Citizen of the Week: Tricia Bethel Cannon Makes Room for the Next Leader

Tricia Bethel Cannon helped launch Coweta County’s first all-girl Scouts BSA troop — and then, after years of leading it, stepped aside.

For Cannon, that decision was part of the job.

“I’m a firm believer that you have to make room for other people to grow and learn,” Cannon said.

It is a philosophy that runs through much of her community work. Cannon has led Scouts, mentored girls through Elevate Coweta, served on a middle school council, volunteered with Kiwanis, trained Wilderness First Aid participants, and found still more ways to connect people with opportunities to serve.

She jokingly calls herself a “volunteer holic.”

“My mother used to call it a professional volunteer,” Cannon said.

Cannon grew up in a Scouting family, and when her own children became old enough, she first volunteered with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop and then with her son’s Cub Scout group.

Before long, she was leading both.

When girls became eligible to join Scouts BSA, Cannon was approached about becoming Scoutmaster for Coweta County’s first all-girl troop. Before the troop formally launched in 2019, she helped several girls gain leadership experience through other Scouting programs so they would be ready to help teach those who joined them.

“The whole notion about Scouting America now, Boy Scout program, is that the youth teach the youth,” Cannon said.

She eventually stepped down as Scoutmaster because she believes leaders have a responsibility to prepare others to take over.

“I’m a firm believer that you have to make room for other people to grow and learn,” Cannon said.

She remains active in Scouting. Cannon serves as an associate lodge adviser for Ini-To Lodge in the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s honor society, and works with Wilderness First Aid training.

The intensive training prepares participants for emergencies that can happen during backpacking, hiking, and other backcountry activities. On the final day, actors are placed in simulated emergency situations and participants must determine how to respond.

“I’m always a teacher, educator, life lessons, educate,” Cannon said. “That’s who I am. Mentor, professional volunteer.”

That description also fits her work with Elevate Coweta, where Cannon mentors girls and has continued relationships with some students as they moved from middle school into high school.

When Cannon asked two of the girls what they had gained from their weekly meetings, their answer surprised her.

“Both of them said, ‘I feel heard,’” Cannon said.

Sometimes her role is practical. She encourages students to read more, think about college, improve relationships at home, or consider what kind of future they want.

Other times, Cannon said, the girls simply need an adult who will listen.

“They complain about their brothers and sisters, or give them some encouragement, or tell them, ‘Hey, continue to write. You owe me a story,’” Cannon said. “I show up to band performances and choir performances, and I’m this person on the outside coming in.”

Cannon also serves on the school council at Arnall Middle School after being asked to help connect the school with the wider community. Her own children did not attend the school.

More recently, she joined an all-female Kiwanis group in Coweta County and plans to participate in its reading program in elementary schools.

Her professional life has changed significantly along the way.

Cannon spent about 25 years in the hotel and hospitality industry, working with Marriott, Starwood, and franchise hotels. When COVID-19 devastated the hospitality industry, she lost her job and saw an opportunity to build a career with greater control over her schedule.

She became a certified health coach before eventually joining Modern Woodmen of America, where she now works in financial services.

What drew her to the organization, Cannon said, was not simply the career change. It was Modern Woodmen’s community-service model and the opportunity to combine her work with something she already loved doing.

“Any chance that I get to be able to give, and then I get to give our organization money, it’s awesome,” Cannon said.

She now works with clients on life insurance, annuities, retirement planning, and investments while continuing a schedule filled with community organizations and mentoring.

Cannon moved to Newnan from Fort Lauderdale about 17 years ago and recently married. She and her husband plan to build a home in Brooks on family land.

Even as she expands her connections into Fayette County and Peachtree City through business networking, Cannon continues looking for volunteer opportunities — although she admits she is currently trying to practice one leadership lesson that can be particularly difficult for a “volunteer holic.”

Saying no.

With a house-building project ahead, she is deliberately limiting new commitments for now.

Still, service has a way of finding its way onto Cannon’s calendar.

Her philosophy is not that one person should keep doing everything. Quite the opposite. She believes good volunteers and leaders should bring others along, teach them what they know, and eventually give them room to lead.

That may be Cannon’s most lasting contribution across Scouting, schools, mentoring, and civic organizations: not simply showing up herself, but helping create more people who will show up next.