Jeanne Singer![]()
Jeanne Singer’s mother always wanted her to experience what she had never been able to: the service and the inspiration that comes from joining a Girl Scout troop as a young girl. Born in New York to parents who survived both the Great Depression and WWII, Singer always knew that joining her local troop was a privilege. To this day, the organization holds countless memories that she will never forget. From making “sit-upons” with newspaper and oilcloth and learning to cook on a camp stove to eating on tin ware and selling Girl Scout cookies door-to-door with her best friend, Singer recalls scouting warmly. “There is nothing like a warm s’more or a cup of hot cocoa after a day-long bottle collection,” Singer said. As she grew older, the Girl Scout Laws became the foundation for many of the decisions Singer made both academically and personally. Today, she works as an attorney, and she has made the prosecution of crimes against women and children her professional priority. She has devoted her life to helping her community. Since her time as a scout, Singer has become one of the founding members of the group that began the Guardian ad Litem Program in Alachua County, which works to ensure that no child will have to attend court alone. She remained a member of the foundation board until 2012. She has also been a member of the Junior League of Gainesville for more than 30 years and a member of the Rotary Club of Gainesville for more than 20 years. “My volunteer work has centered on meeting the needs of our children,” she said. SIDE BOX: Q: What was it like being a Girl Scout in the 1950s and 1960s? A: As a young girl during that period, I was taught that my role was to stand behind my male partner or family member. As I grew to adulthood in the late 1960s, the role of women changed dramatically and so did scouting. At the age of six, Dawn Burgess-Krop was held accountable for taking care of her family while her mother was ill and her father had to travel a great deal for his job. Being the oldest sibling came with a weight of responsibility that made her into the woman she is today. One experience she recalls fondly from childhood was volunteering in a pilot program for Head Start; it shaped her future by helping her to understand the desperation of poverty. As a child and family therapist at Community Behavioral Services, Burgess-Krop has worked with children who are adopted out of foster care, children who are abused and children who are experiencing loss or divorce. A key part of her life has been volunteering, especially for the Girl Scouts. After she was a troop leader for more than 10 years with her daughter’s troop, she also led a hearing-impaired group for four years to give hearing-impaired girls the opportunity to have the Girl Scout experience.
Dawn Burgess-Krop![]()
Burgess-Krop has also volunteered as a Guardian ad Litem and served on the Adoption Placement Panel through the Department for Children and Families. She was “Volunteer of the Year” at Congregation B’nai Isreal while serving on the preschool board and the board of directors. Currently, she is president of the Jewish Council of North Central Florida, serves on the advisory board for the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters program, is a member of the League of Women Voters and is a member and precinct committee co-chairperson of the Alachua County Democrat Executive Committee. Throughout the years, she has come to understand the importance of being involved with children of all ages and circumstances. “The wisdom and purity of children never fails to inspire me,” she said. “They have a sense of fairness and sensitivity to the feelings of others that is easy to lose touch with in our adult lives.” SIDEBOX: Q: What was your favorite part about being a Girl Scout leader? A: I have observed that you become a Girl Scout leader to make a difference in shaping girl’s lives, but it is you who also becomes transformed. I had the opportunity to experience many things I missed in my childhood: camping, exploring the outdoors and appreciating sisterhood.
Rose Fagler![]()
Rose Fagler appreciates two components of the Girl Scout organization: cookies and community. “My favorites are Thin Mints and Trefoils,” she said. Although she was not a Scout herself, Fagler, the mother of two girls appreciates the organization for its dedication to leaving a legacy and teaching girls to be part of a supportive community. Fagler is the manager of community relations in Florida for Plum Creek, one of the largest landowners in the nation. She is currently involved in a legacy project within the company, so the idea of “leaving a legacy” is engraved in her thoughts. She sees herself as a product of the people who have left legacies in her life, both positive and negative. Her brother, 1984 Olympic swimmer Patrick Kennedy, immediately comes to mind as a legacy for igniting her passion for running. Fagler never reached his level of athletic achievement, but the bonds she created with her running teammates were invaluable. Just as important as that experience is a negative one: the day her high school guidance counselor advised her to skip college and get married instead because she was simply a “silly girl.” That interaction was the catalyst for her professional success because Fagler, who had been taught by her father to think critically, immediately set out to prove her counselor wrong. She went to college and there she became a leader, overseeing various dorms among other activities. The tragic death of two students, one of whom was a resident in a dorm that Fagler managed, had a profound effect on her idea of the importance of community. Since then, Fagler remains deeply religious. She believes that it is the support of a community — similar to that of the Girl Scouts — that has shaped her character to this day. “We’ve been created to be in community; we’re not meant to live lives alone,” she said. “And we’re meant to live lives of legacy: being the product of someone’s legacy and being the legacy makers for someone else.” SIDE BOX: Q: What is the most important piece of advice you have for Girl Scouts today? A: When you’ve learned lessons along the way, share them with others who are going through what you just went through. That’s life: make the most of it, share it and pass it on.
Jacquelyn Paris![]()
A life-long dream of being an entrepreneur became a reality in 1982, when Jacquelyn Paris first purchased a McDonald’s franchise in Atlanta, Georgia. She has a passion for helping others and is deeply connected to her community. She and her husband, Curtis eventually owned four restaurants before they decided to move to Gainesville to be closer to home in July 2000. Paris, her husband and son Calvin partnered together and has become the owner operators for McDonald’s in Gainesville. The family has a firm commitment in giving back to the community and over the past 13 years; McDonald’s of Gainesville has given annually to over 40 community-based organizations and programs. Their current special company initiatives are with the Reichert House, the Gator Showcase and the Ronald McDonald House of Gainesville. Her choice in McDonald’s stemmed from the idea that she would get more opportunities, especially as a female, to advance in her career. Paris grew up in Jacksonville, FL, where she learned to contribute to her community and become part of a bigger picture at a young age. Becoming a Girl Scout was something she said she recalls as a great experience. “I enjoyed the activities and was so proud of being a part of a group that encouraged you to be all you could be,” Paris said. “Whether I was completing an individual or group task, or simply preparing to sell cookies, it helped shape the values of my McDonald’s organization today.” She explained how being part of a team, setting goals and helping others succeed, are all deeply engrained in the leadership teams of McDonald’s of Gainesville. She said she supports her community by making an investment to be involved, not just financially, but also by giving her time and talent to provide an example for women who aspire to accomplish big dreams. “Understand the importance of an education,” she said. “Remember, you get what you put into something. Stay focused on your goals and surround yourself with people who have similar aspirations.” SIDE BOX: Q: What does being a woman who is also a leader mean to you? A: As a woman who is a leader, we have an opportunity to set an example and be a role model for the multitude of young girls and women who will follow in our footsteps. In addition to our business skills and acumen, it is important that we demonstrate other skills such as visioning, empowerment, and collaboration that are critical to business. These and other skills that come naturally to many women leaders can have a profound impact on our businesses and communities across the country.
Phoebe Miles![]()
Following a vision begun years ago by her father and founder of Gatorade, Robert Cade, Phoebe Miles envisions a place where Gainesville’s advanced, scientific achievements can be put on display for admirers across the globe. “Much like an inventor thinks of something, creates a prototype, which becomes an invention, and then is scaled to change the world — that’s what we want for the museum,” said Miles, founder of The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention. As a Gainesville native, Miles jokes that she was practically born next to the Innovation Hub, which is where the Alachua General Hospital once stood. Her involvement with the community has enabled her to witness the city’s innovation, and she believes that programs like the local Girl Scouts allow children to develop the values and skills necessary to shape a successful future. “Girl Scouts is one of the few remaining things in life that are about the whole person,” she said. “I think everybody, girls and boys, need to be involved in something that gives them a holistic view.” Through her work in the community and the museum, she creates programs to help inspire creativity in future inventors and early entrepreneurs. One of the newest programs will involve the Girl Scouts doing a lab activity at the museum on April 19. Programs such as the Living Inventors Series feature students from Eastside High School who help to form “living exhibits” for the future museum. Miles is also vice president of the Gloria Dei Foundation, which is a small family foundation that gives grants to small, innovative nonprofit organizations that are doing work for the common good according to Christian principles. “People that have the right outlook on life and outlook on themselves are the ones that succeed,” she said. SIDE BOX: Q: What would you tell young ladies is the key to having a successful future? A: Keep your options open when you’re young; be interested in and explore many things and always remember: it’s not a race. This is the time to lay the foundations that give you a solid base. Concentrate on that at a young age, and it will give you options in the future.