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Our Leadership

Executive Team

Chief Executive Officer, Lynne Fugate

Lynne Fugate has been the CEO of the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians (GSCSA) since 2016. Prior to joining the Girl Scouts she enjoyed a career as a banker for over 25 years, most recently serving as the Knoxville Market Executive for Smart Bank. In 2000, Lynne took 5 years off from her banking career and served as the Executive Director of Nine Counties. One Vision. This five-year project was the largest citizen-driven long-range strategic planning effort in the southeastern United States. The planning effort included the Tennessee counties of Anderson, Blount, Grainger, Jefferson, Loudon, Knox, Roane, Sevier, and Union.

Current Boards: City Council of Knoxville, At Large Seat A

Previous Boards: Fourth District Representative for Knox County Board of Education (Chair & Vice-Chair); YWCA of Knoxville (President); Leadership Knoxville (Executive Committee); East Tennessee Regional Leadership Association; Tennessee School Board Association; Knoxville Museum of Art (Executive Committee); Knox Heritage: Trustee for the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine; YMCA of East Tennessee (Executive Committee); Knox Housing Partnership (President); Great Schools Partnership; Metropolitan Drug Commission; Southeast Community Capital Corporation; Economic Ventures, Inc.; AmSouth Community Development Corporation; University of Tennessee Chancellor’s Associates; CISV (President); West High School Foundation (President); Bearden Middle School PTA (President); Sequoyah Elementary School PTA (President); Kids Place at Sequoyah (President)

Member: Knoxville Rotary Club: Executive Women’s Association; Leadership Knoxville Class of 2000; East Tennessee Regional Leadership Class of 2004; Junior League of Knoxville, and Akima Club

Awards: 2001 YWCA Tribute to Women Honoree for Business and Government; Knoxville Chapter, Public Relations Society of America Community Service Award; John J. Duncan, Sr. Award for Commitment to Housing and Community Development; and The Bob Gonia Leadership Award for Outstanding Regional Leadership

Lynne received her B.S. in Business Administration with a major in finance from the University of Tennessee. She is married to Scott Fugate and has two adult sons, Henley and Patrick.

Chief Operating Officer, Courtney Drinnen

Courtney Drinnen joined the GSCSA family in July of 2019 as Vice President of Product Programs. She now oversees the Girl Experience- Product Programs, Membership, Programming, and Volunteer Development as the Chief Operating Officer.  Prior to joining Girl Scouts, she spent 15 years as the Director of Programming at National Fitness Center. She has a passion for nonprofits and youth services, having worked at the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley and volunteering on the Golf Tournament Steering Committee for YOKE Youth Ministries.

She is a member of Leadership East Tennessee and a proud graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Courtney and her family continue to be supporters of the Volunteers, attending as many UT sporting events as possible. They also enjoy hiking, camping, fishing, and traveling within the US and internationally. 

Chief Financial Officer, Ann Wallace

Ann Campbell Wallace became the chief financial officer for the Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians in November 2017. She oversees finance, troop banking, purchasing, and property management for the Council. 

Before joining GSCSA, Ann served for twelve years as the controller of Blue Ridge Realty, Inc., a property management, leasing and development company with multiple commercial properties.  

Prior to that, Ann worked with McWilliams and Company, PLLC for twelve years. She primarily worked with the audit department but also with the tax department.

Ann graduated from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a Bachelor of Science degree and returned several years later to obtain her Certified Public Accounting certificate.

Chief Administrative Officer, Melissa Berry

 

Melissa Berry is the Chief Administrative Officer for GSCSA. In this role, she oversees human resources, payroll, technology, data quality, office management, facilities, and property for the Council. She is also the Council’s risk manager.

Melissa joined GSCSA in 2010 as its first Director of Human Resources and was promoted to Vice President of Human Resources in 2016 and to Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Administration in 2020. Before coming to GSCSA, she served as Civil Service Deputy Director, Senior Human Resource Analyst, and Human Resource Analyst with the City of Knoxville from 1998-2010.

Melissa holds Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Arts degrees in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Tulsa. She is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with a business minor. Melissa maintains senior certifications (SPHR and SHRM-SCP) from the HR Certification Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management.

In her non-work time, Melissa is a certified Tennessee Naturalist and has completed the Spirit of the Smokies Certificate Program from the Smoky Mountain Field School. She volunteers at Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville and is an active member of the Knoxville Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. She loves travel, photography, birding, hiking, all things British, and spending time with her two nephews.

Vice President of Philanthropy, Elizabeth Kramer

Prior to joining Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians, Elizabeth had a career in banking for approximately 20 years. Her most recent position was with Smart Bank, where she managed all Knoxville branches and opened their flagship branch in 2013. She was responsible for daily operations, as well as business development. Elizabeth attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville—Business Administration.

Her role as Vice President of Philanthropy with GSCSA blends her business development skills with years of community service and fundraising experience within the Knoxville community. Most recently she helped to lead a major fundraising effort for the Chi Omega House at the University of Tennessee and served on the Advanced Commitments Committee for Church Street United Methodist Church’s Capital Campaign. She has been involved in fundraising for the Junior League of Knoxville, Bearden Middle School Foundation, the YWCA Board of Directors and the Knoxville Garden Club to name a few.

Elizabeth has three grown children. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, reading, travel, and spending time at the lake with her husband.

Vice President of Communications, Gretchen Crawley

Gretchen Crawley joined Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians (GSCSA) in the fall of 2018 as Vice President of Communications. She leads a multidisciplinary team that is responsible for the Council’s print and digital content marketing efforts; brand management and public relations; internal, external and crisis communications; and advocacy. Working collaboratively with nearly every department in the Council, she works to ensure there is brand consistency and that marketing efforts align with mission delivery, recruitment, product programs and philanthropy, all while simultaneously keeping the strategic vision in mind and thinking outside the box.

With nearly 20 years of marketing and public relations experience, Gretchen came to GSCSA after spending most of her career in the healthcare industry. While in healthcare, she oversaw marketing and public relations efforts for two multi-hospital health systems and gained experience in communicating about hospital mergers, divestitures and acquisitions. A graduate of the University of Tennessee and a life-long Big Orange fan, Gretchen started her career in the non-profit sector working for the Knoxville Arts Council, Arrowmont School and the UT Music Department. She is an avid supporter of non-profits that do good work in the areas of education, environmentalism, animal advocacy, music, arts and literacy. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her musical husband and two dogs, especially traveling, cooking, gardening, and reading. 

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