Bridgeway has a longstanding partnership with the non-profit Living Water International (LWI), an organization that drills water wells in rural and impoverished areas all over the world. Over the last several years, Bridgeway partners have participated in service trips with LWI to Honduras, Guatemala, and most recently this May, El Salvador. Six Bridgeway partners (plus one partner’s spouse) and I took a giant step out of our comfort zones and flew to El Salvador where we successfully drilled water wells for two small rural communities.
Of the seven other people on the trip, I only knew one well, so I viewed this as an opportunity to get to know my colleagues better and do some good in the world. What I found was that every day I saw my fellow Bridgeway partners putting Servant Leadership skills into action and making a difference. But one person in our group would rise to represent the epitome of service – Michele Camp.
Michele and I don’t work together closely in the office, but we have always been friendly. In El Salvador, we shared a room and I got to see firsthand how Michele serves people in her life every day. Michele was prepared for anything. Need a knife? She had one handy. Need a guitar player? She stepped right up. Need someone to lead the daily devotional? She was our gal. Need a goalie for an impromptu futbol game with the kids in the community? She would make sure no one scores. Need an extra hand to mix concrete for the base of the well? Just hand her a shovel and step aside!
One afternoon in El Salvador, I asked Michele if she had ever been a Girl Scout and she said no. Frankly, I was shocked. She truly exhibits the principles of a Girl Scout, and based on the few days we had been in El Salvador, she probably should have earned many merit badges! The Girl Scout thought and Michele’s amazing service really got me thinking. When we got back to Houston, I resolved to somehow connect the two.
As a former Girl Scout, I figured that I could make Michele an honorary Girl Scout and even present her with a sash with some badges. I checked with another partner who is a Girl Scout troop leader to make sure I wouldn’t offend the Girl Scouts if I did such a thing. Having gotten the okay, I set out to pick just the right badges for Michele. While Michele definitely should have earned some badges for things that she did – like mixing concrete – there were some that I found that fit her perfectly. For example, the “Finding Common Ground” badge exemplifies when a Girl Scout has used strategies to bring people together to find common ground. Michele earned this badge every day by engaging with the locals in El Salvador even though she didn’t speak Spanish!
Back home at our monthly Partner meeting, I surprised Michele by presenting her with the sash and badges and explaining how she upheld the Girl Scout motto (“Be Prepared”), slogan (“Do a Good Turn Daily”), and law. The Girl Scout law is a little long, but in it, each Girl Scout pledges to “make the world a better place,” and I can’t think of a better example of that than Bridgeway’s newest Girl Scout, Michele Camp!
Cindy Griffin
Partner, Marketing & Client Service
Bridgeway Capital Management