San Diego Chapter
Jo Dee Catlin Jacob completed a 27-year career in the U.S. Navy, where she was a pioneer in the all-volunteer force. She attained the rank of Captain. Her last tour of duty was as commanding officer of the naval station in Guam.
When Jo Dee joined Girl Scouts San Diego in 2001, she used her military savvy to originate Operation Thin Mint®. Through the program, San Diegans have sent more than 4 million boxes of Girl Scout Cookies to deployed U.S. military troops.
Under her leadership, the council successfully completed two capital campaigns, raising $8 million to improve camp properties. She retired from Girl Scouts in April 2016.
Jo Dee has received numerous honors, including the “Graduate of the Year” Visionary Award from LEAD San Diego, a national Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil Award, a Nonprofit Leadership Fellowship to Harvard Business School, and San Diego Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO Award. The University of San Diego presented Girl Scouts San Diego its 2012 Kaleidoscope Award for Exceptional Governance.
She developed the curriculum and now teaches Social Entrepreneurship: Doing Well by Doing Good (MGT 167) to undergraduates at the University of California San Diego’s Rady School of Management. She is a member of UC San Diego Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.
Jo Dee is active in the 500+ member Rotary Club of San Diego, serving as President during 2012-2013. She enjoys swimming, golf, and SCUBA diving.
Author of Beyond the Hoppo Ryodo: Japan, Russia and U.S. Relations in the 1990’s (AEI Press), Jo Dee graduated from Stanford (BA) and Pepperdine (MA) universities. She is the volunteer class correspondent for Stanford Alumni Association.