Hoosier Girl Coalition Hires Inaugural Executive Director
22 Feb 2023
The Hoosier Girl Coalition has announced the appointment of Mackenzie Pickerrell to serve as its inaugural executive director. In this role, Pickerrell will lead the Hoosier Girl Coalition to reach and serve girls across Indiana in bold new ways.
As announced last fall, in an unprecedented collaboration, six independent Girl Scout councils that serve the state of Indiana have come together to form the Hoosier Girl Coalition to meet the emerging needs of Indiana girls. The vision of the Coalition is to enable every Hoosier girl to live her best life physically, academically, socially, and emotionally. Pickerrell and her team at the Coalition will collaborate with all six councils to invite key stakeholders in communities from across the state to rally around what girls say they need.
“Girl Scouts understands today’s girls and what is required for her to be her best self,” said Aimée Sproles, CEO of Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, which serves girls in Dearborn and Ohio counties in Indiana. “But we know that not all girls in our communities have had equal access to the leadership development that Girl Scouts provides. This work will help us ensure that every girl, in every community in Indiana has the opportunity to thrive with Girl Scouts.”
In its first year, the Coalition will partner directly with girls, their families, and the community to understand the unique challenges that girls face today, including releasing a State of the Hoosier Girl report in May 2023. This report will serve as a rally cry for the adults in Indiana to ensure our girls are well equipped for a lifetime of success.
“As youth continue to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, research shows that our state is approaching a mental health crisis,” Pickerrell said. “This research can often overshadow the important differences between how girls and boys experience mental or emotional distress, often to the detriment of girls who experience undiagnosed depression, anxiety, or other serious conditions.”
