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Overseas Volunteer Partners

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Overseas Volunteer Partners (OVPs) support the unique needs of USAGSO volunteers and staff by tackling operational, training, and program development challenges, resulting in long-lasting transformations enhancing the Girl Scout experience.

Are you interested in being an OVP? Check out the OVP position description and FAQs to learn more about the role. Then, apply here!

Are you interested in requesting OVP consultation or service for your Girl Scout community? Explore each tab below to learn more about working with OVPs. Then, submit your request here! 

OVP Priority Focus Areas for 2022-2023

Based on feedback provided by USAGSO volunteers and staff, the OVP priority focus areas in 2022-2023 include:

• Volunteer Recruitment

• Girl Scout Leadership Experience (Program)

• Adult Learning (Training) and Facilitation

Beyond 2023, we will look to expand OVP offerings to include:

• Conflict Management and Team Building

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Racial Justice (DEIRJ)

• Finance (Accounting, Audits, etc.)

• Global Initiatives / WAGGGS

• Mental Health and Well Being

• Military/Embassy/Consulate/International Schools Expertise

• Money Earning / Fund Development

• Outdoors

• …And more!

Consultation or Service Request

OVPs can provide consultations or services to USAGSO Troops, Overseas Committees, and Staff. Not sure if you need a consultation or service? Use the info below to help guide your decision. 

Consultations are designed to help frame your project. For example, if you know that your Overseas Committee needs more volunteers but you’re not sure where to start, a consultation is what you want! Consults are conducted virtually and typically last 1-2 hours – they are a fact-finding mission of sorts. The OVP assigned to your consultant will ask you to describe your need, help identify goals or objectives, and begin to explore timelines and budgets. 

Services see OVPs partnering with USAGSO Troop Leaders, Overseas Committee Management Team (OCMT) members, or Staff to lead a specific project from start to finish. Perhaps your Overseas Committee wants to host a training weekend for all volunteers, and you need an OVP to design and deliver the training. Or maybe your Troop is organizing a community-wide camporee, and you’d like an OVP with experience organizing large events to serve on the planning team. While OVPs can help with some of the preliminary project planning, service requests should have a somewhat defined project plan, including goals and objectives, timeline, budget, etc.  

Process for Submitting a Request

Complete and submit this OVP Request Form within the recommended time frame below: 

  • Three months prior to proposed service date for in-person projects

  •  Four weeks prior to proposed service date for virtual projects

  • Two weeks prior to proposed consult date 

• USAGSO will respond to your request within one to two weeks of submission.

• Consultations typically take place between one or two OVPs and the Troop Leader(s), OCMT member(s), or staff submitting the request. 

• In-person projects are enriched by including multiple communities. Whenever possible, please invite committees within a reasonable distance of your location to partner.

• Target reach/impact for in-person projects is 20 or more volunteers and for virtual projects is 5 or more participants. 

• USAGSO will strive to honor all requests. Priority will be given based on the anticipated number of volunteers served, expressed need for service, and involvement of neighboring Overseas Committees. 

• Ultimately, selection is dependent on both OVP availability and a limited budget.

What Does USAGSO Cover?

• USAGSO will assign an OVP or, on occasion, a staff member to work in partnership with the requester. Assignment will be based on the size/scope of the project and OVP or staff availability and skill set/expertise.

• The assigned OVP or staff member will consult on all facets of project management via telephone, Zoom, and/or webinar, and for in-person projects will be on-site to deliver the service.

• USAGSO will pay for round-trip travel for the OVP assigned to your in-person project. 

• USAGSO will provide the platform (likely gsLearn/Zoom) for virtual projects. 

• When appropriate, USAGSO will promote the project via newsletter, website, social media, and/or email.

What Does the Requester Cover?

• The requesting Troop, Overseas Committee, or staff (requesters), in conjunction with assigned OVP, leads the planning associated with executing the project. 

• Requesters develop and manage all necessary registration processes, attendee communications, etc. for in-person projects. (USAGSO will assist with logistics for virtual projects.)

• Requesters provide any necessary print collateral and/or program resources for in-person projects.

• Requesters are responsible for OVP’s expenses* while “on the ground,” i.e. ground transportation, meals, and lodging (hotel or home stay) for in-person projects.

• Requesters secure the venue for in-person projects. Depending on your project’s specific needs, consider securing a venue that has a plenary space and two or more break-out rooms, reliable internet connection, LCD projector, screen, and speakers. 

* Need help covering expenses? Let us know by contacting overseascustomercare@girlscouts.org. We have a very limited budget to provide assistance and may be able to help.

Meet the OVP Advisory Team leading the development of this exciting new program for USAGSO!  

Laura Anderson
Laura Anderson

Having trained to be a facilitator at age 18, Laura was previously a member of the Global Facilitator team who specialized in new volunteer and outdoor trainings. Out of all her years as a Girl Scout, only seven have been at a stateside council; all the rest have been as a member of USAGSO, which means that she is keenly aware of the challenges that our communities face – as well as how rewarding it can be to be a Girl Scout Overseas! Elsewhere in USAGSO, she has been involved in the Gold Award committee, event organization for both adults and girls, as well as being camp staff and then Camp Director for both of our resident camps, Camp Lachenwald and Camp Tama.

Within GSUSA as a whole, Laura plays an active role in representing USAGSO to both our organization and to other WAGGGS members. Laura spent four years as a National Volunteer Partner for GSUSA, which meant that she worked with council staff and national staff on projects to further our movement, including events such as the National Council Session and G.I.R.L. 2020, before resigning that position to focus on establishing the OVPs. Laura has also represented all of GSUSA by attending the WAGGGS Juliette Lowe Seminar in 2015 and by being a facilitator at the US Hub of the expanded version of the Seminar in 2019. She is a recipient of the Thanks Badge, the Honor Pin, the Appreciation Pin, and the now retired USAGSO-NA Service Award.

Hadley Barth
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Hadley had the joy of being a Girl Scout for only two years growing up in Colorado, otherwise living where there were no troops in operation. She rediscovered the program in 2000 when asked to co-lead for her child’s Brownie troop. Between 2000 and 2009, Hadley was a leader or co-leader every year in either Detroit or New Hampshire, as well as a Girl Scout Camp Counselor with both the Metro Detroit and Swift Water Girl Scout Councils. Just like all good Girl Scouts, Hadley occasionally filled other roles as needed such as Cookie Mom.  

In 2009, Hadley and her family relocated to Germany, where she began leading troops for USAGSO in early 2010, which she continues to do to this day. Additionally, Hadley is in her 8th year as Overseas Committee Chair in Heidelberg and has served as a Delegate to the National Convention and a Gold Award Committee member.

Beyond Girl Scouts, Hadley’s paid work experiences are primarily as a middle-school English Teacher and Youth Librarian in the USA. She also volunteers in Germany with the board of directors for her building, Democrats Abroad, and various refugee support agencies.

Desiree Blickens
Desiree B

Desiree Blickens spent 13 years as a Girl Scout from Daisy to Senior in New York state. Girl Scouting was an integral part of her childhood, providing some of her favorite memories. From a survival weekend on the grounds of West Point Military Academy, to running the lost children’s booth at the county fair, to making lifelong friends, and selling countless boxes of cookies… She loved it ALL!

Desiree credits her Girl Scout experience with cultivating a sense of duty to service that led her to enlist and serve in the U.S. Navy for six years. Following her years of Naval service, Desiree earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Old Dominion University and became a Certified Public Accountant. She worked in accounting until she decided to stay at home with her 3 beautiful children. When her oldest daughter became a Daisy, Desiree, like her own mother before her, decided to become a troop leader. She is a Lifetime Member and has been a leader for six years now at the Daisy, Brownie, and Junior levels, volunteered as a Service unit manager in the US, and served as an OCMT member overseas.

Desiree’s passion is not only to provide a top-notch Girl Scout program for her troops but to help any and all leaders along the way. Desiree’s personal definition of feminism is “women helping other women be their best self.” She wants to help our volunteers at all levels provide a quality program without them feeling overwhelmed or getting burnt out. She truly believes in the Girl Scout Leadership Program and wants to see it flourish. Desiree believes that volunteers are the heart and soul of the Girl Scout organization and by helping them, every Girl Scout under them gains as well. Her goal to help other volunteers is her way of making this world a better place and being a sister to every Girl Scout.

Lisa Cupps
Lisa

Lisa Cupps grew up in sunny Southern California and following in her mother’s footsteps, participated in Girl Scouts for many years as a young girl. When her daughter was old enough to join, she continued the tradition her grandmother started and became a Daisy Troop Leader. Lisa has continued through Brownies and Juniors to create safe places for girls to practice their leadership skills and be go-getters, innovators, and risk-takers.

As Girl Scouting began to give-back as much to Lisa as it was to the girls she was leading, her passion for empowering young women grew along with the need to deepen her commitment to the Girl Scout community. For over two-years Lisa was the OCMT Chair for Shanghai responsible for over 50 troops city wide. While Chair she built-up her OCMT management team with a group of diverse passionate volunteers which then revitalized troops at several international schools with recruitment and training and also ensured a quality GIRL experience for the over 600 Shanghai Girl Scouts. 

Now living in Seoul, South Korea Lisa has started a new troop, reigniting Girl Scouts in the civilian community after a 20-year hiatus.

Previous to Girl Scouting, while living in Shanghai, Lisa took a leap of faith and pivoted from her MBA educated third-world economic consulting background and built a female-owned small business around her passion for using documentary photography as a tool for storytelling. Prior, she worked for over 15-years with various organizations building strategic business alliances and organizational marketing communications strategies that increase market presence and promote sustainable development in Eastern Europe, Central America, India, Southeast Asia, and China.

Ruth Miller
Ruth

Ruth began her Girl Scout life when her oldest daughter became a GS Daisy; she later took on the role of leader upon moving to Okinawa, Japan. She has been a Girl Scout Volunteer for 27 years. She spent many years working overseas where she was the Overseas Committee Chair (OCC) for more than three years in two locations; additional roles include Events Chair, Registrar, Secretary, Troop Consultant, Higher Awards Representative, OCC Referral Committee Chair, USA Girl Scouts Overseas-North Atlantic Facilitator, Global Facilitator, 2014 National Convention Delegate and in 2016 became a National Volunteer Partner (NVP). 

As a member of the USA Girl Scouts Overseas Global Facilitator team, Ruth assisted in the design of trainings and facilitated adult learning opportunities in Germany (various locations); Pisa, Italy; Paris, France; Rota, Spain; Singapore; Geneva, Switzerland; United Kingdom and most recently facilitated a number of virtual learning opportunities.  Ruth was also a member of the planning team for the USAGSO Virtual Annual Learning Conference.  

Ruth currently resides in the United States and is the OVP / NVP Liaison and a member of the OVP Advisory Board. 

Ruth has received the Thanks Badge, Honor Pin, Appreciation Pin and Volunteer of Excellence.  She is the proud mother of two Girl Scout Gold Award recipients and Girl Scout Volunteers.