When Marie stepped into the Outdoor Adventures Director role just a few months ago, she did not see it as a routine leadership transition. She saw it as a leverage point. In her view, outdoor programs are not just a program lane within Scouting. They are the engine that powers recruitment, retention, and relevance.
“This is a unique industry,” she explains. “Nobody does what we do in terms of outdoor programs. That gives us both a responsibility and a huge opportunity.”
Her appointment comes at a moment when youth organizations are reassessing how they deliver value to families, how they compete for attention, and how they rebuild participation after pandemic disruption. Marie’s strategy is grounded in one central idea: outdoor experience is not an add on to Scouting’s mission. It is the delivery system.
A Proven Launchpad for Movement Wide Impact
Marie points to a pattern that insiders already recognize. Some of the most influential leaders in the broader Scouting movement developed their leadership approach in this council’s outdoor system first.
“When you look at leaders who moved on to major national roles, many of them came through here,” she says. “That tells you something. This is a proving ground. It is a place where you can affect change across the movement, not just locally.”
She believes Outdoor Adventures should function as both a laboratory and a showcase. Programs should model what modern outdoor Scouting can look like, then export those lessons outward. That includes redefining how outdoor programs support membership growth, how they connect with non-Scouting families, and how they visibly deliver the core promise of Scouting: getting youth outdoors and learning by doing.
The Cub Scout Challenge and Opportunity
Ask Marie where the biggest opportunity sits right now and she answers without hesitation: Cub Scouts. Then she adds a second layer. It is also the biggest obstacle.
“The Cub Scout program is the single largest opportunity for growth, and at the same time our hardest rebuild,” she says.
She points to the pandemic as a cultural breaking point. Virtual meetings could not replicate outdoor, hands on experiences. Many families drifted away and, in some cases, raised children through those years without Cub Scouting at all. That broke the traditional parent to parent recruitment chain that once fueled steady enrollment.
“The value is still there,” she says. “But families need to see it again in real life. They need to experience it, not hear about it.”
That thinking is shaping event strategy. High energy, theme driven experiences like upcoming Cub focused adventure weekends are designed not just as program delivery, but as recruitment infrastructure. The goal is to rebuild peer visibility and word of mouth momentum through shared outdoor experiences.
A Scout Driven, Character Centered Model
Marie’s program philosophy is simple but demanding. Programs should be Scout driven, widely accessible, and anchored in character development.
She wants outdoor experiences that are not overly scripted by adults but structured enough to produce real growth. Youth leadership, skill building, and decision making should be visible outcomes, not side effects.
Her operating target is not just a good season or a strong year. It is durability.
“The goal is to build a system so strong that a hundred years from now it is still standing and still serving youth,” she says.
That long horizon influences near term decisions. Program design, volunteer development, and recruitment alignment are all being evaluated through a sustainability lens.
Volunteers as the Force Multiplier
Marie is direct about what makes or breaks execution: volunteers.
“Engaging volunteers is the first step to moving forward,” she says. “Nothing scales without them.”
Her early months have focused on listening, relationship building, and clarifying how volunteers fit into growth strategy, not just program delivery. She sees volunteer engagement as both cultural and operational. People need clear roles, visible impact, and a sense that their effort connects to movement level outcomes.
Adventure as Strategy, Not Decoration
The through line in Marie’s approach is that outdoor adventure is not a branding layer or a nice feature. It is strategicinfrastructure. It drives recruitment. It restores perceived value. It differentiates Scouting in a crowded youth activity market.
