater Washington in 2007, and was a 2008 member of the Executive Networks Class for the Greater Washington Board of Trade. She was named one of Nation’s Top 90 Women, Mentoring Leaders by Women of Wealth Magazine, 2011 Special Edition. She was also named Notimujer of the Week, by CNN en Español for her work to reach young Latinas. For her work with the 100th Anniversary she named a Woman Who Means Business by the Washington Business Journal in November 2012. She was named the Regional Mujer Awardee (Woman of the Year) in December, 2012 by the National Hispana Leadership Institute for her work to impact the lives of young Latinas and be a role model in the community. Ms. Soto-Harmon serves as a Board Member for the Tahirih Justice Center and is a Trustee of Migration Policy Institute. She also serves on the board of directors for the Meyer Foundation and the Nonprofit Roundtable.
Ms. Soto-Harmon grew up in Latin America and the United States. She earned her Masters in Public Administration from George Mason University and B.A. from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. She is married and has two bilingual teenagers.
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.
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