This event is open to all Girl Scout Staff, whether or not they are members of Girl Scout Staff Association. Only $10 for non members.

FREE for members. Members must sign in when registering to receive the fee reduction. Questions? Contact us.

Celebrate Black History month with us! You may have heard about three exceptional women who worked at NASA during the ‘60s from watching the movie, Hidden Figures. You can learn more and be wonderfully entertained by professional storyteller Jay Johnson who will perform Hidden Figure Mary Jackson Was My Girl Scout Leader! 

Jay is a lifetime Girl Scout. Her Girl Scout experience has included serving as a council executive director in Ohio and as a national staff member with GSUSA supporting the first African American national president, Gloria Scott. 

About Jay Johnson

Janice (Jay) Johnson is a lifetime Girl Scout and professional storyteller. This Girl Scout alum grew up in Hampton, Virginia. She had the good fortune to be in a Girl Scout troop led by Mary Jackson, the famous NASA engineer spotlighted in the film Hidden Figures.

Jay was the first African American Girl Scout in Virginia to serve on a Senior Planning Board and also was among the first in the nation to attend All-State Encampment in Wyoming in 1956 during a time of racial segregation. 

Mary Jackson, who was like a second mom to Janice, nudged Jay to take on leadership roles and to participate in the national outdoor event where Jay backpacked  in the wilderness. 

Jay received a BS in history and then came back to Virginia to get her Masters in counseling at Hampton Institute, now known as Hampton University. She became CEO of a Girl Scout council in Ohio after serving as a membership consultant for GSUSA and being an assistant to the first African American national president for GSUSA—Dr. Gloria Scott.

Jay finished her career with the city of Hampton as program director of a youth department. After retiring from the city, she became more involved in the Virginia Organizing and served two terms as the president of that statewide advocacy group. She has also served twice as interim CEO for local YWCAs and has served on the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast Board of Directors. She continues to be active and is a member of the council’s Advocacy Committee