Board of Directors

Girl Scout alum Lyndia Jones is an anesthesiologist in New Orleans who grew up in the Caribbean and lived in several states before moving to Louisiana. Lyndia says, "I was very involved with Girl Scouting growing up, and I am honored to be asked to renew that relationship. I believe that being involved with Girl Scouting helps to develop a strong sense of self, leadership skills, and the ability to work with others, values that are necessary throughout life and that are especially important to develop in young girls.”

She received a B.S. from St. Leo College in St. Leo, Florida and an M.D. from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI.  She served as a Member-at-Large of the legacy Girl Scout Council of Southeast Louisiana from 2004 until 2008, when she continued as a Board Member of Girl Scouts Louisiana East until 2013, and since then has also served on the Board Development Committee. Lyndia rejoined the Board in 2014 and has continued to provide insight and leadership in governance of the council.

Lyndia was involved with the Big Brother/Big Sister organization for six years. She is fluent in Spanish and is a French student. She enjoys all types of music, plays the piano and flute and loves singing, dancing and reading.

Before accepting the position of Girl Scouts Louisiana East CEO, Rebecca Pennington served as the Senior Director of Walk MS for the South Central Region of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, where she also served as Vice President of Walk MS and Emerging Events and Vice-President of Development for its Louisiana office.  She has a consistent record of increasing revenue while serving in senior fund raising positions, with extensive experience in all areas of fundraising and public relations, particularly capital campaigns, the cultivation and solicitation of major gifts, annual and planned giving, and brand management.

Prior to joining the MS Society, Dr. Pennington worked in higher education for more than 22 years, managing capital campaigns for Nicholls State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, and Nunez Community College, as well as implementing and coordinating institutional and athletic brand images for Nicholls State. She has taught master’s level public relations classes as an adjunct professor at Southeastern and mass communications classes as an associate professor at Nicholls State.

She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts from Nicholls State University, a Master of Journalism from Louisiana State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mass Communication with a concentration in Public Relations and minor in Higher Education Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi. She holds the designation of Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and has also served on numerous not-for-profit boards of directors.

Dr. Pennington is a native Louisianan and is married to Royce Pennington. She has two daughters, Taylor and Ashley and two stepchildren, Kyle and Kaitlin, as was well as six grandsons.