Stephanie Finleon Cortez was named Chief Development and Communications Officer (CDCO) for Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas on January 18, 2013, after serving as Chief Communications Officer for the council since January 2010. A Girl Scout for 31 years, Finleon Cortez was among the first Daisies to join the organization in 1984 and is a Lifetime Member of Girl Scouts.
She began her career in 2002 as a Membership Manager with Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council in Houston. Two years later, Finleon Cortez returned to her hometown of San Antonio and began her work in communications. As CDCO, she leads the council’s fund development and communications department, including oversight of individual and major giving, corporate contributions, foundation contributions, government grants, and special events.
She is also responsible for internal and external communications, including public relations and advocacy, media relations, marketing, advertising, social media, crisis communications, and brand management.
Finleon Cortez uses her personal experience as a “grown-up” Girl Scout and Girl Scout Gold Award recipient to communicate the relevance of the organization and advocate for the welfare of girls. This passion inspired her to found Day of the Girl San Antonio in conjunction with the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl each October.
She devotes her personal time to family and friends, volunteering as treasurer for the San Antonio Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), for which she also served as president-elect, president, and immediate past president from 2013-2015.
She is a proud Red Raider and Roadrunner and holds a bachelor’s degree from the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She and her husband, Daniel, reside in La Vernia with their son, Joey, and daughter, Lake.