2009 Leading the Way Breakout Sessions

Presenter Bio
Phyllis Vokey Long, MFT - License #43695, Child Development Specialist. Phyllis Vokey Long has over 25 years of experience in early childhood serving in multiple roles from parent volunteer to teacher to administrator and adjunct professor of Child Development. Phyllis served as Program Coordinator for SDSU Faculty/Staff Children's Center for 10 of those years. As the mother of 4 children and the grandmother of four, Phyllis can identify with the growing pains, joys and challenges faced by parents as well as professionals. Phyllis has applied her years of experience with children and families toward her current career as a Marriage and Family Therapist with Helix Counseling Associates, and as Trainer and Consultant for Kids Included Together.

Presenter Bio
Lupe has been a member of the Girl Scout University Training Team for many years now, specializing in the Brownie Program and training new trainers! She's held various Service Team positions over the past 25 years and currently co-leads a Group of 45 girls with her daughter Nikki. Lupe joined Girl Scouts when her daughter was 6 years old as her Brownie Leader, and the rest is history! Lupe will happily share that the "love of her life" is her grand-daughter Lelia, who is currently 4 years old and took her first steps in the Council Office - of course!

Presenter Bio
When I was a leader in the 80s and 90s, I remember saying–"I should just WORK for Girl Scouts so I can do this all day, every day!" So here I am, in my ninth year as an employee, doing what I love everyday. I was a Girl Scout in high school and was in leadership of both my daughters' troops while working as a single mom. I know for a fact that Girl Scouting was our family's "glue" that not only empowered my girls, but made me a much better parent. My favorite parts of being an employee are the excitement of helping beginners just get started to learn something, the satisfaction of resolving conflicts, and developing new resources for volunteers.

Presenter Bio
At 14, Freddi Zeiler came up with the idea to produce a children's book that provides kids with a "how to" way to give their time, talents and money to their favorite charities. The opportunity was to help kids learn to give to charities and to be able to tap into a kid's natural instinct to help others.

Department of Fund Development, Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council
The goal of our council's Fund Development department is to substantially increase contributed income to fund a vibrant Girl Scout Council. Our development staff has over 50 years of collective experience raising funds.

Presenter Bio
Jodie G. Block, MS, RD, CDN is Founder of The Health Institute of Nutrition. Jodie was nationally recognized for her work in Woman's Health and Weight Loss Nutrition speaking at venues including NYC Health Clubs, Wall Street Corporations, Radio broadcasts and TV segments including CBS News and Fox5 Good Day New York, all while living in New York City prior to moving to San Diego a few years ago. Jodie's expertise also includes a Certificate of Training in Childhood and Adolescent Nutrition. She can be reached at JodieBlock@aol.com, to schedule a consult or public speaking. Jodie's practice expertise includes childhood, adolescent, adult, prenatal, and high risk maternity weight management and wellness.

Presenter Bio
As a world traveler, Laura has a variety of experience traveling and volunteering overseas. Since 2004, Laura has put her passion for travel into action through delivering youth cultural education programs and travel workshops for Hostelling International USA (HI-USA). The mission of Hostelling International is "to help all, especially the young, gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hostelling." As a national partner with the Girl Scouts, HI-USA provides meaningful travel opportunities and cultural education programs to help girls discover the world.

Presenter Bio
Linda Canada is a transplanted San Diegan with a love of local history. She holds an undergraduate degree in History from UCLA, and a law degree from Loyola in Los Angeles. After practicing law for 20 years, she discovered that her legal skills of researching, analyzing, writing. and speaking in public were all transferable to a new career as a local historian.

Linda shares facts and anecdotes about local Girl Scout history and teaches and encourages leaders to bring a sense of inquiry about San Diego's past to any activity in which girls participate. She is excited about girls exploring careers involving historical research and museum work, and has served as an adult advisor to girls earning the Gold Award in related fields.

Linda serves as the Council's archivist, and is both a past Nominating Committee member and a past member of the Board of Directors.

Presenter Bio
Divya Kakaiya, Ph.D., Clinical Director and Founder of Healthy Within treatment program in San Diego and President of Healthy Within Foundation, California, has been treating eating disorders since 1985. She is an approved supervisor for the IAEDP(International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals) certification requirements and has served on its conference committee. She serves on the honorary editorial board for the Eating Disorder Journal of Treatment and Prevention and is an ad-hoc reviewer for the journal Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.

In 2003, Dr. Kakaiya won the KGTV 10 News Leadership Award. Dr. Kakaiya was also the Symposium Co-Chair and Presenter for the "Healthy Girls, Healthy Lives" initiative of San Diego County Girl Scouts for 2005 through 2007. In 2009 Dr. Kakaiya was honored as one of Girl Scout's "Top 10 Cool Women of San Diego." The Poway Chapter of Soroptimist International honored Dr. Kakaiya with their annual "Making a Difference for Women" Award in May 2009.

In February and April 2006, she appeared nationally on the Tyra Banks Show as an expert on eating disorders. She is also a regular presenter for the Young Women's Leadership conference organized by the Jenna Druck Foundation and serves on the board of the Young Women's Leadership Program presented by The Center for Creative Leadership. She has been a plenary speaker at numerous conferences and is highly regarded in the field of prevention at a national level.

Presenter Bio
Betsy Morris is a writer living in Poway. She is the leader of Senior Troop 8269, co-leader of Ambassador Troop 8124, and registrar for Blue Sky Service Unit. Occasionally, she sleeps.

Presenter Bio
Now a lifetime member, Maxine People first joined Girl Scouts as a Brownie, was a troop leader for her daughter's troop and wore many hats on the then Murphy Canyon Service Unit team. It is no surprise that her daughter Lisa earned the Gold Award. Maxine's impressive leadership development included serving as a council delegate, National Operational Volunteer, Instructor of Trainers, and on the National Training Commission. In 1998, she became the Council President. After her three-year term, she returned to training, not only classes for leaders, but also new trainers.

Presenter Bio
The San Diego Police Foundation's work is the result of caring citizens like you. We help raise awareness of important unbudgeted or "discretionary" needs that will improve crime-prevention and law-enforcement efficiency. Then we put tax-deductible contributions to measurable work in local communities.