Sylvia Acevedo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sylvia Acevedo
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1956/1957 (age 67–68) South Dakota, U.S.
|
| Alma mater | New Mexico State University (B.S.) Stanford University (M.S.) |
| Title | Former CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA |
| Predecessor | Anna Maria Chávez |
| Successor | Judith Batty (interim) |
Sylvia Acevedo (born 1956–1957) is an American engineer and businesswoman. She was the leader, or chief executive officer (CEO), of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 2016 to 2020.
Sylvia is a systems engineer. She started her career at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. There, she was part of the team working on the Voyager 2 spacecraft. She has also held important jobs at companies like Apple, Dell, and Autodesk. In 2018, Forbes magazine named her one of "America's Top 50 Women In Tech." As CEO of Girl Scouts, Sylvia helped create over 100 new badges. These badges focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and outdoor activities.
Early Life and Education
Sylvia Acevedo was born in South Dakota. Her father was in the military. Her family later moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico. She joined the Girl Scouts when she was 7 years old.
Being a Girl Scout helped her love for science grow. She collected newspaper articles about space. She also built model rockets from kits. This early interest shaped her future.
In 1979, Sylvia earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. She studied at New Mexico State University. She then received a special scholarship. This helped her go to graduate school at Stanford University. She was one of the first Hispanic students to earn a master's degree in systems engineering from Stanford.
In her book, "Path to the Stars," Sylvia shared a secret. She said that looking at the stars on her first Girl Scout trip made her interested in science.
Career Highlights
Sylvia Acevedo started working at IBM in 1980. This was while she was still studying at Stanford University. She worked on important projects at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These included the Solar Polar Solar Probe and the Voyager 2 teams.
In 1988, she joined Apple. There, she managed business in the Asia-Pacific region. She also held leadership roles at other companies.
Sylvia founded her own company called CommuniCard in Austin, Texas. In 2009, she joined the national board of directors for the Girl Scouts of the USA. In 2011, President Barack Obama chose her to be on a special commission. This group worked on improving education for Hispanic students.
From 2009 to 2016, Sylvia was a national board member for the Girl Scouts. In July 2016, she became the temporary CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA. She was then made the permanent CEO in May 2017.
Under her leadership, the Girl Scouts made big changes. They introduced over 100 new badges. These badges focused on important skills like robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.
Sylvia said that the Girl Scouts helped her become a leader. Her main goal as CEO was to make more people aware of the Girl Scout mission. She also wanted to help more girls join.
In 2018, Forbes magazine recognized her again. She was listed as one of "America's Top 50 Women In Tech." Fast Company also named her one of its “100 Most Creative People in Business.” In 2019, she received the Hispanic Heritage Award for Leadership.
Sylvia stepped down as CEO of the Girl Scouts on August 10, 2020. She later joined the board of directors for Qualcomm in November 2020. She also joined the board of Credo in 2022. In 2023, she joined the board of Quark.ai, a company that works with AI.
Publications
Sylvia Acevedo has written important books and papers:
- 2018: Path To the Stars, My journey from Girl Scouts to Rocket Scientist. This is a memoir for middle schoolers.
- 2016: Critical Growth Needs for English Learner Preschoolers.
- 2016: Realizing the Economic Advantages of a Multilingual Workforce.
