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08 December 2023
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Statement from the State Commissioner -
Emily Milton Smith |
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A General Meeting was held not too long ago. It has brought huge emotional and economic costs. Another General Meeting will occur next Saturday 16 December. The entire situation fills me with great sadness. For our Members and for our movement as we strive to empower girls and young women to discover their potential as leaders of their world.
Proposed resolutions seek to overturn a legitimately constituted Board. A Board that is 90% Member based and 60% elected by the Member. A Board that reflects our diverse Australian community and brings together intergenerational leadership with strong and wide Guiding experience across local, region, state, national and global levels.
This is a Board dedicated to seeing a future for our organisation and I have been honoured to be at the helm for some years as immediate past Board Chair, and as the head of the organisation as State Commissioner.
My Guiding Story
At the handover when I officially became State Commissioner, my mother, Leah Milton was with me. She was a Brownie and made it possible for me to become one. With her encouragement and support, I stayed in Girl Guides.
My story in Girl Guiding is extensive. Filled with direct on the ground experience working with girls as a Leader delivering a vibrant program and supporting countless women in their leadership and learning journeys, while also strategically positioning our organisation in key arenas and connecting with diverse stakeholders and ensuring lively events and opportunities for our Members. My heart sings with pride to see the generation of changemakers I have helped inspire and I am so proud of the contributions I have made in various region, state, national and international roles.
I joined the Board of Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT as an Elected Director in May 2018 serving a three-year term before becoming the State Commissioner and Board Chair. In my first term as a Director, I served on the Risk Committee, Centenary Executive Committee, and the Strategic Planning Committee, and project sponsored the development of our social impact research – an Australian Guiding first.
In December 2020 I was unanimously appointed by the Board as the incoming State Commissioner bringing an ambition to see our movement thrive for the future. It has been an honour. My formidable team of Deputy State Commissioners has been truly intergenerational, bridging four generations with deep Guiding experience. Thank you, Kerrey Williams, Shaylah McClymont and previously Michelle Kothe and Lisa Walters.
As State Commissioner and alongside the Deputy State Commissioners, we have led this organisation through and out of the pandemic and natural disaster as we navigated a new normal in a radically shifted context.
Reflections
My mother died last year. Kerrey’s mother died shortly after. Our hearts carry this grief. At the very beginning of my term, my team and I had every intention to serve the 5 years. But we changed our minds. I cannot describe the demands of this role and the sacrifices the Deputies and I have made to serve. The impact on our families and our friends is immeasurable. In this role you see the best of people, and the worst.
I had hoped to have our first child during my term as State Commissioner. Last year, my significant other asked me to not extend. He feels our lives have been on hold while I undertook this role. And in many ways, he is right. With this weight, I decided not to extend my term as State Commissioner. I made this clear to our Board early in the year and at no point have I sought an extension from our Board. My term will end in late May 2024. This decision is not in response to the current situation at hand. There are always challenges with any leadership role, but I did not anticipate the disappointing behaviour my team and I would be subject to and what would occur.
We have accomplished so much. There is a journey still to go as we keep momentum to evolve and create a future that celebrates women for their contributions and measures them by the value they add. A future that lifts women up. A future that enables meaningful participation and leadership to empower women today, in all their diversity, to be part of our purpose and impact.
I am grateful to the Board members I have served with and to the current Board for their vision and commitment to doing what is right. It has been a privilege to serve alongside you with your courage and strength.
Early in the new year the Board will call for nominations for the next State Commissioner and Members are encouraged to apply for this role. The search is on. As a constitutionalist, I deeply believe in our democratic processes and the public governance values they espouse of accountability, integrity, and legitimacy. This must be protected.
Let us look wide and look wider still as we walk together toward a future, forward and kept firm by our Guiding flame. On our honour. |
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Yours in Guiding,
Emily Milton Smith
State Commissioner
Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT |
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Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians
Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians and Owners of the lands on which our office, Guide Halls and properties are located and where we deliver and promote Guiding. We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present. Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT celebrates the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ and their unique and ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to the land, waters and seas of NSW, ACT & NT.
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