New District Commissioner Appointed for Girlguiding in Luxembourg

British Girlguiding Overseas (B.G.O.) has announced the appointment of a new District Commissioner in Luxembourg.

British Girlguiding volunteers in Luxembourg have welcomed Adriana Coppola-Finegan as their new leader. Ms Coppola-Finegan takes over from Nuriye Happold, who recently ended her five-year appointment.

The new District Commissioner commented: “I am honoured to take on this important role and would like to thank Nuriye for all the dedication she has shown to the girls, young ladies and leaders who are part of our Girlguiding family here in Luxembourg – I hope to continue her work, as well as the work of all past District Commissioners and volunteers; and carry on strengthening such an important part of our community and shared British heritage overseas, as well as develop exciting new opportunities for girls and young women”.

Adriana Coppola-Finegan boasts 20 years of experience in Girlguiding around the world. As well making important contributions in local communities and at a national level in Costa Rica, Ms Coppola-Finegan has also lived and worked as a volunteer in three of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts World Centres in Switzerland, Mexico and India, advocating for and working on projects dedicated to women’s rights and girl’s empowerment and education.

Adriana Coppola-Finegan holds a licentiate degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Costa Rica, as well as a Master’s in Science degree in Renewable Energy from the University of Oldenburg, Germany. She has a broad working experience in the private and public sector, in academia and at an international level; she is currently a Doctorate-in-Engineering Researcher at the University of Luxembourg in the field of energy efficiency and for the past four years, she has been a negotiator at the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) on Climate Change as an expert on Technology and its Gender components.

She added: “I hope to be able to organise opportunities for our District related to Climate Change and Women’s Empowerment, both for the girls and the volunteers; making the most of the capacity building in our international Girlguiding programme, but also creating other training opportunities and even organising trips to take part in activities with Guides from across the world. My dream would be to give girls from our District the chance to be at COP26 in Glasgow next year”.

Girlguiding enables girls to experience adventure, voice their opinions and grow in confidence in a safe place. The Luxembourg district, with its network of volunteers, plans to continue offering these valuable opportunities to girls, through a well-established and successful youth educational programme. New members are always welcome and the network is currently accepting applications to join its team of volunteers (18+ years old).

Members meet regularly as Rainbows (ages 5 to 7), Brownies (ages 7-10), Guides (ages 10 to 14) and Rangers (ages 14 to 18). All BGO activities are held in English. Parents can register their daughter's interest in Girlguiding at: https://www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-for-parents/register-your-daughter.