On March 7, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP) held their annual Take the Lead event, honoring four female leaders and raising money to send girls to camp. 

The 2023 honorees were Renee Chenault Fattah, Executive Director of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity; Gina Clark, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications & Administration Officer for AmerisourceBergen Corporation; Nydia Han, Anchor and Consumer Investigative Reporter at 6abc; and Deborah Hassan, Retired Partner at Deloitte & Touche, LLP and Board Chair of the GSEP.

Each honoree was paired with a Girl Scout. These girls shadowed them and presented them with their award at the event.

During her speech, Kim Fraites-Dow, CEO of GSEP, thanked the crowd for their support of the Girl Scouts and mentioned some famous scouts, such as Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court. 

“Our girls show us time and time again that every one of them, regardless of her location, or economics, or social circumstances, has the potential to grow up to be whoever she wants to be,” said Fraites-Dow.

“They’re also gathering the courage, confidence, and character they need to become good citizens, good friends to one another. Good students, good family members, as well as CEOs, teachers, athletes, engineers, scientists, lawyers, nurses, first responders, and service leaders like our honorees tonight,” she added. 

At the event, each of the honorees gave brief speeches and words of advice for the Girl Scouts in attendance. 

Renee Chenault Fattah

Prior to becoming Executive Director of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, Renee Chenault Fattah worked as a broadcast journalist at NBC10 for nearly 25 years.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Arts in Journalism from the University of Missouri. She also graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. 

Chenault Fattah was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 2009. 

During her speech, she talked about how after people she knew congratulated her on the award, they spoke about the impact that Girl Scouts had on them. 

“All of the memories you have, the experiences that you’ve had, they’re making you leaders and they will stay with you, they will guide you throughout the years,” she said.

Gina Clark

Gina Clark is the Executive Vice President and Chief Communications & Administration Officer at AmerisourceBergen.

Clark has previously worked in many positions at AmerisourceBergen including as the Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Marketing. She also worked at Premier, Inc. as the Senior Vice President of Alliance Relations. 

She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Georgia Southwestern University. 

Clark said during her speech, “What I believe in is the power of women coming together. I did start my career 35 years ago in the South, where it wasn’t the easiest path in the world. I even had a man I worked with who said, ‘I bet you wish you were a man so you could move up the corporate ladder.’ And I said ‘Yeah I don’t think so. I think I’ll get there just my own way.’”

Addressing the scouts in attendance she said, “You’re on your way, you’re way on your way.”

Nydia Han

Nydia Han is an Anchor and Consumer Investigative Reporter at 6abc. She’s received many awards, including the 2019 Asian American Journalists award, for her work on #ThisIsAmerica, a digital series on race in America. It was also “chosen for a special viewing at the Women’s Film Festival.” 

Han has also previously received the Pearl S. Buck International Woman of Influence award, the Global Voice award from the World Woman Summit, and the Outstanding Ally Diversity and Inclusion award from the Philadelphia Inquirer.  

She has a degree in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. 

During her speech, Han thanked her family, friends, and the Asian American Women’s Coalition, on which she serves on the advisory board. 

Deborah Hassan 

Deborah Hassan is a retired partner at Deloitte & Touche, LLP and the Board Chair for the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. Hassan is a Lifetime Member of the Girl Scouts and earned her Gold Award in the 70’s. She worked at Deloitte & Touche, LLP for over 33 years. 

She has served or is serving on many nonprofit boards, including the Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF) of Philadelphia and the Forum of Executive Women. 

She has a Bachelor of Arts in accounting and economics from Grove City College. 

Hassan thanked her loved ones and former colleagues during her speech. 

GSEP serves as the Girl Scout Council for nine counties in Eastern Pennsylvania, allowing almost 30,000 girls to participate in scouts and gain leadership skills.