Laura Bassett, of Oakton, was appointed chief financial officer of Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital. She will be responsible for financial planning and budgeting, record-keeping, contracts, as well as financial reporting for the 15.6 million nonprofit organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C. In addition, she will oversee operations of the organization’s iconic cookie sale, technology, retail operations, and eight camps and six offices.
Bassett has a long career leading financial departments in the publishing industry, previously working for Sunset Publishing Corp., Gannett and a host of independent newspapers. She received her MBA in Finance from Santa Clara University and bachelor in Finance from the University of Massachusetts. Along with her strong expertise in finance, she is dedicated to the mission of the Girl Scout organization, volunteering as a troop leader and in the cookie program.
Bassett grew-up as a Girl Scout, rising to the highest level of achievement, known at the time as First Class (today called the Gold Award). She is also the proud parent of a Gold Award Girl Scout. She began her employment at Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital managing the Girl Scout Cookie Program, where she successfully took the operations, painstakingly done by hand by thousands of volunteers to computer record keeping. Previously she was the director of Information Services.
She was instrumental in leading the largest expansion of technology for the Girl Scout movement to date, Volunteer Systems, which expanded the use of technology by volunteers to deliver Girl Scout programing.
“Laura is uniquely qualified to lead finance and operations for Girl Scouts,” said Lidia Soto-Harmon, CEO Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital. “She is committed to strengthening the organization while using resources wisely, to bring our leadership program to more girls. She is a perfect fit for the CFO position.”
Bassett resides in Oakton with her husband. She is active in her community, previously serving on the Superintendent’s Community Advisory Council for Fairfax County public schools.