Five new members are joining your National Commissioner Service team. Three are replacing current chairs who are completing their terms of service (see a related article nearby); two are assuming new roles on the team as council support chair, opportunities created to enable support of our new national service team commissioners and commissioners elect.

Linda Baker, Council Support Chair (National Commissioner Service Territories 9-16)

A former council commissioner, regional commissioner, Northeast Region vice president — program, area vice president — membership, and current council executive committee member and Scouts BSA linked troops committee chair, Linda brings a wealth of Scouting experience to the team. Her recent work in helping design and implement our new national service territories adds to the broad perspective she brings to the

“You’ll watch kids become amazing leaders right before your eyes” and “You’ll work with wonderful people” were among the motivating messages Linda heard decades ago when she was recruited to be a Scouting volunteer, and they have stood the test of time. A focus on welcoming millennial parents has guided much of Linda’s work in the past 10 years, especially her leadership of the new member coordinator development team. She’s also served on a variety of national committees and task forces, as Wood Badge staff member and course director and course director conference staff member, and faculty for numerous Colleges of Commissioner Science and national commissioner conferences. Linda is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow.

Linda’s participation in the design of our new national service territories provides her with a unique perspective that prepares her for this new role on your national service team.

Sean Byrne, Resources Chair

Sean brings a unique and valuable perspective to your national service team. Active in Scouting since joining as a Tiger, he has been continuously registered for nearly 22 years and is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. The National Capital Area Council has been his primary Scouting home. There he serves as a unit commissioner and deputy chair of marketing, as well as program director for Camp Catoctin BSA, one of the organization’s few all-volunteer, nationally accredited Scouts BSA resident camps. In 2019, he staffed the 24th World Jamboree with the Rover Brigade and later joined your national commissioner service team as a subject matter expert for young adult recruiting. In response to the pandemic, he produced NCAC’s Capital Camp-In and kept nearly 1,000 Scouts from across the globe Scouting On at home.

His personal, Scouting, and professional experience have well prepared him to help continue to strengthen resources available to all commissioners.

Karen Bengtson, Recruiting & Retention Chair

Karen fondly remembers the day her oldest son came home from 1^st grade clutching a Cub Scout flyer. She signed him up because she thought it would be a great thing for him to do with his father. Seventeen years later, Karen is still volunteering. She currently serves as council commissioner for the Middle Tennessee Council.

Experience in a variety of Scouting unit, district, and council positions prepared her to be an excellent candidate for council commissioner, where she has continued to apply her passion for serving youth through Scouting. She continues to serve as a merit badge counselor, believing it enables her to maintain a direct connection with the youth we all serve that leaves her better equipped to provide leadership at the council and now the national level.

Karen understands the need for every commissioner to be engaged in recruiting more commissioners and will continue to provide new solutions to ensure our ability to serve every unit.

Jim Libbin, Council Support Chair (National Commissioner Service Territories 1-8)

A Cub Scout and Boy Scout as a youth, Jim returned to Scouting when his son joined Tiger Cubs. Since then, he has served unit, district, council, area, and regional levels. A former council commissioner, he served most recently as the Western Region’s regional commissioner. He has remained engaged at the unit level, volunteering to serve as committee chair for a new Cub Scout pack and also for a Scouts BSA girl troop.

Jim’s Scouting experience is truly diverse, including terms as a council executive board member, area president, area commissioner, regional training chair, and regional commissioner. A former Wood Badge course director, he has also served as chancellor of a tri-council College of Commissioner Science. Jim is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow.

Jim was a member of the team that designed our new national service territories. That adds to his already broad experience and better prepares him for his next assignment, which is a new role on your national service team.

Mike Weber, Technology Chair

Mike has been active in Scouting for over 40 years, starting as a Wolf Scout, earning Eagle Scout, and continuing as an adult where he has served at the unit, district, council, area, and regional levels. In addition to experience in Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA, he has also served as an Exploring post Advisor. A former Wood Badge course director, Mike is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. Most recently, he served as the Central Region’s regional commissioner, where he implemented a region-wide initiative to increase the recruiting of commissioners. He remains active at the unit level as a chartered organization representative for both a pack and a troop and as a merit badge counselor.

Mike’s personal and professional experience have well prepared him to continue our efforts to provide commissioners with technology applications that will enable them to support units more effectively and efficiently.

His recent work in helping design and implement our new national service territories adds to his broad perspective and will enable your national service team to better support our new national service territories.