Girl Scouts of Central Texas Celebrates Austin’s Best CEO Award
October 11, 2022
Girl Scouts of Central Texas (GSCTX) celebrates Paula Bookidis, Chief Executive Officer, for her recognition as Austin Business Journal’s Best CEO Award Market Leader winner for 2022. Since joining GSCTX in 2018, Paula has served a mission she cares strongly about–empowering girls–leading the organization with a goal of helping more girls develop their potential and make the world a better place. Last year, the organization served over 8,000 girls in the greater Austin area and over 12,000 girls across Central Texas, driving outcomes like increasing girls’ confidence, supporting healthy relationship development, increasing girls’ likelihood to try new things even when those things are hard, and increasing engagement in community problem-solving.
Paula’s career accomplishments range from consultant in the telecommunications industry to working her way up through the ranks to become the first female partner at Sense Corp, a 200-person management and technology consulting firm. Before taking on the CEO role at GSCTX, she was a Girl Scouts troop leader for four years. Through Paula’s vision, leadership, and compassion, GSCTX reached an all-time high member retention rate for 2021-2022 and increased employee engagement by 6 percent, even through the pandemic.
“What makes Paula unique is her combination of business sense and empathy. She is deeply committed to a people-first mentality,” said GSCTX Chief Marketing Officer, Kursten Mitchell. “Above all, she appreciates the human side of business and centers on delivering success by focusing on teams and people.”
As Paula moved from manager to executive leader to chief decision maker, she has continually appreciated the benefits of developing human capital, and in her role at GSCTX, this is one of the first organizational issues she tackled: evolving GSCTX human resources policy, increasing transparency, and focusing on culture as a means to deliver high-quality services that empower girls across the Austin community. She has cultivated a culture of respect, empathy, and staff development – a critical step in improving employee retention, and thereby the organization’s ability to continuously provide programs and services that support girls to achieve their highest potential.
