Jonathan Cartner has been selected as the new scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Illowa Council, the Quad Cities-based BSA council’s executive board announced.
Mr. Cartner, a professional with the BSA since 2006, will lead the council that serves the Quad Cities and surrounding counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. He will begin his new duties April 16.
Currently the director of field service for the National Capital Area Council in Bethesda, Maryland, Mr. Cartner was selected as the new leader on Saturday, Feb. 25, by a search committee of the Illowa Council Executive Board.
“Over the years, I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for the innovative ideas that came from Illowa Council on how to better serve youth in scouting,” Mr. Cartner told the QCBJ. “From Lego recruitment campaigns to innovative camping programs, Illowa Council has been a well respected council across the BSA movement.”
“I am excited for the opportunity to work alongside a great board of directors to help grow scouting and impact families and communities across the council territory,” he added.
The Illowa BSA Council currently serves 2,601 youth across 13 counties, including in Iowa: Clinton, Jackson, Scott, Muscatine and Cedar; and in Illinois: Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, Bureau, Warren, McDonough, Stark and Knox.
Mr. Cartner, 39, succeeds Jeff Doty, who retired on Jan. 31 after more than 30 years in scouting – serving last as scout executive and CEO of the Illowa Council, where he had been since August 2018. In fact, Mr. Cartner was a 15-year-old camp staff member for the Greater St. Louis Area Council when he first met Mr. Doty, who was a scout professional there.
With his new post at Illowa Council, headquartered in Davenport, Mr. Cartner returns to his Midwest roots. He began his scouting career in 2006 as a district executive at the Great Rivers Council in Columbia, Missouri. He moved on to become the program director in the W.D. Boyce Council in Peoria, Illinois, and district director of field service for the National Capital Area Council in Bethesda.
He is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. He said he enjoys camping and fishing with his family, playing ultimate frisbee and is active in his children’s Cub Scout Pack.
He and his wife Briton have three children: Addilyn, 9; Charles, 5; and Margaret, 18 months; and will be relocating to the Quad Cities from Stafford, Virginia.
Mr. Cartner has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in political science from Missouri State University.
