From pack meetings in his basement to CEO, retiring exec spent career with Boy Scouts

When Jack Sears Jr. was in the third grade, he became a Cub Scout. His mother was den leader and the pack met in the family's Mount Hope, W.Va., basement, where a section was painted blue and yellow in Cub Scout colors.

An American flag was hung in the corner and blue and gold wooden shelves were built to showcase the pack's crafts and books.

"I looked forward to those weekly meetings, the monthly parents pack meetings and going camping with my family a couple times of year," he said. "It was fun, exciting and I looked forward to learning new things. To this day, I still see my father’s face in the mirror every time I put on a necktie because my father taught me as a Cub Scout how to tie a tie to earn a requirement for one of the badges."

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That was the beginning of Sears' Scouting life.

Now 59, he retires Oct. 31 after almost 40 years as an executive for Boy Scouts of America regional councils, including almost 16 years as executive/CEO of the North Florida Council. The Jacksonville-based council has 17 counties and 2,995 volunteers and serves 7,146 youth in about 327 units.

Earlier Sears served numerous administration jobs for the Central Florida Council in Orlando, including senior district executive, then was executive/CEO for two other Scout councils: Flint River, Griffin, Ga., and Westchester-Putnam, White Plains, N.Y. He joined North Florida in 2007.

"Working for the Boy Scouts of America was my first and only full-time job right out of college," Sears said.

His successor is expected to be announced in early November.

Tenure marked by growth, stability, tribulations

During Sears' tenure, the North Florida Council "has enjoyed membership growth along with improved quality program delivery and sustained financial stability," said David Boree, council president.

The council is in the top 25% based on membership and financial strength: Membership is expected to rise to 8,000 by the end of the year, multiple projects were funded through a $6.5 million capital campaign and the council's Endowment Fund, about $7 million when Sears arrived, is now at $12.6 million, Sears said.

"In Scouting, we teach all youth to leave the campsite better than they found it," Sears said. Thousands of Scout volunteers, donors and staff worked with him to "make this campsite better," he said.

Among the improvements are capital projects at Camp Shands in Melrose, which got a $2.5 million resort-style water park, and the St. Johns River Base at Echockotee in Orange Park.

Sears also cited the Robert E. and Monica Flynn Jacoby Scout Reach Division in central Jacksonville, which now serves over 500 Scouts led by full-time paid staff.  The Jacoby's lead $1 million gift established an endowment for Scouts who could not afford uniforms, camps and program materials.

But there have also been changes during his tenure, such as the admission of girls to Boy Scout troops, and challenges, including a recession, COVID-19 pandemic and the National Boy Scouts of America declaring bankruptcy amid the largest sexual abuse case against a single organization in American history.

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"The last nine years have brought significant challenges to delivering the Scouting program," Boree said. "Jack has provided steady, calm and diligent leadership to guide our board, staff and council through these hurdles."

Hurdles are to be expected for an organization that has been around since 1910, Sears said.

"There have been many changes to the structure, joining and leadership requirements, program delivery, advancement program and requirements for badges," he said. The 112-year-old organization has … evolved with the interests of youth, the changing family dynamic and how technology and innovation affects how we live and interact with others."

Scout Oath: 'Words to live by'

One thing that has not changed is the Scout Oath and Law, "which forms the foundation and bedrock of who Scouts are and is the value proposition for why parents seek Scouting for their children and why they stay involved," Sears said.

The oath:

Scout Law: A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

"It seems like controversy is everywhere in where we live, play, vote, work and sometimes where we pray," Sears said.

But he said he preferred to describe the issues that faced the national Scouting organization during his tenure not as controversies but as "distractions" for regional councils.

"You are always going to have people who see things different than how they have been doing before or what they think should be," Sears said. "During periods of distractions, I have leaned on and stayed focused on … the Scout Oath and Law," Sears said. "Our organization and brand exists to teach young people life-changing values to prepare them for life."

The words in the Scout Law, he said, "are not just words to recite at Scout meetings, but more importantly, words to live by."

That's how, during the pandemic, the council retained its staff, ran summer camps in a "safe … COVID-free manner" and balanced its operating budgets each year, he said. And the council "is emerging from this period of disruption" with youth membership up 19% over last year and on track to return to pre-pandemic levels within the next 18 months, he said.

Sears' Girl Scout counterpart — Mary Anne Jacobs, president and CEO of the Jacksonville-based Girl Scouts of Gateway Council — also retired this year. Jacobs led the regional organization for nearly a decade after a 22-year career in the corporate telecommunications industry.

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She said she and Sears developed a working relationship when she first arrived in 2013. They lost touch during the Girl Scouts' 2018 copyright infringement lawsuit against the Boy Scouts, which was tied to the latter group admitting girls and was settled in July.

But Jacobs praised Sears' work.

"Jack’s leadership style is collaborative. He willingly shared information with me as a new nonprofit CEO in my transition from the private sector," she said. "He will be missed. He's a great guy."

From camp counselor to college to Scout executive

Despite his early dedication to Scouting, Sears as a child had no idea what he wanted to become when he grew up. But he knew he wanted to somehow lead and help others.

"One of my fondest childhood memories was watching the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon on Labor Day each year. At age 10, I sent off for a Jerry Lewis backyard carnival kit to raise money."

The resulting event "was full of penny games," with baked goods for sale that were made by his mother and grandmother. All the neighborhood children showed up.

"I can’t remember exactly how much money we raised — I am sure it was under $25 — but I do remember receiving a patch with a caricature of Jerry Lewis on it and a certificate to say thanks when I mailed in the proceeds from the event," Sears said.

When Sears graduated from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts, he was Mount Hope's Troop 91 where he learned other skills that he would use in his as-yet unidentified career.

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"It was the only troop in our town and it was a project to bring all faiths and denominations together for the good of youth," he said. "I loved the outdoor camping program, earning the badges, learning how to lead and work with others."

Sears attended summer camp with the troop and ultimately became a camp counselor for seven summers, from middle through high school. During his last summer there, students from Salem College in West Virginia introduced him to the American Humanics program, which included a four-year degree in nonprofit studies called Youth Agency Administration.

"They told me that if I enjoyed Boy Scouts so much, why not get a college degree to work full-time for the Boy Scouts? After learning more, I knew I wanted to work for the Boy Scouts of America after college," he said. "Full-time job doing the things I have always enjoyed."

But this year, Sears said he decided that "37.5 years is a long time for my first job out of college." The "timing was right" to make a change, he said.

He wants to spend more time with his wife of 36 years, Clare, and their two married adult children and two grandchildren, maybe do some hunting and fishing. And he wants "fresh executive leadership" for the council, he said.

"I had an employee give me a plaque 10 years ago that has inspired me: 'Never get too busy making a living, that you forget to make a life,'" he said. "I have been blessed to make a comfortable living and as I reflect on my life, I couldn’t be happier with what I have done in my career, but most importantly the family that my wife and I have built together.

"Who knows," he said, "I may consider some work in the future. But right now, it is about faith and family."

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Longtime CEO for Jacksonville-based North Florida Boy Scouts retires