Meet GSSJC Board Member Jo Ann Ward
Board member commits to making community a better place

by Tami De La Fuente

Center. “I moved to Texas in the mid-1970s and have been an ‘Inner-Looper’ since 1979.” Her son, daughter-in-law, and
7-year-old grandson are all in Houston.

“This has been great, as my work has been all in the Texas Medical Center as a patient advocate at St. Luke’s/Texas Heart Institute and in community outreach and education at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. As a patient advocate at an international hospital, I got to practice my Spanish and I learned to speak passable Italian. I have met people from all over the world with whom I’m still in touch and have even visited.”

During her tenure at M.D. Anderson, Jo Ann has also been able to help build a department that focuses solely on reaching out to the community to provide information and programs about cancer, prevention, early detection, and survivorship.

“In fact, it was through serving on the GSSJC Breast Cancer Awareness Committee, led by Tisha Bell, that I reacquainted myself with Girl Scouting. Together, M.D. Anderson and the Girl Scouts have established some of the most creative and fun programs I’ve worked on,” said Jo Ann.

Jo Ann, whose favorite Girl Scout Cookie is Lemon Pastry Creme, enjoys gardening, reading, and music. She has a special passion for Mexican/Southwestern arts and crafts and loves traveling and spending time with friends and family. She spends time with her Ladies Recipe Club, First Wednesday Book Club, and LGR Investment Club.

She added, “I look forward to serving the Girl Scouts, making new friends, and helping pave new paths for young women.”

GSSJC Board Member Jo Ann Ward has always been an advocate. While she serves as a consumer health advocate at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, perhaps one of her first official advocacy roles was convincing her mother to start a Brownie troop so she could be in it!

“I got to join the Brownies after convincing my mom to start a troop for the second graders at Hollywood Park Elementary School. I wanted to be one of the girls wearing those cute Brownie uniforms with the darling little Brownie caps,” she said. “There were no Girl Scouts in the tiny town in North Dakota where my mother grew up, but she got into it quickly and I think she had as much fun as the girls. I still cherish the photograph of our ‘fly-up’ ceremony that was taken on our patio. I moved on to Juniors and my mom started a new troop for my sister’s class.”

Jo Ann also fondly remembers her first Girl Scout camp experience. “I loved my summers at Girl Scout camp in the California Sierra Mountains near Lake Tahoe. I think overcoming homesickness my first summer was probably one of the greatest experiences in my life in terms of

gaining confidence and independence. I stayed in Girl Scouting until the eighth grade. I’m sorry now that I couldn’t make it through that transition period. I am so impressed with all the opportunities available now that encourage older girls to stay involved and learn leadership skills.”

Jo Ann is seriously committed to making Houston a better place for future generations. She has served on the administrative board and many key committees of St. Luke’s Methodist Church and helped establish the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast’s Interagency Information and Referral System. She also serves on the steering committees for the Texas Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition, and the Texas Medical Center Women’s Health Network. Jo Ann is a member of the Assistance League of Houston and volunteers regularly in the thrift shop that is located in the former Girl Scout building.

A native Californian, Jo Ann holds a bachelor’s degree in English/social science from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and she completed her master’s degree in public health from the the University of Texas Health Science