Talk:Sylvia Acevedo

Wrong abbreviation
I was just reviewing the article for areas to improve and noticed a small error in need of correction. In the lead paragraph, the sentence "She had previously served on the Board of Directors for GSA." lists the abbreviation for Girl Scouts of the USA as GSA, when it's actually GSUSA. I'm avoiding editing directly due to my COI, but could someone else make this change? or perhaps one of you could take a look? I'd greatly appreciate it.--FacultiesIntact (talk) 02:16, 6 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Hi, I rewrote and sourced that sentence. Regards, Comte0 (talk) 21:11, 6 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I appreciate the quick attention.--FacultiesIntact (talk) 23:22, 6 December 2018 (UTC)

Updating Sylvia's Wikipedia article
I've been in touch with Girl Scouts of the USA and Sylvia Acevedo about making some general improvements to this article. It seems that the overall content is OK, but it needs some additional content, sourcing, and updates to the photos.

To start, I have a sandbox with a new suggested version that builds on the current content and adds many new sources to the article. Here is a link to the Sandbox and the difference report in comparison to the present article.

Does anyone have time to review the proposed Sandbox? North8000 or Comte0 would you have any interested in this project? I'd appreciate any feedback or additions to improve the article. Thanks!--Chefmikesf (talk) 21:24, 17 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, I have, however I am somewhat on a wikislow now. I'll try to have a look by Sunday. Regards, Comte0 (talk) 22:58, 17 June 2020 (UTC)
 * OK, I totally understand. Thanks for the quick response. Best, --Chefmikesf (talk) 23:06, 17 June 2020 (UTC)
 * I usually find reviewing of an entire new version of an article to be too big of a job to tackle with available time. But I did take a quick scan through this and it looked pretty good.  North8000 (talk) 00:46, 18 June 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm guessing that the images are going to run into issues at commons. The owner (or official representative of the owner) is probably going to have to say that, and how the owner came to own the picture (considering that the initial owner is whoever pushed the button on the camera) and they will need to be the one to grant the license. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 00:54, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

I saw this mentioned at Women in Red. Looking at the Sandbox version above, I think the current photo is much better. The Sandbox portrait shot is pretty terrible, and the other sandbox image is a wide shot in side view that just tries to make her look leader-like. It doesn't really serve a purpose. I noticed the article was missing her DOB and found two sources for that. ThatMontrealIP (talk) 08:19, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Hey Comte0, Did you have a chance to review the contents of the sandbox?--Chefmikesf (talk) 22:42, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Hello North8000, I appreciate the feedback on your approach to reviewing proposed changes. I went ahead and outlined the changes in an easier to read format. Please see the collapsible table below. As for the images, the author of the photo uploaded the proper documentation to OTRS. How about we revisit the photos when the permissions are accepted. What are your thoughts on this?--Chefmikesf (talk) 17:59, 22 July 2020 (UTC)

I didn't analyze every fact, but the below all looks great to me. Regarding the photo, my comment was to give you a heads up so that you could understand and handle it so that it doesn't get taken down. Usually when I put photos up I use them in the article immediately and let the official stuff finalize after that. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 18:07, 22 July 2020 (UTC)
 * North8000 that makes sense. As posted above, I have a COI with the subject, so I will not edit the article myself. I'm hoping to collaborate with someone like you so that we can improve the article. I'm happy to go section by section. What is your capacity for a collaboration like this? --Chefmikesf (talk) 18:25, 22 July 2020 (UTC)
 * North8000 Any thoughts on this?--Chefmikesf (talk) 17:49, 29 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Yes, I'd be happy to. I've done it with others before and so am familiar with the process challenges.  This includes successfully dealing with the fact that I have limited time to spend on the one particular article.  Generally this just needs putting yourself in my shoes as to what I'd need to do to respond.  Usually this means being very clear on exactly what comes out and exactly what goes in with proposed changes.  Also clear specific requests on what you would like me to do.  Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 19:21, 29 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Hello North8000, Thanks for your input on this. Can you take a look at "Edit Requests for North8000"? I broke down the edits line by line to make it easier to follow. The goal of these requests is to replace the current content section with the proposed content section. Any request that doesn't have current content means the request is a content addition. The edits are numbered to correspond with the original request. What else can I improve to make this easy for you? --Chefmikesf (talk) 20:55, 10 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Done. Got a little complicated because someone worked on and restructured in the interim. There a bit of duplication in the CEO section. Let me know if I can help. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 01:58, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

1.

Explanation and reasoning: 1. For the most part, the lead paragraph is the same. I have rearranged some of the content for flow, chronology, and my understanding of WP:Lead 2. I am proposing the addition of a sentence about founding the company REBA Technology and Communicard. 3. Also I streamlined the references to support all the content. 4. Until we have a more concrete reference, I don't think we should use a range of dates to speculate her age. I have done an extensive search for a citation with an exact date, but I can not find one.

Original content

Sylvia Acevedo (born 1956 or 1957) is an American engineer, businesswoman, and executive. She is chief executive officer (CEO) of the Girl Scouts of the USA. Acevedo was elected to this position in May 2017, having been interim CEO since June 2016. She had been on their board of directors from 2009 to 2016. In 2018, she was included in a Forbes list of "America's Top 50 Women In Tech".

A systems engineer by education, she has worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she was involved in Voyager 2's flyby of Jupiter in 1979. She has also worked at Apple, Dell, and Autodesk.

Proposed content

Sylvia Acevedo is an American engineer, businesswoman, and executive. She is Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of the USA. Ms. Acevedo was appointed permanent CEO May 2017 after serving a year as interim CEO. A systems engineer by education, she began her career at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she was on the Voyager 2 team. She has held executive roles at Apple, Dell, and Autodesk. She was a founder, with 3 others of REBA Technology, an infiniband company that was sold and also the Founder and CEO of CommuniCard. As CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, Sylvia Acevedo led the organization’s largest release of badges, over 100 badges in STEM and Outdoors in 3 years.

2.

Explanation and reasoning: 1. I have found four new references for the section's new and existing content paragraph one 2. For paragraph one, I rewritten Silvia's childhood experiences and then added content about her education's specifics based on the references. 3. I find much of the current career section cites her educational background. My proposed sandbox moves the education content to the early life and education section and clarifies its clarity. I have moved this content to the second paragraph of the section.

Original content

Sylvia Acevedo was born near Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. As a young child, her family moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico. She was active in her own local Brownie troop as a child, where she was encouraged to pursue her scientific interests in school, despite receiving discouragement from the school's faculty. In 1979 she earned her B.S. at New Mexico State University studying industrial engineering, and would later go on to attend Stanford University, becoming one of the first Hispanic students to earn a Masters of Science at the school - in systems engineering. In her memoir, "Path to the Stars," Acevedo revealed that it was stargazing on her first Brownies Girl Scout trip that ignited her interest in science.

Proposed content

Sylvia Acevedo was born near Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota where her father was serving as an officer in the military. Her family moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico. She joined the Girl Scouts at age 7. She was active in the local Brownie troop, where she was encouraged to pursue her scientific interests in school. Ms. Acevedo collected newspaper articles about the space program and built Estes model rockets from a paper-and-plastic kits. In her memoir, "Path to the Stars," Ms. Acevedo stated stargazing on her first Brownies Girl Scout trip inspired her interest in science.

In 1979 she earned a B.S. in industrial engineering from New Mexico State University. The National GEM Consortium awarded Ms. Acevedo with the GEM Fellowship to fund her graduate school studies at Stanford University. She was one of the first Hispanic students at Stanford University to earn a M.S. in systems engineering.

3.

Explanation and reasoning: 1. Rename 'Engineering career' to 'Career.' Sylvia's career is broader than just engineering. 2. The proposed career section is mostly new content. The existing content from the last few sentences from 'engineering career' is folded into the Career section while adding new significant content with supporting citations. 3. There are 12 new references for the section.

Original content

Shortly after graduating from New Mexico State University, Acevedo began working for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a rocket scientist, developing programs for the Voyager 2 and analyzing data from the probe. She eventually left NASA to attend graduate school. During her time at Stanford, she worked at IBM as an engineer to help pay for her tuition. After graduating, she joined Apple as a technology executive for the Asia-Pacific region. She has also worked in an executive capacity for Dell and Autodesk. Under her tenure, the Girl Scouts introduced a series of badges in robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.

Proposed content

Ms. Acevedo joined IBM in 1980 as an engineer while studying at Stanford University. She was on the Solar Polar Solar Probe (SPSP) and Voyager 2 teams at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She joined Apple in 1988 overseeing the Asia-Pacific region. Ms. Acevedo held other executive roles Autodesk, Dell, REBA Technologies, and Tandem Ungermann-Bass.

Ms. Acevedo founded Austin, TX-based CommuniCard. She was awarded the Business Award by The Aguila Awards Foundation in 2005. In 2009, Ms. Acevedo joined the Girl Scouts of the USA national board of directors. President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Acevedo to the Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in 2011.

In July 2016 she was appointed interim CEO. Ms. Acevedo was appointed permanent CEO May 2017. Under her tenure, the Girl Scouts introduced over 100 badges in Outdoors and STEM badges in areas such as robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.

In a Crain’s New York interview, Ms. Acevedo said, “Girl Scouts has always been an important part of my life, helping me as a young girl to develop the skills to become a leader,” Ms. Acevedo said in a statement. “My focus [at GSUSA] has been to raise the profile of the Girl Scout movement and mission, with the targeted aim to grow membership.”

“For 108 years, Girl Scouts has been there in times of crisis and turmoil," said Ms. Acevedo in USA Today in response to the decision to sell Girl Scout cookies online due to the COVID-19 pandemic." And today, we are stepping forward with new initiatives to help girls, their families and consumers connect, explore, find comfort and take action."

In 2018 she was listed on Forbes’ "America's Top 50 Women In Tech". In 2018, Fast Company named Ms. Acevedo one of its “100 Most Creative People in Business”. Ms. Acevedo was awarded the 2019 Hispanic Heritage Award For Leadership. In 2019, InStyle named Ms. Avecedo in The Badass 50: Meet the Women Who are Changing the World.

Ms. Acevedo was a national board member of the Girl Scout of the USA from 2009 to 2016. Ms. Acevedo is a former board member of the Hispanic Scholarship Consortium, Con Mi Madre and the Trinity School. Ms. Acevedo served on the founding executive board of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.

4.

Explanation and reasoning: 1. Add new section with Sylvia's top 3 significant publications.

Proposed content

2018: Clarion Books, Path To the Stars, My journey from Girl Scouts to Rocket Scientist, an aspirational middle school memoir. Sylvia Acevedo

2016: Harcourt Mifflin Houghton, Critical Growth Needs for English Learner Preschoolers, Sylvia Acevedo

2016: UCLA White paper: Realizing the Economic Advantages of a Multilingual Workforce, Dr. Patricia Gandara, Sylvia Acevedo

Edit requests for North8000
1.0

Explanation and reasoning: 1. For the most part, the lead paragraph is the same. I have rearranged some of the content for flow, chronology, and my understanding of WP:Lead 2. I am proposing the addition of a sentence about founding the company REBA Technology and Communicard. 3. Also I streamlined the references to support all the content. 4. Until we have a more concrete reference, I don't think we should use a range of dates to speculate her age. I have done an extensive search for a citation with an exact date, but I can not find one.

1.1 Original content: Sylvia Acevedo (born 1956 or 1957) is an American engineer, businesswoman, and executive.

Proposed content: Sylvia Acevedo is an American engineer, businesswoman, and executive.
 * Done. North8000 (talk) 00:29, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

1. Original content: Acevedo was elected to this position in May 2017, having been interim CEO since June 2016.

Proposed content: Ms. Acevedo was appointed permanent CEO May 2017 after serving a year as interim CEO.
 * Not done. Someone already deleted it from the lead and changed it, possibly updating to 8/10/20 news.  Feel free to do an updated request. North8000 (talk) 00:39, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

1.2 Original content:In 2018, she was included in a Forbes list of "America's Top 50 Women In Tech".

Proposed content:Remove from lead paragraph, the content has been moved to the career section. See the Career section.

???Was not in the body. I copied it into the body. Also seems like a good sentence for the lead; I left it there, but will take it out if you really want me to. North8000 (talk) 00:51, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

1.3 Original content:A systems engineer by education, she has worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she was involved in Voyager 2's flyby of Jupiter in 1979. She has also worked at Apple, Dell, and Autodesk.

Proposed content:A systems engineer by education, she began her career at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she was on the Voyager 2 team. She has held executive roles at Apple, Dell, and Autodesk.


 * Done <b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 00:58, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

1.4 Original content:Content addition

Proposed content:She was a founder, with 3 others of REBA Technology, an infiniband company that was sold and also the Founder and CEO of CommuniCard. As CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, Sylvia Acevedo led the organization’s largest release of badges, over 100 badges in STEM and Outdoors in 3 years.
 * Done. <b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 01:09, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

2.0

Explanation and reasoning: 1. I have found four new references for the section's new and existing content paragraph one 2. For paragraph one, I rewritten Silvia's childhood experiences and then added content about her education's specifics based on the references. 3. I find much of the current career section cites her educational background. My proposed sandbox moves the education content to the early life and education section and clarifies its clarity. I have moved this content to the second paragraph of the section.

2.1 Original content:Sylvia Acevedo was born near Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. As a young child, her family moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Proposed content:Sylvia Acevedo was born near Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota where her father was serving as an officer in the military. Her family moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

2.2 Original content:She was active in her own local Brownie troop as a child, where she was encouraged to pursue her scientific interests in school, despite receiving discouragement from the school's faculty.

Proposed content:She joined the Girl Scouts at age 7. She was active in the local Brownie troop, where she was encouraged to pursue her scientific interests in school. Ms. Acevedo collected newspaper articles about the space program and built Estes model rockets from a paper-and-plastic kits. In her memoir, "Path to the Stars," Ms. Acevedo stated stargazing on her first Brownies Girl Scout trip inspired her interest in science.

2.3 Original content: In 1979 she earned her B.S. at New Mexico State University studying industrial engineering, and would later go on to attend Stanford University, becoming one of the first Hispanic students to earn a Masters of Science at the school - in systems engineering.

Proposed content:In 1979 she earned a B.S. in industrial engineering from New Mexico State University. The National GEM Consortium awarded Ms. Acevedo with the GEM Fellowship to fund her graduate school studies at Stanford University. She was one of the first Hispanic students at Stanford University to earn a M.S. in systems engineering.

3.0

Explanation and reasoning: 1. Rename 'Engineering career' to 'Career.' Sylvia's career is broader than just engineering. 2. The proposed career section is mostly new content. The existing content from the last few sentences from 'engineering career' is folded into the Career section while adding new significant content with supporting citations. 3. There are 12 new references for the section.

3.1 Original content

Shortly after graduating from New Mexico State University, Acevedo began working for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a rocket scientist, developing programs for the Voyager 2 and analyzing data from the probe. She eventually left NASA to attend graduate school. During her time at Stanford, she worked at IBM as an engineer to help pay for her tuition. After graduating, she joined Apple as a technology executive for the Asia-Pacific region. She has also worked in an executive capacity for Dell and Autodesk. Under her tenure, the Girl Scouts introduced a series of badges in robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.

Proposed content

Ms. Acevedo joined IBM in 1980 as an engineer while studying at Stanford University. She was on the Solar Polar Solar Probe (SPSP) and Voyager 2 teams at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She joined Apple in 1988 overseeing the Asia-Pacific region. Ms. Acevedo held other executive roles Autodesk, Dell, REBA Technologies, and Tandem Ungermann-Bass.

Ms. Acevedo founded Austin, TX-based CommuniCard. She was awarded the Business Award by The Aguila Awards Foundation in 2005. In 2009, Ms. Acevedo joined the Girl Scouts of the USA national board of directors. President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Acevedo to the Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in 2011.

In July 2016 she was appointed interim CEO. Ms. Acevedo was appointed permanent CEO May 2017. Under her tenure, the Girl Scouts introduced over 100 badges in Outdoors and STEM badges in areas such as robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.

In a Crain’s New York interview, Ms. Acevedo said, “Girl Scouts has always been an important part of my life, helping me as a young girl to develop the skills to become a leader,” Ms. Acevedo said in a statement. “My focus [at GSUSA] has been to raise the profile of the Girl Scout movement and mission, with the targeted aim to grow membership.”

“For 108 years, Girl Scouts has been there in times of crisis and turmoil," said Ms. Acevedo in USA Today in response to the decision to sell Girl Scout cookies online due to the COVID-19 pandemic." And today, we are stepping forward with new initiatives to help girls, their families and consumers connect, explore, find comfort and take action."

In 2018 she was listed on Forbes’ "America's Top 50 Women In Tech". In 2018, Fast Company named Ms. Acevedo one of its “100 Most Creative People in Business”. Ms. Acevedo was awarded the 2019 Hispanic Heritage Award For Leadership. In 2019, InStyle named Ms. Avecedo in The Badass 50: Meet the Women Who are Changing the World.

Ms. Acevedo was a national board member of the Girl Scout of the USA from 2009 to 2016. Ms. Acevedo is a former board member of the Hispanic Scholarship Consortium, Con Mi Madre and the Trinity School. Ms. Acevedo served on the founding executive board of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.
 * Done.   Things got confusing because someone did work and re-structuring in-between.  There is a duplication on the sentence regarding her CEO appointment but I think it needs your review on how to best de-duplicate.<b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 01:37, 11 August 2020 (UTC)

4.

Explanation and reasoning: 1. Add new section with Sylvia's top 3 significant publications.

Proposed content

2018: Clarion Books, Path To the Stars, My journey from Girl Scouts to Rocket Scientist, an aspirational middle school memoir. Sylvia Acevedo

2016: Harcourt Mifflin Houghton, Critical Growth Needs for English Learner Preschoolers, Sylvia Acevedo

2016: UCLA White paper: Realizing the Economic Advantages of a Multilingual Workforce, Dr. Patricia Gandara, Sylvia Acevedo


 * Done

Edit requests for North800 part 2
Hello North8000, I see there was some confusion due to the edits on 08/10/2020. Below are a few more requests with references to answer you questions and clean up the article.--Chefmikesf (talk) 18:56, 12 August 2020 (UTC)

1.1 Original content: Please add the proposed text as the second sentence.

Proposed content: Ms. Acevedo was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 2016-2020.

Done

2.0

Explanation and reasoning: 1. Please take anther look at request 2.2 and 2.3

2.2 Original content:She was active in her own local Brownie troop as a child, where she was encouraged to pursue her scientific interests in school, despite receiving discouragement from the school's faculty.

Proposed content:She joined the Girl Scouts at age 7. She was active in the local Brownie troop, where she was encouraged to pursue her scientific interests in school. Ms. Acevedo collected newspaper articles about the space program and built Estes model rockets from a paper-and-plastic kits. In her memoir, "Path to the Stars," Ms. Acevedo stated stargazing on her first Brownies Girl Scout trip inspired her interest in science.


 * Done<b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 01:01, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

2.3 Original content: In 1979 she earned her B.S. at New Mexico State University studying industrial engineering, and would later go on to attend Stanford University, becoming one of the first Hispanic students to earn a Masters of Science at the school - in systems engineering.

Proposed content:In 1979 she earned a B.S. in industrial engineering from New Mexico State University. The National GEM Consortium awarded Ms. Acevedo with the GEM Fellowship to fund her graduate school studies at Stanford University. She was one of the first Hispanic students at Stanford University to earn a M.S. in systems engineering.
 * Done <b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 01:01, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

3.0

Explanation and reasoning: 1. The requests for the career section removes the repetition on the current article

3.1 Original content In July 2016 she was appointed interim CEO. Acevedo was appointed permanent CEO May 2017. Under her tenure, the Girl Scouts introduced over 100 badges in Outdoors and STEM badges in areas such as robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.

Proposed content In July 2016 she was appointed interim CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA. Ms Acevedo was appointed permanent CEO May 2017. Under her tenure, the Girl Scouts introduced over 100 badges in Outdoors and STEM badges in areas such as robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.
 * Done <b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 01:05, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

3.2 Original content Acevedo was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 2016-2020. Acevedo was elected to this position in May 2017, having been interim CEO since June 2016. She resigned on August 10, 2020, with the resignation effective August 15, 2020. She had been on their board of directors from 2009 to 2016. Under her tenure, the Girl Scouts introduced a series of badges in robotics, coding, engineering, and cybersecurity.

Proposed content Acevedo was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 2016-2020. She resigned on August 10, 2020, with the resignation effective August 15, 2020.
 * Done <b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 01:19, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

REPLY: Hello North8000, These edits look great. One thing I notice is the duplicate sentence in Early Life and Education. "In her memoir, "Path to the Stars," Ms. Acevedo stated stargazing on her first Brownies Girl Scout trip inspired her interest in science. " Can you remove whatever one makes for sense to you? Second, What are you thoughts about adding the two photos from the sandbox? They both in the OTRS process.--Chefmikesf (talk) 01:27, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
 * I think that that would be fine. But IMHO the current picture is the best one<b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 01:53, 13 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Hello North8000, That makes sense. How about leaving the Infobox photo for now. I am going to add a higher quality version of her head-shot to Commons. I believe we should add the speaking photo to the Career section. What are your thoughts?



Second, there is still a sentence fragment " In her memoir, "Path to the Stars,"". I can make the edit to remove it if you give me the OK.--Chefmikesf (talk) 02:12, 13 August 2020 (UTC) Done. I found a reference for the resignation / end of Girl Scout CEO term because I did not want to put that in without a reference. <b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 01:33, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Could you take one more look at the reply above?--Chefmikesf (talk) 01:40, 13 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Hello again. North8000,
 * I can confirm Sylvia's birthyear is 1957. Can we update update both the first sentence of the Lead and Infobox to 1957?


 * Here is my proposed update:


 * Sylvia Acevedo was born in 1957. She is an American engineer and businesswoman.