Sylvia Acevedo

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Sylvia Acevedo
Born1956/1957 (age 66–67)[1][2]
South Dakota, U.S.[3]
Alma materNew Mexico State University (B.S.)
Stanford University (M.S.)
TitleFormer head (CEO) of the Girl Scouts
PredecessorAnna Maria Chávez
SuccessorJudith Batty (temporary)
Websitesylviaacevedo.org

Sylvia Acevedo is an American engineer and businesswoman. She was head of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 2016 to 2020.

She began her career as a systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she was on the Voyager 2 team.[4][5] She held leadership positions at a number of technology companies, such as Apple, Dell, IBM and Autodesk.[6][7]

Early life and education[change | change source]

Acevedo was born in South Dakota but her family later moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she grew up. She joined the Girl Scouts when she was 7 years old.[8][9]

In 1979, she received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from New Mexico State University.[10] In 1983, she was one of the first Hispanic students to earn a Master of Science graduate degree in systems engineering from Stanford University.[11]

Career[change | change source]

Acevedo worked as a rocket scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where one of her jobs was to analyze data from Voyager 2.[10] Acevedo then moved to IBM, where she worked as a systems engineer.[7]

In 2011, American President Barack Obama appointed Acevedo to the Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.[12] She served in the position until January 2016.

Acevedo became a board member for the Girl Scouts in 2008. In 2016 she was elected interim (temporary) chief executive officer (CEO) of the group. The next year she was named permanent CEO.

Acevedo stepped down from her role in the Girl Scouts in 2020.[13]

Significant publications[change | change source]

2018: Clarion Books, Path To the Stars, My Journey from Girl Scouts to Rocket Scientist, an aspirational middle school memoir [14][15]

2016: Harcourt Mifflin Houghton, Critical Growth Needs for English Learner Preschoolers[16]

2016: UCLA White paper: Realizing the Economic Advantages of a Multilingual Workforce, (alongside Dr. Patricia Gandara)[17]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Weber, Lauren (October 30, 2019). "Meet the Rocket Scientist Propelling Girl Scouts Into Digital Age". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  2. ↑ Wolfe, Alexandra (October 5, 2018). "An Engineer's Bid to Modernize the Girl Scouts". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  3. ↑ "Girl Scout CEO Sylvia Acevedo". Federal Communications Commission. October 2, 2019.
  4. ↑ "How I became a rocket scientist and Girl Scouts CEO: Sylvia Acevedo". USA TODAY College. 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  5. ↑ Kavilanz, Parija (2017-05-19). "Meet Sylvia Acevedo, the rocket scientist in charge of the Girl Scouts". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  6. ↑ Gillies, Trent (2017-04-08). "Girl Scouts acting CEO explains why the charity is more than the sum of its cookies". CNBC. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Feloni, Myelle Lansat, Richard. "A rocket scientist-turned-CEO proved her boss wrong early in her career by booking a ticket to Latin America — and got herself a promotion". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Mejia, Zameena (2017-08-03). "How Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo plans to promote STEM education". CNBC. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  9. ↑ Wolfe, Alexandra (2018-10-05). "An Engineer's Bid to Modernize the Girl Scouts". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Acevedo, Sylvia (2018). Path to the Stars. Clarion Books. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-358-20693-4.
  11. ↑ "Girl Scouts offer new badges for science, technology, engineering and math". NBC News. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  12. ↑ "President Obama Announces Members of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics | U.S. Department of Education". www.ed.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  13. ↑ First black woman named interim CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA https://www.wtoc.com/2020/08/11/first-black-woman-named-interim-ceo-girl-scouts-usa/ retrieved 8/12/20
  14. ↑ 'Path To the Stars, My journey from Girl Scouts to Rocket Scientist' https://moonbridgebooks.com/2018/09/09/sylvia-acevedos-inspirational-path-to-the-stars-memoir/ Retrieved 8/10/20
  15. ↑ Path to the Stars By Sylvia Acevedo Published by Clarion Books 2018 isbn 978-0-358-20693-4
  16. ↑ 'Critical Growth Needs for English Learner Preschoolers' https://www.hmhco.com/~/media/sites/home/classroom/classroom-solutions/family-engagement/160525/fameng_criticalgrowth_whtppr_lr.pdf?la=en Retrieved 8/10/20
  17. ↑ 'Realizing the Economic Advantages of a Multilingual Workforce' Dr. Patricia Gandara, Sylvia Acevedo https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b57b5174cde7a6b7993cf09/t/5b6cb0c5352f53305eee9f2c/1533849797931/gandar-acevedo-economic-advantages-bilingual-2016.pdf Retrieved 8/10/20
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