Influential Women Leaders Share Their Favorite Camp Memories

Happy National CampRocks Day! What does camp mean to some of the most influential women in Northern California? We asked our Top 100 Women "Greening" the Future 2012 awardees about their favorite Girl Scout memory. Not surprising, camp was top on their list of memorable and impactful Girl Scout experiences! Learn more about the power of camp at CampRocks.org!

Eva Patterson

Eva Patterson – president, Equal Justice Society – “As a young girl, I felt unworthy … Going to Girl Scout camp gave me the feeling for the first time that I was a good person who was liked and loved. This changed my life.”

Heather Young, partner, Fergus Garber Young Architects – “My first Girl Scout camping trip. Who can forget singing by the campfire as we toasted marshmallows for s’mores and the smell of smoke that lingers on your clothes.”

Melissa L. Bradley, managing director, New Capitalist – “As a Brownie growing up in an urban environment, my first camping trip and campfire exposed me to a whole new world.”

Julie Castro Abrams

Julie Castro Abrams, board director, Women’s Funding Network – “Being sunburned and exhausted from a day outside at camp activities and laying on my bunk bed talking with the girls in my cabin about our dreams before falling into a deep, refreshing sleep where it was forever imprinted on my brain that girls can do anything.”

Mitchell Baker, chair, Mozilla Foundation – “My first adventure traveling alone and seeing what developed was in 4th grade when I signed up for a Girl Scout summer camp based on the brochures and not where my friends were going.”

Peggy Furth, managing partner, SonomaCeuticals – “Going camping as a 10-year-old Girl Scout and attempting to cook beef stew in a coffee can over an open fire. We were more successful with the s’mores for dessert.”

Jan Yanehiro

Jan Yanehiro, broadcast journalist and media consultant, Yanehiro Inc. – “Learning to start a fire on a camping trip as a Brownie! Sticks, twigs, sparks from the rocks … and a lot of puffing!”

Barbara Banke, proprietor, Jackson Family Wines and co-founder, SonomaCeuticals – “Camping and hiking with all my friends.”

Regina Jackson, president and CEO, East Oakland Youth Development Center – “I remember an overnight outdoor adventure … It rained and everyone was trying to get out of the rain. We shared a very tight space and everyone had so much more fun working as one unit.”

Vanessa Robledo

Vanessa Robledo, owner and CEO, Black Coyote Wines – “At Camp CEO last summer. I was a mentor and it was amazing to watch the girls begin to come together as a team in just a few days. Some changed from negative to positive thinking. Others were motivated by future possibilities.”

Liz Ellis, president, Green Valley Consulting Engineers – “Without a doubt, the camping trips we would take to all the different places we have available to us in California.”    

Annette Russ, founder, Just One Person – “My most memorable Girl Scout memory was frying an egg on a hot rock at Girl Scout camp and eating it for breakfast.”  

Radha Basu

Radha Basu, co-founder and advisor, Anudip Foundation – “The adventure of getting lost in the woods and reluctantly being ‘found.’”

Judge Joyce Hinrichs, Superior Court of California, County of Humboldt – “I loved day camp every summer. My camp name was ‘Snoopy.’”   

Debra Pryor – former fire chief, Berkeley Fire Department - “Attending Girl Scout Camp during summer vacation. The songs we sang, the arts and crafts projects and learning how to saddle and ride a horse.”

Colleen McCreary

Colleen McCreary, chief people officer, Reputation.com – “Summer Girl Scout Camp in Massachusetts, mid ‘80s. I made two lifelong friends that I keep in touch with despite the distance.”

Cathy Corison, winemaker/proprietor, Corison Winery – “Learning how to tie a square knot in Brownies.”

Lynda Pearson – co-founder/CCO, Amazon Advertising – “Summer camp: rewriting lyrics to camp songs and winning a prize for creating a sculpture out of mud.”

Marcy Smothers

Marcy Smothers, host/producer, At the Table Radio – “As a Cadette, learning to make a pineapple upside down cake in a camp fire.”

Pamela F. Service, author/curator – “After years of attending camp, becoming a camp nature counselor and showing girls constellations at night and snakes during the day.”

Kirsten Tobey, founder, Revolution Foods – “My most memorable experience was my first camping trip. We went to Angel Island and it was so much fun.”

Ginger Wadsworth, author, First Girl Scout: The Life of Juliette Low – “A five week-long bicycling and camping trip with my troop from San Diego to Canada back in my teens.”