Joanne has taken the old Boy Scout concept of “leave the earth better than we found it” and applied it to all aspects of her life. Whatever Joanne’s involvement in a specific program, leadership position, board, or executive committee; her talent has been to make sure that it’s run better, more productive, more insightful, and more conscientious after she has left. There are good leaders but few such as Joanne, who have left such a trail of inspired instruction.

Joanne has been an adult Scout Leader in the Boy Scouts of American since 1979 and served on the Council Executive Board after serving as a Council Vice-President of Membership for 12 years. Currently, she services as the Cub Scout Committee Chairman for her Church Pack. In 2010 she was the Wood badge Course Director for the record breaking Northeast Illinois Council course. She represents the local Council at the National Boy Scout Meeting. She is a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow. Joanne is on the Camp Inspection team which monitors Boy Scout camps in the Central Region and a member of the LDS Relations Committee. Joanne has held several Scouting positions including: Den Leader (1980 – 1982, 1982 – 1985), Cub Scout Trainer (1982 – 1992, 2001 – present), Director of Cub Scout Day Camp for Northeast Illinois Council (1986), Chairman Cub Scout PowWow (1985), National Cub Scout Committee (1983-1987), National Cub Scout Sports Programs (1983-1985); Unit Commissioner (2000 – 2007); Council Executive Board (2005 – present), Committee Chairman (2017 – present). Both of her sons are Eagle Scouts. Joanne Osmond has been, and still remains a driving force behind the success of the local Boy Scouts of America program. Her vision is to take the scouting opportunity scouts in underserved areas of the Council including communities that are primarily black and Hispanic. The programs established here gained attention from National BSA professions and continues to grow in numbers and quality.

As a Cubmaster she planed the Cub Scout meetings and coordinated the leaders in ensuring that all boys advance. She organized events including Pinewood Derbies not only for her Pack but for other local Packs. She toke the boys to Day Camp for a week each summer and planed other hikes and field trips. Her primary objective was to instill values and ethical decision making in all boys with a focus on character development, citizenship training,  and mental and physical fitness.

What sets her apart from over 4,100 other registered adult volunteers in the Council is her leadership by example and her ability to serve as an outstanding role model to other women, youth, and adult volunteers throughout our diverse Scouting demographics in Lake and Cook Counties in Chicago. In the summer of 2011 she went backpacking in Northern Michigan for a week with a group of Venturers (boys and girls over age 14) teaching leadership skills. Whether it’s working with the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, career education for high school-aged youth, or our non-traditional scout reach programs for special needs youth or at-risk areas, Joanne has a way of touching everyone’s lives and giving them a vision of how Scouting can build character and ethical decision-making skills.

She is instrumental in assisting volunteers and staff in creating very unique programs to reach new markets, such as in-school programs for underprivileged youth and starting new units in Hispanic communities. Joanne commissioned a study by Boise State University to determine the viability of the program. The study not only confirmed that the program was meeting the objectives but was making a difference in the communities.

In 2006 Joanne wrote two training manuals for LDS Scout Leaders – “LDS Position Specific Cub Scout Training” and “LDS Position Specific EYOS Training”. In 2010 with the Council Training Chairman, Felicia Brandt, Joanne created online Cub Scout Training for LDS Scout Leaders. In 2011 the manuals were updated and a new web site was developed to provide the information to all LDS Scout leaders. Daily

In 2005 Joanne Osmond was asked to serve as the NEIC Vice President for Cub Scouting. The Council Board reorganized in 2009 and the position was eliminated, she was then asked to serve as the Vice President for Membership. Joanne has continued to serve Scouting in the Northeast Illinois Council as Course Director for Wood Badge Course C-03-10. Michael Fries commented “I have had the honor to serve with Joanne on many Wood Badge Courses and she represents the highest qualities for Scouting. Joanne is the recipient of the Boy Scout’s coveted Silver Beaver Award.” In 2012, Joanne served as the Council representative to the BSA National meeting, served on the Executive Search Committee to select a new Council Executive, and served as the Council VP of Membership until 2017 when she stepped down after twelve years of board service.

 

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