Agenia Clark, president and CEO of Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee (GSMT), will share how she relied on positive role models to rise above hardships as the featured speaker at the Williamson Chamber’s Women in Business luncheon on Tuesday, April 28, at the Brentwood United Methodist Church, 309 Franklin Road. The luncheon is being presented by CareCore/MedSolutions.
For Clark, being the only person of color at her high school wasn’t easy. While growing up in a poor Mobile, Alabama neighborhood, Clark leaned on the motivation from Girl Scouts leaders and professional black women to power through difficult times. Luncheon guests will hear stories that credit Clark’s professional success to having a personal board of directors.
Clark and her staff serve more than 15,000 Girl Scouts across 39 counties with the assistance of 7,000 volunteers. As a change agent leading revitalization initiatives across all areas of GSMT, Clark has helped transform the agency into one of the highest performing and most sustainable among the 112 Girl Scout councils in the United States. Between 2004 and 2013, she oversaw the agency’s growth from $16 million in assets to more than $25 million, exceeding the requirement level set by the national organization by more than 85 percent.
In addition to concentrating her efforts on raising capital, she has redesigned the agency’s human resources policies and procedures, directed the revision of the by-laws and led a strategic analysis and evaluation to maximize usage of the agency’s asset base.
Prior to becoming Girl Scouts’ CEO, Clark served two terms as the chair of its board of directors. She is also a corporate director and founding board member for Avenue Bank, where she has been elected to serve a third term and continue her tenure on the audit committee.
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville graduate has been honored as one of the Nashville Area Chamber’s Forward 50 leading the Music City, Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence, an inductee into the Academy for Women of Achievement, an “E Award” recipient by the Tennessee Women’s Economic Council and a 2012, 2013 and 2014 Nashville Post Person-In-Charge and Women of Power.
The April Women in Business luncheon will get underway at 11 a.m. for registration and networking. The program will begin at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $22 for Chamber members and $30 for non-members. Register online at williamsonchamber.com or by calling 615-771-1912.
