Colleen WalkerCEO
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas
Former President, Education is Freedom

Girl Scouts of the USA is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and skills for success in the real world. In partnership with committed adult volunteers, girls develop qualities that will serve them all their lives, like leadership, strong values, social conscience, and conviction about their own potential and self-worth. There are currently over 3.7 million members throughout the United States.

As a former Miss Colorado, Colleen Walker used scholarships earned through participation in the Miss America scholarship pageant to help fund her engineering education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. During her reign as Miss Colorado, she championed several educational platforms including the importance of math and science, how to achieve, and drug free and proud. Her involvement with education continued after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering from CU. As a Project Engineer for Energy Service Associates, she helped design and implement Boulder Valley School District’s building energy management program, which included an energy curriculum and district-wide teacher conference to facilitate project education.

In 1996, Walker founded a grass-roots nonprofit organization, Engineers of Dreams, to address regional efforts in math and science literacy in Texas, Colorado and Louisiana. She developed and implemented an hour-long multi-media educational program, “Technology Today,” on the importance of math and science to encourage students to pursue a technical education. The program was presented to more than 60,000 students. Walker designed and launched the Engineers of Dreams website, which served as a student follow-up vehicle and educational link for the 175 schools she visited.

In 2000, Walker graduated from Harvard University with a Master’s degree in Business Administration. While there, she was awarded the Horace W. Goldsmith Fellowship for outstanding contributions to a nonprofit organization for services to Engineers of Dreams.

Walker has held positions with the Neiman Marcus Group, first as a National Marketing Manager, and subsequently as a Buyer for the Neiman Marcus Clearance Division. Through her leadership, the buying office grew into the largest, non-cosmetic volume buying office at Neiman Marcus, selling in excess of 1.5 million units for a total of $78 million for the fiscal year 2004 on a sales plan of $66 million.

Walker then served as the President of Education is Freedom (EIF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students graduate high school and enter college. Under her leadership, EIF sent nearly 800 disadvantaged students to college and worked with more than 1,000 high school students to help them achieve the dream of a higher education.

In 2005, Leadership America, a national organization that educates and connects accomplished and diverse women with the goal of increasing their impact globally, recognized Walker’s contributions to the community with a formal nomination for membership. She completed her year of service in 2006.

In July, 2007, Walker assumed her current position as Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, a newly merged council encompassing 32 counties in North East Texas, serving 42,000 girls and 15,000 adults. With the task of leading one of the largest councils in the country into one of high-capacity, Walker is committed to the mission of Girl Scouting: building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. She is passionate in her efforts to provide the best Girl Scout Leadership Development program, empowering girls to discover their personal best, connect with others in an increasingly diverse world, and take action to prepare for their futures.