Dobbins named Scouts CEO

It was a long and sometimes winding road that brought Scout Executive/CEO Tonya Dobbins to Columbus to head the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Chattahoochee Council, which covers 15 counties between Alabama and Georgia (Lee, Chambers and Russell in Alabama; and Webster, Quitman, Stewart, Talbot, Marion, Randolph, Heard, Chattahoochee, Meriwether, Harris, Troup and Muscogee in Georgia.)

After 10 years at a bank, Dobbins decided to become a stay-at-home mom, which she still calls “the best job ever,” when one day her son brought home a note from school.

He said the teacher told students to “fold the note and put it in your sock. When you get home put it in the refrigerator, next to the milk.”

When Dobbins looked in the refrigerator, she saw the note. It was for a scouting presentation at the school. “No problem,” she thought to herself, “His dad can take him.”

It turned out, however, that his dad couldn’t take him. So, Dobbins stepped in.

When they arrived at the meeting, it seems that the presenters weren’t only looking for children to become Scouts, they were also asking for parents to volunteer.

“I made up my mind I wasn’t going to volunteer for anything,” Dobbins said. When the evening ended, her son had joined the Scouts, and she had volunteered to be a committee chairperson.

“I was very strategic, and my kids couldn’t join something I couldn’t volunteer for. I wanted them to be safe and I wanted to be involved. I don’t believe in just sending my kids off. I believe in joining them and helping them,” she said.

When Dobbins decided to rejoin the workforce, she took a paying position with the Scouts and became a Scout Reach paraprofessional.

And based on what she told me, the rest is what some may call history.

Recruiting is part of what most BSA employees do — but Dobbins says BSA jobs and scouting jobs might appeal to a wide variety of people.

“We’d love to have someone with a four-year degree, but that’s not a requirement,” Dobbins said. “I would say if anyone is looking for an experience where no day is ever the same; constantly every day on the job, you have the opportunity to impact change and to change lives. Every day you can go home and rest soundly, knowing you have done something good.

“We have open positions on the council. We are nationwide. We are international. So, if anyone likes to travel abroad or live abroad, scouting is international, and the opportunities as well. BSA is also looking for people who have servants’ hearts, because we are serving the community,” Dobbins said. “We’re also looking for people who have a background and enjoy fundraising, meeting new people and meeting goals. We have a lot of goals, and they have to be met.”

BSA has landed Dobbins in so many places that she didn’t give moving to Columbus a second thought.

Once she arrived, however, there was an instant attraction.

“It’s so different. There’s a lot to do. Downtown Columbus is small with a big attitude,” said Dobbins, a pastor’s daughter.

She told her parents, “I get more offers to go to church than I do to go to lunch.”

So far, one thing that reminds her that people are different is when she, who is black and her fiancé, who is white, today still “get looks,” in some small counties.

Dobbins has put in her fair share of time. Let’s start with right now and move backward:

Scout Executive/C.E.O, Chattahoochee Council, Boy Scouts of America (BSA), June 2024 - Present, Columbus, Ga.

Assistant Scout Executive/C.O.O., Great Rivers Council, BSA, May 2022 - June 2024, Columbia, Mo.

Field Director, National Capital Area Council, BSA, May 2019 - May 2022, Bethesda, Md.

District Director, Dan Beard Council, BSA, November 2016 - May 2017, Cincinnati area, and Kentucky

Executive Director, Voices for Kids of Southwest Florida, August 2008 - December 2009, Fort Myers, Fla., area

Executive Director, Crowley Museum and Nature Center, January 2010 – October 2010, Sarasota, Fla., area

Venice Symphony, Development Director, October 2010 – August 2011, Sarasota, Fla., area

Development Coordinator, Children's Guardian Fund, August 2011 – November 2012, Sarasota, Fla.

Regional Community, Relations Specialist, January 2012 - May 2016, Fort Meyers, Fla., area

ITT Technical Institute, Business Development Manager, June 2016 – September 2016, Fort Myers, Fla., area - Carmel, In.

ITT Regional Community, Relations Specialist, January 2012 - May 2016, Fort Myers, Fla., area