Congress, Girl Scouts, Look to Empower Next Generation of Female Leaders
On Tuesday, April 28th, members of Congress will get a rare glimpse into the evolving perceptions of girls’ leadership during a conversation on “What Girls Say about Leadership: Empowering the Next Generation of Female Leaders.” The dialogue will be hosted by the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA).
The decision to convene a meeting between policymakers and the Girl Scouts was sparked by a recent study released by Girl Scout Research Institute which found that the presidential election, and the intense campaign season that preceded it, generated an unprecedented level of interest in civic engagement in young people. During Tuesday’s meeting, participants will take a close look at how girls view the concept of leadership and their role as future leaders.
“As a result of this dialogue on girls’ leadership, we hope that policymakers will have a shared understanding of how this generation of girls understands leadership and the barriers they face to achieving their leadership potential,” said Laurie Westley, Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Advocacy, and the Research Institute, GSUSA. “America’s girls need more support to become the leaders they aspire to be and the leaders our nation needs. This meeting offers an opportunity to explore this important topic.”
“Research with girls across the country demonstrates that the current notion of leadership as command and control often does not resonate with girls. Girls are redefining leadership to be connected to making a difference in the world—and are asking for support from adults to do the same,” said Judy Schoenberg, Director, Research and Outreach, GSUSA.
Congressional members will be addressed by Connie Lindsey, GSUSA National Board Chair; representatives from GSRI and several girls from the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capitol council who will share their insights on their leadership experiences and goals.
When questioned about her reasons for wanting to be a leader, a 9th grade Girl Scout from Atlanta remarked, “I want to be a leader for girls everywhere because lately I haven’t seen a single role model out in the world that I can look up to…”
Immediately following the briefing, new female members of Congress will be inducted into Troop Capitol Hill, an honorary Congressional Girl Scout troop open to all Congresswomen.
Read MoreSalute Your Leaders! Leader’s Day is Today!
Today is Girl Scout Leader’s day, started to honor all the volunteers who work as leaders and mentors in partnership with girls. Girls, their families, and communities should find a special way to thank their adult Girl Scout volunteers.
Traditionally speaking, you could thank your leader or other volunteers with a gift presented from the girls. The GS Shop has a lot of nice jewelry and trinket boxes with the Girl Scouts logo.
A better idea that’s less expensive and more personal would be a scrapbook. Get together and have all the girls write letters or draw pictures (depending on age level) of what Girl Scouts means to them and what their leaders mean to them. Present this to the leaders and other volunteers involved with the troop and I’m sure it will touch them and honor them in a much more meaningful and personal way than a crystal trinket box ever will.
If you don’t have a lot of time to devote to such a labor intensive project, you can also put together a really nice collection of photographs from outings, ceremonies, and regular meetings. You can create custom photo books, greeting cards, calenders, key chains, and more at PhotoWorks.com.
Charm City Cakes Creates Girl Scout Cookie Cake
How awesome! I’m a big fan of Ace of Cakes, a show on Food Network highlighting the operations of Charm City Cakes of Baltimore, MD. Recently they aired a segment about a cake they made for the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. The cake was for a gala event and featured Girl Scout Cookies prominently in the design. The event itself was their Green Carpet Event, honoring the top cookie pre-sellers and took place last November.
The event was a success and the girls LOVED seeing celebrity chef Duff Goldman at the event, who was more than happy to take photos and sign autographs for the girls and adult volunteers.
Read MoreGirl Scout YouTube Ad Violates Policy
Just when you thought it was safe to embrace social media!
Girl Scout Cookie Entrepreneur Stymied by Internet Sales Ban
Earlier this year, Wild Freeborn (yes, that’s her real name) posted a YouTube video, with the help of her dad, with an enthusiastic pitch: “Buy cookies! And they’re yummy!” They set up an online order system where customers in their area could purchase Tagalongs, Thin Mints and Samoas. Within two weeks, 700 orders came in.
But Wild Freeborn’s e-commerce plan hit a major snag. The Girl Scout Cookie Program, which according to Newsweek “bills itself as the largest program to teach entrepreneurship to young girls,” says it prohibits all online sales of its cookies — primarily because of safety reasons. Its guidelines state that Internet use should only be for advertising.
I understand the drive for a parent to do what he can to help his daughter sell more boxes. But the rules are there for a reason, and you should adhere to those rules. This father knowingly broke a rule. Some people have criticized the Girl Scouts for not allowing cookie sales online, but I don’t think those people understand that the policy is there to keep it fair and safe for the girls participating. People may not realize that Girl Scouts don’t make a ton of money on the cookie sales. The primary goal of the cookie sale, along with the fall nut & calendar sale, is to teach the girls entrepreneurial skills along with the life lessons of honesty and fairness. The lessons learned from selling cookies is the main point of the exercise, not to harass you outside your local super market to buy some Thin Mints to line their pockets.
[Bryan Freeborn] told Matt Lauer of the “Today Show” last week, “We knew there was a policy that it wasn’t OK, but we thought we were taking orders and promoting the cookies and we seemed to think that was within the spirit of the rules. The whole intent was to help my daughter meet her goals, utilizing up-to-date marketing principles.”
He knew there was a rule against this, and yet let his daughter break those rules to meet her goal to go to camp. To me, the lesson that it’s okay to break the rules when you want something bad enough is not as important as fairness and honesty. Had this just been a YouTube video, I don’t think the GSUSA would have taken issue. The online ordering system the father set up is where the line was crossed, essentially allowing his daughter and her troop to “steal” sales from other girls. Bear in mind that I work in online marketing myself, and while I’m usually the first person to advocate brick and mortar organizations to leverage social media and online marketing to their benefit, I still stand behind the Girl Scouts in their decision in this case.
None of the articles I read commented on whether or not the girl had to forfeit those sales; my best guess is that they let those orders stand at the time the website was taken down. I’d love to see her embrace social media in other ways with working on different badges or other troop-run fundraisers to help them go to camp. That would allow her father to teach her what he really thinks he’s teaching her, about updated marketing tactics and technology, without the underlying questionable rule-breaking message.
Read MoreGirl Scouts Rebranding?
I read an interesting article recently from the Washington Post titled Blogs In, Badges Out as Girl Scouts Modernize. As a marketer by profession and life-long Girl Scout purist and enthusiast, this naturally piqued my interest on multiple levels.
Long associated with images of dorky vests and singalongs around the campfire, the 97-year-old Girl Scouts of the USA is trying to become cool. Or at least cooler.
With enrollment dropping sharply, the organization is experimenting with a total makeover of the Girl Scout experience.
What’s in: books and blogs written in girls’ voices on topics such as environmental awareness and engineering; troops led by college students; videoconferencing with scouts in other countries.
What’s out: textbook-style lessons on the value of helping others; shunning the Internet; moms as troop leaders for teenagers.
Thin Mints are not in jeopardy, but — OMG! — badges will be de-emphasized.
“We took a step back and asked, ‘What do girls need from us right now?’ ” said Eileen Doyle, the Girl Scouts’ senior vice president of program development. “There is consistency in our goals throughout our history, but we can maintain that while being fun, edgy and challenging for modern-day girls.”
I’m of two minds about the loss of badges as a core of the Girl Scout program. I learned so much about very diverse things in my pursuit of badges. I was an overacheiver and I wanted to earn as many badges as possible, including all the dabblers in various categories. That goal forced me to broaden my intellect, and I can’t imagine being who I am now without having picked up those little bits of information that broadened my horizons. On the other hand, I’d hate for girls to not join scouts just because of some of the negative stereotypes surrounding it, that it’s all badges and cookies. I hope this works out for them, but I also hope that they find ways to increase learning opportunities that loosing an emphasis on badges might otherwise be lessened.
Read MoreHappy 97th Birthday Girl Scouts!
Wow, it’s hard to believe that the Girl Scouts of America are just 3 years away from celebrating their 100th birthday!
Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1912, for a local Girl Scout meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball, went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars, and studied first aid.
Within a few years, Daisy’s dream for a girl-centered organization was realized. Today, Girl Scouts of the USA has a membership of nearly four million girls and adults, a significant growth from its modest beginnings nearly a century ago. In fact, more than 50 million women in the U.S. today are Girl Scout alumnae. We invite you to learn about our robust organization and its rich history. From our willingness to tackle important societal issues, to our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness—Girl Scouts is dedicated to every girl, everywhere.
I can’t tell you what Girl Scouts did for me growing up. While not a terrible childhood, it certainly wasn’t picture perfect either. I give Girl Scouts a LOT of credit for giving me the ability to look back on my formitive years and to be able to say they weren’t that bad. All my best memories growing up involved Girl Scouts, whether is was regular troop meetings, outings, council camping trips, or summer camp. Heck, I even spent the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 at a Girl Scout meeting! It’s helped me to become the strong woman I am and I can’t thank my leaders and other volunteers enough.
I’m sadly not in touch with them anymore, but in the off chance they ever do a Google search for their names… THANK YOU! Shirley Taylor, who was my leader from the time I was in Brownies until the day I graduated high school, was a huge influence and inspiration in my life, and I kick myself all the time for not keeping in better contact after going away to college. While in high school our troop was merged and co-lead by Deborah Kelly and her sister Pam (for the life of me I can’t remember Pam’s last name). They also helped to shape me as a young woman ready to go off into the world and I learned so much from them as well. I can only hope someone finds this and forwards it to them so Thank you so much from Trisha (Floyd) Fawver!
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