Self-described as "the most enthusiastic Girl Scout, ever," Anna Beth Gorman doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk. Since she received the Gold Award in 1999, making her a Lifetime Member, she has served the organization in some capacity. Her commitment to the Girl Scouts is only one facet of a life lived to empower girls and women.
As a student at Pleasant Grove High School, she was chosen to attend Texas Bluebonnet Girls State - a mythical 51st state held in Sequin, Texas, where, for one week, participants, or "citizens," organize their own city, county, and state governments.
That experience led to Anna Beth's decision to attend Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, an all-women's college upon her graduation in 2000. She receiving her BA in Political Science in 2004.
"Every course at Hollins was taught from a female perspective and focused on how it impacted women," Anna Beth said. "It was never my intention to become an advocate for girls and women, but it was a natural progression. Girls State started that."
In 2005, Anna Beth moved to Austin to be close to some of the friends she had made at Girls State. She took a job in the state legislature, serving as assistant clerk for the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs for two sessions. Although she loved the public service aspect of the job, she found herself bored a lot of the time.
"I discovered that I needed constant motion to stay inspired," she said. "Then I learned the Austin Girl Scout Council had a position open. I thought that was just the coolest thing - to get paid to be a Girl Scout!"
Because of a scholarship she had from the Girl Scouts, her name was familiar to the CEO of the Austin Council. Anna Beth was hired as a recruiter to visit area schools and speak to third-graders. She quickly excelled and was promoted to Volunteer Network Manager where she rewrote the curriculum.
When the State Affairs Committee offered her the clerk position two years later, she felt it was what she was supposed to do, and took the job. But it wasn't.
"I put feelers out, and learned that the national Girl Scouts were realigning all the councils and merging some of them," she said. "I was offered a newly created job to help the Conifer Council in Texarkana merge into the Diamond Council. The office moved from Texarkana to Little Rock and as Membership Director and Chief Program Officer, I got to know the State of Arkansas very well. It was the most valuable experience I ever had."
While holding that position from 2008 to 2016, she was able to attend graduate school and received her Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Arkansas-Littler Rock in 2014. During that time she was also introduced to Colin Gorman, a Marine and Iraqi Freedom Veteran, as well as a Certified Public Accountant and partner in EGP, PLLC accounting firm in Little Rock.
"Colin said he was looking for someone 'pretty, witty and busy' and I happened to be all of that," she said. "I was 30 when I met him, working full time and attending grad school. He was super supportive, and our values are very much in line."
In 2016, Anna Beth was selected as the Executive Director of the Women's Foundation of Arkansas, a statewide foundation that focuses solely on women and girls in Arkansas.
Her resume included a lifetime of achievement in Girl Scouts, 2013-2014 recipient of the UALR Public Administration Alumni Scholarship and a 2014 induction into the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society.
Anna Beth is an active member of the Junior League of Little Rock, and currently serves as chair of its Nonprofit Board Institute. She is still a committed proponent of the Texas Bluebonnet Girls State Program.
Anna Beth is stepmother to 10-year old Luke; she and Colin have a nine-month old daughter, Elthie Flinn, who is named after Anna Beth's 92-year old grandmother, Elthie Jo Meads, of New Boston, Texas/
"Elthie Jo raised five children and was a school teacher," Anna Beth said. "She has always been a huge source of inspiration for me. She's a most loving and kind person."
Little Elthie Flinn's first birthday party is already planned for May, with a suffragist theme.
Anna Beth loves spending time with her nephews and baby niece. She also loves to read, travel and watch old movies. She is an avid runner and completed her first marathon while seven months pregnant.
"As a new mom, I love to imagine enough free time for hobbies," she said. Anna Beth's mother, Alethia White, is a diagnostician for Texarkana Independent School District. Her father Larry is married to Judith White and together they own JDW Construction in Texarkana. Brother Justin works at Guarantee Bank in Texarkana and has twin boys that are freshman at Texas High and a sixth-grader. Brother Christopher lives in Fayetteville and is the father of a three-year old son and a newborn baby girl.
During her four years at the helm of WFA, Anna Beth has developed a program to focus on Equality vs. Equity, which, she says, still has a way to go.
"Women weren't allowed to own a credit card in their own name until 1980. Our biggest hurdle is the pay gap. We, as women, are conditioned to appreciate what is offered, and we aren't taught how to negotiate for ourselves," she said.
"Now we must deal with the wealth gap. Even if we earn the same, we still don't have the same assets - savings, home, etc. That's what I want to teach girls and young women.
"We've come a long way in 100 years," she said, "but we still have a lot of catching up to do." n