FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2010
Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana Names CEO
LOUISVILLE, KY (January 6, 2010) – A retired journalist and longtime Girl Scout volunteer was named today as interim CEO of the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana council, effective Jan. 6.
Howard E. (Ed) Staats will step in to manage the extensive council succeeding Terry Blackwell, who resigned effective the end of December, said Cynthia Weller, council president.
Weller pointed to many accomplishments of the departing CEO, including greater community visibility and partnerships, expanded marketing ventures, increased diversity in girl membership, and increased and diversified funding sources. Ms. Blackwell was nominated for the 2009 Non-profit Leader of the Year. In 2008, Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana was awarded Outstanding Non-profit by Greater Louisville, Inc., and the Sloan Award for Workplace Excellence.
The council, Weller said, covers 54 counties in Kentucky and 10 in southern Indiana and serves over 23,000 girls and young women with the help of more than 6,000 volunteers. The council employs a total of about 80 persons at the new Girl Scout headquarters on Lexington Road and at out-based service centers in Elizabethtown, Bowling Green, Owensboro and Paducah. The council also has a satellite office in Hopkinsville and recently opened a new satellite office in Seymour IN.
At its January meeting, the board of directors is expected to appoint a committee to search for a fulltime CEO.
“We are honored to have someone of Ed’s experience and expertise to lead the operations of the council during the search for a CEO,” said Weller.
Staats, 70, retired in 2002 after a 41-year career with The Associated Press. He served as a reporter, editor and administrator in 10 AP offices, including New York and Washington, D.C. He wrapped up his news agency career as chief of bureau for Kentucky.
He was elected to the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2002, has maintained connections to the news industry, and has done part-time newsroom consulting.
His Girl Scout volunteer work has spanned the last 12 years and he served nine years on the board of directors. He stepped down two years ago as an officer and member of the executive committee.
“It is an honor to be able to work directly with this professional group of staffers, along with the many dedicated volunteers, taking a leadership role in building girls and young women of courage, confidence and character,” Staats said. “We intend to do this while following the precepts of the Girl Scout Promise and Law.”
Staats is a native of Parkersburg, WV and earned a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife, Charlene, reside in Oldham County.













