WASHINGTON -- Kim Davis is NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Social Impact, Growth Initiatives and Legislative Affairs, and forever a Girl Scout.
Davis regaled the 58th National Council Session and Girl Scouts Unite convention Friday with a photo of her receiving an award for selling the most Girl Scout cookies in Illinois when she was 10 years old.
"Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout," she said.
Davis recounted her experiences as she moderated a panel at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on the impact of athletics and the Girl Scouts in shaping girls into confident leaders and adults.
"The vast majority of women who reach the highest levels of corporate leadership share a common thread: they are all girls who played sports during their formative years, and these leader athletes are disproportionately Girl Scouts," Davis said. "And that's because the Girl Scouts build the pipeline that promote confidence and resilience and systemic leadership capabilities."
She led a discussion that featured Megan Keller, a defenseman who scored the overtime goal for the United States against Canada in the gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics; Tatyana McFadden, the most decorated U.S. Paralympics track and field athlete of all time with 22 medals; Mariel Hawley, a pool and open water swimmer who swam the English Channel; and Witney Carson, a two-time Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy winner on television's "Dancing with the Stars."
"These women, in all of their own ways, have demonstrated that preparation, passion and purpose, when those intersect, magic happens," Davis said. "And that is something that I think we should all take away."
Hockey had a starring role at the convention and around the DMV (District of Columbia/Maryland/Virginia) region Friday. Conventioneers lined up at an NHL STREET rink inside the center's Hall of Experiences to try hockey and meet and compete against Keller and Haley Skarupa, a 2018 U.S. Olympic gold medalist and an NHL Foundation U.S. ambassador.
"I was, like, 'Wait, Megan Keller? You mean the Megan Keller that scored the game-winning goal at the Olympics?'" said Randi Marley-Jones, a 16-year-old Girl Scout from Durham, North Carolina. "I was like, 'Wow!' So I was really happy to see her. I love women's sports. It's really inspiring to see. It makes me feel like I can be more comfortable in those spaces to see women playing them."
McKenna Hendricks was all smiles after she put seven balls past Skarupa and into the goal.
"It was a little harder because I usually play on ice, so the ball is a little more difficult because they bounce more," the 13-year-old from Madison, Wisconsin said.
Avalon Norton didn't wait for Friday to try out the NHL STREET rink. The 13-year-old from Easton, Pennsylvania, managed to get on for several hours Thursday.
"It was really fun because none of my friends like playing hockey and stuff, and I only ever play in the driveway with my dad, and the driveway is kind of, like, bumpy and rough, and we use garbage cans as goals," she said. "So it was really fun to play, and I made several friends, too."
After her convention appearance, Davis headed north to Baltimore where the Washington Capitals and Baltimore City Recreation and Parks hosted the 14th annual Baltimore Street Hockey Tournament presented by Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
She performed the ceremonial face-off at the tournament, which had more than 120 boys and girls from 12 community centers from across the city competing at Madison Square Recreation Center.
At about the same time, 180 teen leaders from across the country gathered at Tucker Road Ice Rink in Fort Washington, Maryland, at an event hosted by Jack & Jill of America in partnership with the NHL.
The event included a learn to skate session with the Howard University figure skating team, the first at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU); an NHL STREET skills clinic and games; and a discussion about NHL careers.
