For the Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains, 2025 marks the end of an era, as CEO Becky Burton is calling it quits after four decades of service. The Fort Worth woman has served in her current position for the last 20 years, and said it has been a great run, but it is time to move on. “I thought after 40 years, it’s time to go play,” Burton said with a laugh. “It’s time to go have some fun.”
Burton’s tenure with the Girl Scouts started in 1984 with the NorCenTex Council in Wichita Falls, before transferring to the Virginia Skyline Council in 1988 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Burton then moved closer to her native Abilene when she accepted the position of Program and Training Director of the Caprock Council in Lubbock in 1993. She was appointed as an Executive Director in 2001, and in 2008, Burton was named CEO of the newly formed Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains, where she has served ever since.
The West Texas native said that while part of her is sad to be leaving, it was the right time. “I feel really good about the decision,” Burton said. “Obviously, it’s hard wondering what I’m going to do. This has been my identity for so many years. It will be a different transition, but I have no reservations. It was a good decision, and it is the right time. It’s good for the organization, and my future is exciting.”
In a news release, Chair of the Board of Directors Jan Titsworth, said Burton’s contributions to the organization cannot be overstated. “I am grateful to Becky for her many years of leadership as CEO of our council, bringing integrity, passion for the mission, and a steadfast focus on the needs of the girls to the forefront of every decision,” Titsworth said.
Reflecting over her career, Burton said a few things stand out that she finds especially satisfying. “I am most proud of the work the Girl Scouts does,” Burton said. “I’m proud of the leadership opportunities that we give to the girls and the hundreds of thousands of girls it affects. Over my career, I’ve been able to help volunteers be the best they can be in the way they mentor the girls, and I am proud of the girls themselves.
“I am proud of the girls who have been successful in life because of their time in the Girl Scouts and me being able to give those opportunities to the public and be the face of the work we do. I’m proud that I’ve held true to who I am. Ethics, honesty and professionalism are so important to me. I’ve held true to that throughout my career.”
And while Burton has overseen the Girl Scouts’ efforts to raise funds for the United Way, worked to build relationships with local businesses to help provide financial support for her organization and served at every level to help build membership over the years, it’s who she has worked with that have meant the most to her.
“Looking back at all of the amazing people that I have met and the amazing opportunities that I have had personally is the most important,” Burton said. “I have so many amazing people in my life. I’m a huge relationship person, and the people have been the best part of my job.” The more challenging aspects of her occupation have been increasing membership and volunteerism, and on the rare occasion, having to deal with potentially dishonest brokers.
“Years ago, I was working out in Lubbock,” Burton said. “I was over the cookie sales at the time, and we were trying to wrap up the sale, and I went to a lady who owed us money. One of the Troupe leaders had not paid us, so I met her out in one of the little farm towns outside of Lubbock at the Dairy Queen, and I said, ‘I’m here to pick up the money you owe us.’ She gave me an envelope, and it had nothing but checks in it.
“I said, ‘This is not all the money.’ And she said, ‘You know, I had my windows open in my truck the other day and the cash blew out the window, but the checks stayed there. So there’s your story, that checks are heavier than cash.'”
According to a news release, Burton is a Gold Award Girl Scout and Lifetime Member, with a lifelong commitment to the Girl Scout Movement that began in second grade in her hometown of Abilene.
Burton moved to Fort Worth after graduating high school to attend TCU, where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Education. She spent some time as a teacher in the West Texas town of Spur, and eventually hired on with the Girl Scouts. Burton said she plans to remain active in the Rotary Club and Women’s Policy Forum in Fort Worth, and said in retirement, at least for the time being, she plans to play things by ear.
“I’m going to kind of wait and see,” Burton said. “I do want to volunteer. I’m very active in my church, and there are some opportunities there that I want to be a part of, and there are some other things I am passionate about. “Obviously, children are important to me, and I want to travel, and I want to be able to do what I want to do when I want to do it. But I am not the sort of person who is going to go home and sit around all day and do nothing, because that’s not who I am.”
