June 21, 2015

Anna Maria Chávez is an Arizona native and CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. Before participating in a discussion on the women of the American West, she talked about her favorite Girl Scout cookie (the Samoa), the last live performance she saw (Misty Copeland in The Nutcracker), and her biggest pet peeve (mean people) in the Zócalo green room.

 
Q. What’s your greatest indulgence?
A. Ice cream—lots of it.

Q. How would you describe yourself in five words or less?
A. Energetic. Happy. (I laugh a lot.) Creative. Catalyst. Mother.

Q. What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie?
A. Samoa.

Q. What’s the last live performance you saw?
A. It was awesome: The Nutcracker with American Ballet Theater in New York. It was the first time they featured an African-American woman as the lead ballerina—Misty Copeland. I took my entire family, including my son, because I wanted him to see the significance of it.

Q. What’s your biggest pet peeve?
A. Mean people.

Q. As a Girl Scout, what badge did you struggle most to earn?
A. We lived in a rural community so we shared one badge book, so it was hard for us to earn badges because we had to share the book and couldn’t have more than one. It was hard to get the resources to earn badges.

Q. What does it take to get you out on a dance floor?
A. Very little. I love to dance.

Q. What woman in American history would you most like to meet?
A. There are several actually. I would love to have a dinner party with Harriet Tubman, Coretta Scott King, Martha Washington, and Juliette Gordon Lowe.

Q. What’s your favorite condiment?
A. Ketchup.

Q. What do you think it means to be American?
A. To be free to follow your dreams.

*Photo by Felipe Ruiz.