Meet the newest member of our GHBA team, Scout Odegaard!
Scout joins GHBA as government affairs assistant. She will work with Troy Allen to serve our government affairs program including our Government Affairs Committee, HOME-PAC, Developers Council, and Code Review Committee. Scout will also work with the GHBA board of directors, the Young Professionals Committee and the Past Presidents Council.
Aimee Bertrand, CEO, sat down with Scout to ask her a few questions to help you to get to know her.
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Aimee Bertrand: Where did you grow up?
Scout Odegaard: I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. I wholeheartedly believe San Antonio has the best breakfast tacos of any Texas city–though I’d love to know recommendations of places that may come close here in Houston!
AB: Do you have a favorite memory from childhood?
SO: Most of my favorite childhood memories revolve around showing horses and a slew of livestock. I grew up in 4-H and FFA and have many happy memories from road-tripping with friends and family all over south Texas for shows on the weekends! One particularly fond memory is my last-ever pig show and science fair here in Houston at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, where I even won some scholarship money.
AB: Tell us about your experience at the Bush School.
SO: I loved my time at The Bush School, even though I started graduate school at a weird time in August of 2020 when the world was mostly shut down. By the end of my first semester, I had fully adjusted and was enjoying my studies and extracurriculars. Graduate school was not easy, but it showed me what I am made of and allowed me to fine-tune skills that I will use for the rest of my life. Not to mention I got to meet some of my best friends. Struggling through quantitative statistics and economics together creates a bond like no other.
AB: What drives your interest in politics and the policy-making process?
SO: I have always been interested in helping make the world, or at least my little corner of it, a better place. I grew up with great examples of selfless service in my family, friends, and even on TV, and I want to do my best to emulate that. Some people might think that call to service is the exact opposite of the policy-making world, but I am still optimistic. I found my way to the policy world late in my undergraduate career through an internship with a now-retired state senator. I was fascinated by the possibility of impacting many people for the better with policy. I think there is a lot of important work to be done to better the lives of all Texans, and I see policy as an excellent vehicle for that work.
AB: What made you decide to come to work for GHBA?
SO: I met you (Aimee) at a breakfast event I was attending as part of my internship with Whitmire & Munoz, LLC. about two months before I was set to graduate from the Bush School. After she told me about this position, and my then-bosses gushed about how great she was, I followed her to the parking lot to give her a copy of my resume (I’m nothing if not committed). After speaking with you and reading about GHBA, I was so excited to have a potential opportunity to get started in the kind of work I see myself doing for the rest of my career at a place where I could tell people loved working.
AB: What are you most interested in working on with our builder members?
SO: I am really looking forward to learning from our builder members about all of the things they are experts in and using that knowledge to better serve them when helping with the direction of our government affairs agenda.
AB: Do you have any pets?
SO: Yes! I have two dogs, Max, a Cairn Terrier, and Percy, a Catahoula-Greyhound mix. They rule my world and are my best friends. I would love nothing more than to share dog pictures with everyone I meet.
AB: What do you do when you are away from the office?
SO: Graduate school didn’t leave me with much time to develop hobbies, so I am really excited to get back to making time for the things I love like reading, cooking, and spending time with my friends!
AB: What are you looking forward to with your relocation to Houston?
SO: After six years of living in small college towns (Canyon first and then College Station), I am looking forward to having more than one of everything! In Canyon, we usually had to drive to Amarillo for anything. College Station typically only had one of anything, usually on the opposite side of town or just didn’t have it. Houston has lots of options and lots to do!
We look forward to many opportunities for our members to meet and work with Scout in the coming months. If you would like to reach out to her, please email her at SOdegaard@ghba.org or call her at 281-664-1433.
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