Randell Bynum
Girl Scouts of Nassau County
United States
Rande has been the Chief Executive Officer for the Girl Scouts of Nassau County (GSNC) since 2017. A third-generation Girl Scout, Rande brings decades of experience enhancing the efforts of nonprofit organizations. Early in her career, Bynum was the Program and Adult Development Director at GSNC. The Girl Scout Council serves about 12,000 girls and 5,000 adults. Rande led GSNC through the pandemic, ensuring that girls had Girl Scouts when they needed it the most. Under Rande’s leadership in 2022, Girl Scouts of Nassau County was one of 29 Girl Scout Councils to receive a large, unrestricted grant from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. The transformational funding has allowed GSNC to accelerate its mission and expand access through diversity and innovation, allowing all girls to participate in the Girl Scout experience. As an extension of that transformational funding, Rande is currently leading a project to create a program center in a nearby Title 1 school district. The space will expand access, build community and transform the Girl Scout program experience. Rande seeks support of the WLW fellowship and network to build capital and capacity around this project.
Before returning to GSNC seven years ago, Bynum was a content designer and editor with various organizations, media entities, and corporations. As an independent contractor, she elevated content to meet the target audience’s needs best, supporting professional development efforts and ensuring consistency and sustainability. Before that, Rande was the Publishing Director of Family and Community Engagement at Scholastic Inc. She was responsible for developing all resources supporting engagement for schools and community organizations and ensuring student achievement. Before her work at Scholastic, Rande was the Senior Director, Outreach and Partnerships at Sesame Workshop. Rande managed all engagement activities for Sesame Workshop’s Emmy Award-winning, The Electric Company. This work included community events, partnerships, and literacy materials development for children and educators.
Rande has 30-plus years of experience working with youth and families in various settings. She also worked at the Girl Scouts of the USA, where she was responsible for implementing The Dove Self-Esteem Fund corporate partnership and developing the Girl Scout/Dove self-esteem program. She co-authored Dove’s true you!, Sometimes I Feel Ugly and Other Truths About Growing Up workbook for mothers and daughters. Rande received a Master of Social Work with a program planning, administration, and research concentration from Stony Brook University and holds a B.A. from Binghamton University.
About
Me.
What is your story?
What drives your work?
My 30-plus-year career has been focused on helping young people, marginalized people, and communities reach their potential. I have done this through several pathways, beginning as a direct service social worker. I enjoy my work tremendously and am driven by the success of those I have helped. Most of my career has been doing programmatic and educational design work and creating community collaborations. It has not been direct service, but my current role allows me to do a little of both. I see young girls become fierce women determined to make a change. That is what keeps me coming back.
Describe your biggest strength as a leader
My biggest strength as a leader is my ability to focus on detail and have a big vision. My ability to be compassionate and strategic is also a plus.
Describe your biggest challenge as a leader
My biggest challenge as a leader is that I find it hard to ask for help and always think I can push through. Only recently has my capacity started to diminish. Externally, the optics of who I am is a challenge. As a Black woman who appears to be youthful, I am often disrespected and underestimated.
About the
Organization
and the Project.
Sector
Not-for-profit
Website
Vision & Mission
Mission:
Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.
Vision:
Girl Scouts of Nassau County ensures that all girls have a seat at the table by providing them with exceptional leadership experiences, connecting with their communities in a tangible and visible way, and by practicing sustainable operational excellence. We believe the future is theirs to have.
Year Founded
1918
No. of Employees
48
Years in the Organization
6.5 years
Annual Budget (USD)
$65.000.000
Geographical Area Served
Nassau County, New York
Organizational /
Project Description
In 2023, GSNC purchased a 5,550 square foot building in Roosevelt, NY, with the intention of renovating this facility to serve as new Girl Scout Program Center, where bold new programming will be created centered around innovation, diversity, equity, and access in an underserved area with one of the highest poverty rates in Nassau County.
Our goal is to establish a vibrant community space to host Girl Scout council programs, partner initiatives, troop meetings, and community-centric events to help foster revitalization in this under-served area, without losing sight of our mission to provide a safe, empowering environment for girls to participate in Girl Scouting without restrictions or barriers.
Why is this project important and timely?
What is the target population of your project?
We look to serve constituents in this Title 1 school district (Roosevelt, NY) and the surrounding communities, to provide a girl hub and holistic community service area, working collaboratively with partners to provide family-centric programs utilizing the “community schools” model to promote equity and inclusion.
Today GSNC serves just under 1000 Girl Scouts in Roosevelt and the surrounding communities. This project has the potential to increase that reach to over 5,000 Girl Scouts and their families.
How will you know that you have achieved that impact? What data will you use to assess your impact?
- Membership growth
- Increased community partners
- Increased diversity in membership
- Shift in community perception and awareness
How do you anticipate this unique leadership education impacting you personally? What new skills are you hoping too develop & grow through this experience?
I hope this experience gives me the courage to move forward, boosts my confidence, and helps me better advocate for my time and self-care. I specifically would like to improve my skills in fund development, board of director management, and strategic plan implementation. Raising funds has been a challenge and directly impacts my ability to execute the organizational vision.
Where would you like to see yourself professionally in the next 3 years?
In three years, I hope our program center is going strong and we have significantly impacted the community with increased funding and membership. I hope to have a strong board of directors and a strong “second” on my leadership team (COO). It will be my tenth year as CEO, and I hope to love this job more and have a better work/ life balance. In three years, I hope to consider my next career move, perhaps in the foundation space or back to content design and writing. I hope this fellowship will give me the strength to continue this job for the next three to five years. I know that having me in this position is vital to the organization, the community, and especially for BIPOC girls and families.