Boy Scouts of America Rio Grande Council Scout ExecutiveCandidate:

John EchevarriaApril 2015

Scout Executive Candidate:

John EchevarriaApril 2015

Dear Rio Grande Council Selection Committee:

Thank you for choosing me as a candidate to serve as your next Scout Executive. My wife Mila and I look forward to meeting each of you during the reception. I especially look forward to the interview process.  The Boy Scouts of America is my career choice because it allows me to make a difference in the lives of young people. I believe my nineteen year involvement in Scouting has impacted many lives and it has provided them with great experiences while helping our members to be "Prepared for Life" through our programs, communities, families and schools.  My extensive field experience in fundraising, traditional membership and unit development, creating innovative programs, building relationships and leadership has remained consistent throughout my career.

I am a family man. My family supports this decision and we are all excited about the thought of moving to Harlingen, especially in the capacity that is being presented. We recently took a trip to the area and visited Harlingen and South Padre Island. Loved the people I met and the palm trees. This was our first time to the area and we really felt at home. We are a family of faith and believe the Almighty Lord should be first in all decisions, which will set the tone for all future success. That is why I thank God and I thank you for this great opportunity. Under my leadership and working together with the support of the council board I am confident that we can do great things. I believe that I am the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle that you are looking for to lead the scouting movement in the coming years.

I want to be the next Scout Executive of the Rio Grande Council. Thank You.

 

Gallup StrengthsFinderMany years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families.

A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes.

Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your "top five."

Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

The following are the results of the survey I took.

My StrengthsFinder Survey ResultsAchiever

Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by “every day” you mean every single day—workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.

My StrengthsFinder Survey ResultsIndividualization Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are impatient with generalizations or “types” because you don’t want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You instinctively observe each person’s style, each person’s motivation, how each thinks, and how each builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person’s life. This theme explains why you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person’s need to be shown and another’s desire to “figure it out as I go.” Because you are such a keen observer of other people’s strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This Individualization theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team “structure” or “process,” you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.

Belief If you possess a strong Belief theme, you have certain core values that are enduring. These values vary from one person to another, but ordinarily your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics—both in yourself and others. These core values affect your behavior in many ways. They give your life meaning and satisfaction; in your view, success is more than money and prestige. They provide you with direction, guiding you through the temptations and distractions of life toward a consistent set of priorities. This consistency is the foundation for all your relationships. Your friends call you dependable. “I know where you stand,” they say. Your Belief makes you easy to trust. It also demands that you find work that meshes with your values. Your work must be meaningful; it must matter to you. And guided by your Belief theme it will matter only if it gives you a chance to live out your values.

My StrengthsFinder Survey ResultsResponsibility Your Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable. When assigning new responsibilities, people will look to you first because they know it will get done. When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.

Restorative You love to solve problems. Whereas some are dismayed when they encounter yet another breakdown, you can be energized by it. You enjoy the challenge of analyzing the symptoms, identifying what is wrong, and finding the solution. You may prefer practical problems or conceptual ones or personal ones. You may seek out specific kinds of problems that you have met many times before and that you are confident you can fix. Or you may feel the greatest push when faced with complex and unfamiliar problems. Your exact preferences are determined by your other themes and experiences. But what is certain is that you enjoy bringing things back to life. It is a wonderful feeling to identify the undermining factor(s), eradicate them, and restore something to its true glory. Intuitively, you know that without your intervention, this thing—this machine, this technique, this person, this company—might have ceased to function. You fixed it, resuscitated it, rekindled its vitality. Phrasing it the way you might, you saved it.

Background I have over 25 years of management experience with strong organizational, supervisory and time management abilities. I am accustomed to handling multiple ongoing tasks in a fast-paced and time sensitive environment. I have excellent interpersonal skills and I am able to work effectively in establishing relationships with people from different cultures, backgrounds and personalities. Before working for the Boy Scouts of America I worked as an Admissions Counselor for Job Corps. Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers a free educational and vocational program that help youth 16-24 years of age. In this program I recruited young men and women and enabled them to finish their High School Diploma or receive a GED while, at the same time, learning skills for a particular career path. Prior to that, I worked as an assistant manager of a Video store.

My parents were born in Puerto Rico and when they married they relocated to Brooklyn, NY for greater employment opportunities and a better life. I was born there along with my 3 brothers and my sister. Life was not easy. The neighborhood was plagued with drugs and violence. I learned how to survive by being street smart. That life, showed me the importance of a solid education and a stable family environment. I owe a lot to my mother and father for all the sacrifices and everything they did for me and my siblings. I moved out of that environment to provide better opportunities for my future family. Now that I have that family everything I do I do it for them.

Objective I want to be able to use my interpersonal skills and lead volunteers in our mission of instilling Scouting values in an ever-increasing number of families. This would be an opportunity to apply my strong foundation as a proven fundraiser and recruiter. I am a motivational leader with a positive attitude and a reputation of strong ethical and moral character. It would be an honor to be able to work with the leadership of the Rio Grande Council. I am confident that great things can be achieved together.

From my humble beginnings I was given the opportunity to grow professionally in many ways at my first council. I remained loyal and faithful moving up the ranks until there arose an opportunity for growth at another Council. Moving to a different council was not an easy decision to make, but ultimately it was the right one. It prepared me to accept more responsibilities and strengthen my management proficiency. Over the last several years I have reinforced my understanding of council operations and procedures. I’ve enhanced many skills and gained additional experiences to go to the next stage in my professional career. Moving to yet another council will mean another opportunity to share the knowledge and field experience that I have acquired.

My objective is to work with your great volunteers and help fulfill all the goals of the Rio Grande Council.

I would love the opportunity to impact your community and make it mine as well.

Trainings and AwardsProfessional Development I,II,III

Personal Management I,II,III

First Time Staff Leader Orientation

Basic Grant Writing Seminar

WoodBadge

Powder Horn

National Camping School

2005 National Scoutreach President’s Award

Professional Circle Award

Fiscal Management I

Senior Leadership Essentials 1 + 2 (Scout Executive Certification)

Responsibility As I look at my life I realize that responsibility has always knocked at my door. I have always

opened the door, let it in and embraced it. I grew up fast not because I wanted to, but because it was necessary in my neighborhood. When I was 12 years old my twin brothers were born. I remember preparing their formula, feeding them, bathing them, changing diapers and doing many things many parents today try to avoid. I loved helping my mother and family.

My parents did not have the economic resources and we were actually on government assistance. I remember wanting to be a Boy Scout with my friends, but not being able to due to my parent’s economic situation.. As a 14 year old and I understood that I needed to get a job in order to join scouting and help my parents in anyway I can. I shortly found a job and had money, but the problem now was that the job hours conflicted with scouting meetings and activities. I never became a scout. For this reason I have dedicated my life to making sure that every youth possible gets the opportunity to join scouting no matter what the obstacle may be.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:47-49. I believe this to be very true for myself. I have been blessed with a great career that entrusts me with the responsibility of helping young people be a part of the greatest youth organization in the world. I have also been entrusted with a wonderful family for me to provide for and guide on the right path.. It would be a great move for all of us. My wife sees it as a new adventure. My daughter graduated a year early from high school and is looking forward to starting college in the area. I will enjoy being a scout parent by having my twin boys start Cub Scouts in Harlingen.

Two future Tigers (part of my membership plan for our council). Ha! Ha!

Innovative If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Sometimes sticking to the basics for many things is all we have to do in order to be successful. But sometimes we have to try new things. If we do the same thing over and over again and always get negative results, then why not try something new. Innovation is what gets things moving and keeps things alive sometimes. I am persistent and have the ability to analyze problems and come up with solutions even if it is outside the box.

For many years the Alamo Area Council had much difficulty getting parents to turn in youth applications for the boys we serve in our In school program (Scoutreach). Many parents feared that someone would investigate them in some way or that they would be charged even though we sent letters that said it would be free. We used to send all the professional staff to PTA meetings, school plays and Christmas shows to collect applications from the parents present. That was a big waste of energy and staff hours which many times fell short. This would happen multiple nights from October through the end of the year. To make a long story short, I had 25 In- Schools in which I offered an attractive incentive that each boy had an opportunity to win if they turned in their youth application signed by their parent. We had 1 incentive per school and soon many applications signed by parents started coming in. We even gave each boy that turned in an application a small token like a pencil for example. It was so simple for a problem that was so big. The first year I implemented this idea was our toughest year ever with a huge deficit to overcome. We did it! We’ve had membership growth in Scoutreach every year since.

Due to this increase we also have had huge increases in advancements. This has helped us with United Way funding by using our advancements as outcome measurements. This is evidence to United Way that our programs are working and making an impact on youth in underserved areas. United Way has not only kept on funding us greatly but has continued to increase their yearly support.

Quality Work For me it’s always about the Quality. I strive to give quality work always and will not commit to something that I can not finish or provide my best work on. Over the years I have earned many awards and recognitions for my accomplishments. While that is great, me being able to deliver quality service is my satisfaction. I am not one that seeks recognition so any recognition I receive I owe it to all the quality leaders I have worked with. My service areas both in Puerto Rico and in San Antonio have earned multiple Quality District Awards, Centennial Awards and JTE Awards. That was due to the ongoing recruitment of quality leaders, organizing quality units, delivering quality programs and providing quality management of fundraising and membership efforts.

Quality staff management and staff development is what I believe to be my biggest strength. Currently I manage 4 Professionals(DE’s), 5 Paraprofessionals(full-time), 16 Program Aids(part-time), 5 Stipend Leaders and 1 support staff member. To be a future Scout Executive it is not sufficient to be able to say that you have a successful track record in the 4 functions of the district (Finance, Program, Membership/Relationships and Unit Service). A future Scout Executive should have equal success in managing staff and teaching them to be successful also. I have that successful track record and experience. As an example I’ve had several part time staff in which by developing their skills I was eventually able to promote to fulltime para-pro status. I also have 2 District Executives that started with me as just program aids (part time). Little by little I helped in their development until they were promoted to paraprofessionals and then promoted again. This time as commissioned professionals. Last year of my current 4 District Executives all surpassed their finance goals and membership goals. Two of them achieved the Silver status for JTE and the other two received the Gold status for JTE.

That is the quality of work I will bring to the Rio Grande Council.

Unifier I believe having good relationships is the foundation to the success of any organization or company. Building relationships is not easy and is not done overnight. Over my career I’ve dealt with hundreds of people from different cultures with hundreds of different personalities and differences of opinions. I work very well with all people and I’m able to gain their trust. Trust makes it easier for those to cooperate or compromise in order to get tasks done. Many times I’ve felt like a coach, counselor, judge and sometimes a referee. Being mutable is what is needed to keep current relationships stable, establish new ones and unify people for a common good. An example of this happened recently. A District Executive of mine had a particular school district where the majority of the elementary school principals were not allowing her to pass out fliers to the boys and not allowing her to meet with boys to talk to them about scouting and why they should join. Due to this we were only getting about 3 or 4 youth in attendance for evening recruitments. We coordinated a meeting with the Superintendent of that school district. After explaining to him the benefits of scouting and how we were not impacting his school district the way would like to, he was open to any suggestions. I proposed to allow us to come in to one of his board meetings. We could then state our case and explain the step by step process on how we can get a better turn out at recruitment nights. To make a long story short, he agreed. I spoke to all the board members and principals that were present that day. Since then things changed. We now were recruiting boys in the double digits and in some schools over 20 youth were recruited in one night.

I believe I can be the Scout Executive you are looking for who can keep the great leaders of the Rio Grande Council together while establishing new relationships and repairing past relationships (if any).

Restorative is one of my top 5 strengths on my StrengthsFinder survey.

Finance No other professional has ever made an FOS activity on the west side of Puerto Rico. I organized a few District FOS Ask Events.  We had no history of any Community FOS donors.  With the help of key volunteers I was able to recruit table hosts for the 2 districts I had been assigned to.  In each district I held an ask event and each had over 50 potential donors present.  We raised in each over $12,000.  I held a third ask event in one of the districts before moving to San Antonio and was able to raise over $15,000 for Community FOS.  This may not seem like much but coming from a culture that is not really accustomed to donating money, it was a great accomplishment.  My last year in Puerto Rico I was also assigned the Council Popcorn Campaign.  By working with the Council Popcorn Chairman we developed a mass promotional campaign I was able to increase unit participation and sales increased from about $192,000 to around $270,000.  I do not recall the exact figures but I do recall it being over $70,000 from the previous year.  Another great accomplishment from a culture that is not used to this type of fundraising campaign.  

2008- A total finance of $147,139 was raised Popcorn had a 35% increase from the previous year.

2009- Raised $266,296 in total finance ($39,677 in FOS + $225,219 in Popcorn+ $1,400 in project sales).

2010- Raised in finance $316,636 ($45,372 in FOS + $271,264 in Popcorn). That was 5.5% above goal.

2011- Raised in total finance $332,444 ($44,339 in FOS + $313,500 in Popcorn). 5% increase over 2010.

2012- This year the Council restructured the Service Areas to accommodate a new Field Director and

switch Districts around. One of my Districts was assigned to another Field Director. A total of

$246,307 was raised in finance ($44,636 in FOS+ $196,671 in Popcorn+ $5,000 in project sales).

2013- A total finance of $256,000 was raised. That is about a 5% increase.

2014- Achieved a 35% increase for total finance from the previous year. Raised a total of $441,134.

(FOS+ Popcorn+ Camp Cards).

Budgeting ResponsibilitiesFor the past several years I have been the top ranking professional in charge of the Development Center (Second Council Service Center) on the south side of San Antonio. I am responsible for everything related to this building and the property around it.

Apart from the weekly maintenance of the building I also make sure that the grounds are maintained. I call outside contractors to cut the grass, trees and bamboos. I also call pest control for any issue that may arise. We have had vandalism and property stolen from us where I’ve had to contact companies to come in and replace items like a fence and copper wiring from our electrical box.

I keep track of all the expenses including the occupancies for the building to make sure we do not go over budget. My DFS says I run my own little council already.

The total budget of $364,500+ for the Scoutreach Program is another responsibility I have.

I am responsible for the assignment of hours and checking the time sheets of 4 full time staff and about 16 part time staff. I submit it for payroll and keep track of the budget so we do not have staff members go over on hours for the week or that I go over on salaries for the quarter.

I also pay close attention to the following: purchasing of program supplies, chartering buses for camps, purchasing food and catering, allocating Camperships and youth registration assistance.

For the last 6 years I had the responsibility for organizing groups to be a part of the Philmont Council Contingent. The budget varied from year to year. Last year it was a $85,500 budget. I made reservations for participants, collected fees and made payments. I also had to coordinate the transportation and budget the cost of that along with additional costs for polo shirts, caps, patches and training preparations.

ProgramBoy Scout Resident Camp and Cub Scout Day Camp attendance has always been consistently growing in my service area for the last several years. Last year the Council was challenged to significantly increase our camp attendance. I met with my staff, developed a plan and implemented it. My service area had a 27% increase in Cub Scout Day Camp and a 72% increase in Boy Scout Resident Camp.

For the last 7 years I have been responsible for the Scoutreach program. I have also been charged with the hiring of new staff and making sure I get them set with all HR paperwork.

I have provided the training for all the staff and made sure all staff are in compliance with our rules and regulations. If they are not, I follow our Progressive Discipline policy.

Recently in the month of August I was given the responsibility of leading the Project Aguila program. I had to also work closely and support the board member assigned to this program. This program was developed for newly organized packs in disadvantaged areas to be led by Stipend leaders. The intent was for these stipend leaders (selected by the school district) not only to lead the pack but to also get parents involved to eventually be self-sufficient and take over the pack.

For the last 6 years I have been the Council Professional Advisor for the High Adventure Council Committee. Together with the Council Volunteer Advisor we organized groups to be a part of the Philmont Council Contingent.

The South Side Camping Initiative was a concept that was developed 5 years ago to get more Boy Scouts to participate in our Resident Camp. The criteria for participation had to be at one of the following: brand new boys to a troop, family could not afford to pay for camp, a newly organized troop or a troop on the verge of collapsing, they did not have transportation to camp or they simply had no adult leaders that could be with them at camp for a week.

I was allocated a budget for camperships, transportation costs and any other expenses.

Membership Before arriving to San Antonio all my field experience in membership has been only traditional. The funds at the Puerto Rico Council were very limited. There was no budget set aside for youth registration assistance or for Scoutreach type units to be organized. That was a very challenging council (continues to be) and I managed to be very successful my whole tenure there. As an example of that success the last two years there I was in charge of the Council Membership. Together with the Council Membership Chairman we developed the membership plan and I made sure that the professional staff followed the plan and that we had the buy in of all our unit volunteers. For the first time in a long one the council had both membership and unit growth (2005+2006). It helped us also achieve the Council Quality Award for both years.

The first 2 years in San Antonio I was assigned 3 challenging Districts.  The goal was to rebuild them entirely. After successfully accomplishing that I was then assigned the even more challenging Scoutreach District. Below are the results of my years in San Antonio.    

2007- First few months on the job I lead a recruitment effort for 3 Traditional Districts which combined had a 900+

youth deficit and a 50 unit loss. With vacancies and new hires in each district we still managed to make up

the loss and end the year even in traditional membership from the previous year with a plus in units.

2008- 10.8% Traditional youth increase and a 9.7% traditional unit increase.

2009- 6% membership increase, 2 of 4 Districts made Centennial Quality District.

2010- 3% membership increase, 2% unit increase, 3 of 4 Districts made CQD.

2011- This year we were able to overcome another challenge when we lost 9 In Schools (Scoutreach)

which represented a loss of over 1,000 youth. We had a slight increase in membership.

2012- 4.5% membership increase and 2 units above the year before.

2013- 9.1% membership increase and a 1.5% unit increase over the previous year.

2014- 4.1% membership increase and my service area earned the Silver status in JTE.

Thank YouMy family and I thank you very much for this opportunity. My wife and I hope to see you soon and we will pray to God that you as a committee member and myself, both find what we are looking for. After the interviews are over and the final decision is made we hope that I will be your choice to lead the Rio Grande Council to continued success. Thank You.