Girl Scouts Leading Women Awards Breakfast

(Boston, MA) - Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts CEO Patricia A. Parcellin and Board President Elizabeth Stevenson are pleased to announce the honorees for the 24th annual Leading Women Awards breakfast. This special event will take place on Thursday, March 24, 7-9:30 AM, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.

Among four remarkable role models, Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts will honor Stephanie Browne, Senior Director, Information Technology-Healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

In addition to Browne, the prestigious list of honorees includes Dr. Divina Grossman, Professor and Former Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; Hannah Grove, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, State Street Corporation; and Linda K. Zecher, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Each honoree will be introduced by a local Girl Scout, remarkable in her own right. In the weeks leading up to the event, each girl will have had the opportunity to meet with the honoree she will introduce. The extraordinary bonds that form each year during this process are a testament to the power of adult role models in the lives of girls, a central tenet of Girl Scouting.

“It is an annual tradition at Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts to celebrate individuals like Stephanie Browne who are making a positive impact in their professional lives and in their communities, especially when they are directing those efforts to support the advancement of girls and women,” explains Parcellin. “The event is also one of the best ways we can demonstrate the importance of investing in girls who will become the women leaders of tomorrow.”

Browne is an information technology Senior Director whose technical expertise and vision leads the corporate IT Solutions Strategy and Planning teams for Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA. She is responsible for staff on and off shore. Using “best practices” from leading technical firms such as Gartner and Forrester, Browne helps lead the corporation in developing robust and agile technology solutions to achieve successful business results.

Outside of work, Browne has used her leadership skills for volunteerism and entrepreneurship. She is a former director of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts Board, the Development Committee of Beth Israel Deaconess Milton Hospital and chair of the Board of the Boston Institute for Arts Therapy. Browne is a member of the Boston Club, Links, Inc. Boston Chapter and Circle-Lets, Inc. Boston Chapter and she is its National Vice President.

In 1998 Browne’s interest in wine led her to found Divas Uncorked, a Boston-based wine education group whose mission is to demystify wine for women and people of color. Browne has guided the group in taking its private education public—organizing sold-out vintner dinners, corporate wine tastings, created the national wine conference for women called “Wine, Women, and…”, a chardonnay wine label from Mendocino Wine Company that sold nationally, and the “The Divas Uncorked Wine and Food Festival” on Martha’s Vineyard. Browne and three other Divas were the first persons of color to appear as the keynote speakers of the International Nederberg Auction in South Africa.

Browne and her husband, Basil, owned an upscale wine shop called Bon Vivant Wine Company, Inc. from 2008-2011. Bon Vivant’s mission was to make the buying experience easy, approachable and fun.

Browne lives with her husband in the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard.

This year’s Leading Women Awards Ceremony will also showcase a milestone for our Movement – the centennial of the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Attendees will hear about the extraordinary effort that our young women dedicate to earning the Gold Award. We will also highlight our growing community partnership initiative, FaB Factor, through the words of an inspiring young woman who participates.

Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts embraces diversity and inclusion and is committed to ensuring all girls in eastern Massachusetts, regardless of their circumstances, have access to the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Support for the Leading Women Awards Breakfast allows us to maintain this powerful programming.

Girl Scouts has honored more than 200 women and four men with the Leading Women Award since its inception in 1992. The prestigious list of honorees includes individuals with outstanding careers who have made a significant, positive impact in an impressive array of fields. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

About Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts

We’re Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts ― 50,000 strong, with 35,000 girls and 15,000 volunteers in 178 communities in eastern Massachusetts. We’re here to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. For more information, please click here.