Associations – Girl Scouts

Carol Dedrich is the Chief Executive Officer for Girl Scouts San Diego. Carol attributes the lessons she learned as a young Girl Scout with preparing her for leadership roles in school, the military, and throughout her career. Now, she is a champion of girls and women, committed to helping them overcome insecurities and building collaborations to expand their perspectives and skills. She began her career as a Patriot Missile Officer in the U.S. Army with an RA commission and is a veteran of Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

She transitioned to civilian life as a Director at United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, later moving to the John Wayne Cancer Institute as Vice President of Marketing and Development, and Vice President at the Fulfillment Fund. Before joining Girl Scouts San Diego in 2016, she spent seven years as Chief External Relations Officer for Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles.

At her leisure, Carol enjoys working on her private pilot’s license, being a scuba diving enthusiast, and traveling the world with her husband, Alex. Next on their bucket list: Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, Chuuk Lagoon, and a flying experience in Africa. They recently adopted her late sister’s tortoiseshell cat, Kenya, who loves making appearances during virtual meetings.

She thanks her sponsors Wendy Urushima-Conn, Emily Rex and David Oates.

Biotechnology—Gene Sequencing Technology

Terry Caskey grew up on a small farm in the Central Valley of California. As the first in his family to attend college, he was proud to complete his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from UCSB, then his master’s and Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He has spent 20+ years leading research and technology development organizations, starting with mobile device technologies, and later, microelectronics and biotech. In his current position as Director of Engineering for Illumina, he has lead their product development teams as they have been leading in the areas of pan-cancer screening, lifesaving gene therapies, targeted drug treatments and many other important discoveries.

He has always carved out time to include an element of service in his life. He has supported the Team in Training organization in collaboration with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation, the San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering and is an active member of the Harbor Island Yacht Club and San Diego Outrigger Canoe Club.

Terry has 26 patents awarded and 14 pending. He and his wife Baily have lived in San Diego for over ten years.

He thanks his sponsors Glenn Younger, Duke Sobek and Gil Johnson.

Associations-Home of Guiding Hands

Falon serves as the Vice President of Operations for Home of Guiding Hands, overseeing the functionality of 28 residential group homes and a 25,000-square-foot resource center located in El Cajon. Her responsibilities extend to managing the transportation department and supervising the entire IT network supporting over 800 employees across office, remote, and group home settings. In addition to her operational role, Falon spearheads HGH’s marketing initiatives, fosters company culture, and addresses risk management. She also leads special projects, including the implementation of the organization’s EOS framework.

She has a Master’s degree in Management and Leadership from Western Governors University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services from Springfield College. Prior to her tenure at HGH, she served as the Special Programs Manager for the San Diego Housing Commission, where she played a pivotal role in planning, directing, and overseeing the City of San Diego’s Homelessness Response Center. Before her time at the San Diego Housing Commission, Falon held leadership positions at the YMCA, contributing to the successful opening and operations of various YMCA facilities.

Falon sits on the Foundation for Developmental Disabilities (FDD) board and currently chairs the California Disabilities Services Institute (CDSI) board.

Outside of her professional commitments, Falon, alongside her husband Lenny, have four school-aged daughters and three dogs. During their free time, the family can often be found at the softball field, hockey rink, or participating in diverse events at Balboa Park.

She thanks her sponsors Lenny Leszczynski, Michael Brunker and David Oates.