Virginia Margaret Radford is a New Zealand girl guide leader. In 1997 she was appointed a Companion of the

Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the ...

for community service, and in 2016 she was appointed a Companion of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

for services to

Girl Guides Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of Girlguiding, The ...

Early life and education

Radford joined the Brownies aged around seven. She worked as a teacher, and was the human resources and communications director at Fletcher Forests. She has a Bachelor of Science with Honours from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, in zoology and mathematics, and an MBA from the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

Guiding career

In 1999 Radford was elected as chair of the board of the

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association that supports Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 153 countries. It was established in the year 1928 in Parád, H ...

(WAGGGS). She is the only New Zealander to have held this position. She promoted guiding in more than twenty countries, and helped develop the long term vision for the world association. In 2012 she was appointed as director of the board of

Girl Guides Australia Girl Guides Australia (GGA) is the national Girl Guiding organisation in Australia. Its mission is to empower "girls and young women to discover their potential as leaders of their world". Membership is open to all girls and young women from al ...

. Radford also served as Vice Chairperson on the International Board of Trustees of the American Field Service (now

AFS Intercultural Programs AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professional ...

), having been elected to the board in 2008.Radford was a board member and Vice Chairperson of the Olave Baden-Powell Society, elected in 2005. The society is a network of supporters of WAGGGS, fundraising and keeping previous members in touch with guiding. Radford is also vice president of the Auckland Justices of the Peace Association.

Honours and awards

In the

1997 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

Radford was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service, and in the

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

she was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Girl Guides.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radford, Ginny Victoria University of Wellington alumni University of Otago alumni Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts people New Zealand justices of the peace Year of birth missing (living people) Living people