The Campaign for Girls Achieving a generational leap in leadership opportunities for today’s girls.
Girl Scouts is the nation’s premier leadership organization for girls. Our mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
Table of Contents Overview Our Legacy of Leadership Today’s Girl Scouts What makes us unique? The Campaign for Girls The vision Why now? How you can help
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Our Legacy of Leadership
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Girl Scouts was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low. She believed passionately that girls should be given the same opportunities as boys to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. Juliette was a true trailblazer, and her visionary leadership created a strong foundation for the organization we would become: Environmental Stewardship She purchased a camp ten years before she purchased an office building. Diversity and Inclusion Integrated troops existed forty years before the Civil Rights Act was passed. Global Citizenship The International Council of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts was formed in 1919, the same year as the League of Nations. Educational Enrichment As early as 1913, aeronautics and circuitry programming inspired girls to consider non-traditional careers. Public Service Young Girl Scouts volunteered in hospitals, grew vegetables, sold bonds, and collected peach pits for use in gas mask filters during World War I.
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Today's Girl Scouts
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We are the largest girl-serving organization in the United States. We are more than three million strong: • 2.3 million girls, 5 to 17 years of age • 16,000 Girl Scouts overseas • 880,000 adult volunteers • 50 million alumnae • 112 councils throughout the United States The rich diversity of our country is reflected in the multicultural mosaic of our membership: • We are urban, suburban, and rural. • We are in schools, churches, temples, mosques, public housing, foster homes, and detention centers. • We are in virtually every zip code. • We are the largest member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, a sisterhood of close to 10 million girls and adults in 145 countries.
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What makes us unique?
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One girl makes a difference; girls together are changing the world. Girl Scouts changes the world by supporting the young women who will change it—who are already changing it: • Teaching self-defense to battered women in homeless shelters • Building after-school reading programs for girls in Tanzania • Providing expert testimony on cyberbullying before a congressional panel In 2009, Girl Scouts provided over 75 million hours of direct service to their communities. And this doesn’t count time spent learning, training, traveling, or just having fun. The contribution to society—from the local to the international level—represents $1.6 billion in girl-led projects with lasting results.
Our alumnae are living proof of our impact. For 100 years, Girl Scouts has done more than any other organization to provide leadership opportunities for girls. At any given point in time, approximately 10 percent of girls are Girl Scouts. Yet: • Eighty percent of women business owners were Girl Scouts.1 • Sixty-nine percent of female U.S. senators were Girl Scouts.1 • Sixty-seven percent of female members of the House of Representatives were Girl Scouts.1 • Virtually every female astronaut who has flown in space was a Girl Scout. America’s most accomplished women in public service, business, science, education, the arts, and community life are Girl Scout alumnae.
1 Defining Success, Girl Scouts of the USA, 1999.
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What makes us unique? Leadership experiences are what make Girl Scouting unique. Girl Scouts has introduced a new approach to what girls do in Girl Scouting, how they do it, and how they benefit窶馬ow and throughout their lives. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience helps girls discover what they can do, learn to connect with others, and take action to improve the world around them.
15 Outcomes ofThe Girl Scout Leadership Experience D I S C O V E R
1 Girls develop a strong sense of self. 2 Girls develop positive values. 3 Girls gain practical life skills. 4 Girls seek challenges in the world. 5 Girls develop critical thinking. 1 Girls develop healthy relationships.
C O N N E C T
2 Girls promote cooperation and team building. 3 Girls can resolve conflicts. 4 Girls advance diversity in a multicultural world. 5 Girls feel connected to their communities, locally and globally.
T A K E A C T I O N
1 Girls can identify community needs. 2 Girls are resourceful problem solvers. 3 Girls advocate for themselves and others, locally and globally. 4 Girls educate and inspire others to act. 5 Girls feel empowered to make a difference in the world.
= LEADERSHIP
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY When today’s girls graduate from college, America will need three million more scientists and engineers. 2 Girl Scouts is fueling this pipeline. Programs in science, technology, engineering, and math now account for over half of all Girl Scout awards, and we introduce more girls to inspiring role models in scientific fields than any other organization. FINANCIAL LITERACY Soon 90 percent of all women will have to be financially self-sufficient. 3 Millions of girls learn their economic ABCs by participating in the Girl Scout Cookie Program. This $715 million business—run by girls—teaches these young entrepreneurs vital life skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. HEALTHY LIVING Girl Scout programs recognize that physical health, emotional health, and selfesteem are interconnected. We embrace the “whole girl.” Nine out of ten girls say our self-esteem program helps them make positive changes in their lives.4 ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP Girl Scouts combines environmental education with community action on a national scale. Last year alone, 83,000 girls worked directly with conservationists and scientists to complete environmental projects in 43 states. GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP Girl Scouts makes the world smaller and the girl bigger. Through the world’s largest organization of girls, every girl has a global impact and a global voice.
2 US Department of Labor, 2003. 3 Women, Money, and Power, Allianz, 2006. 4 Uniquely ME!, The Girl Scout/Dove Self-Esteem Program, 2008.
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The Campaign for Girls
In 2012, we will mark 100 years of Girl Scouting. Our goal is to raise $1 billion. We will give every girl the opportunity to be the leader she wants to be, to be the leader the world needs her to be. Join us in making a promise to girls: Every girl in this generation will reach her fullest potential. Wherever she lives. Whatever challenges face her. However great the journey to what she can become.
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The Campaign for Girls
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The challenges of the 21st century demand collaborative leadership. Organizations make better decisions and yield stronger results when women and men share leadership roles.5 Companies with female leaders in their executive ranks consistently outperform their industry peers. Yet the officers and directors of Fortune 500 companies are 85 percent male, and only 15 have a female CEO.6 In the political arena, only 17 percent of U.S. senators, representatives, and governors are women. We can no longer afford to have potential leaders, innovators, and policymakers on the sidelines. Girl Scouts provides girls with more ways to learn and lead than any other organization.
The leadership landscape must change faster for today’s girls. If women continue to gain leadership roles at the same rate they have since winning the right to vote in 1920, they will catch up to men sometime in the 23rd century— the era in which Star Trek is set.7 Today’s girls won’t wait. This generation of girls can go farther. They will go farther. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience changes the arc of girls’ lives, providing leadership opportunities in their communities and around the world.
5 I nnovative Potential: Men and Women in Teams, The Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business, London Business School, 2007. 6 Women in Management, Catalyst, 2010. 7 The White House Project Report: Benchmarking Women’s Leadership (http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org/documents/Report.pdf), The White House Project, 2009.
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The Campaign for Girls
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Government investment in children is declining dramatically. Girls have a longer climb to leadership—girls in underserved communities most of all. Our leadership programs support state curriculum standards in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia. The Girl Scout program is an integrated leadership experience that develops life skills in girls: from financial literacy to healthy living to online safety.
In a world transformed by technology, many companies now look overseas to fill talent gaps. As today’s girls graduate from college, America will need three million more scientists and engineers.8 Yet girls start leaving science to boys as early as seventh grade. Girl Scouts makes science come alive for girls through hands-on experience and access to inspiring role models. Programs in science, technology, and math now account for over half of all Girl Scout awards. Girl Scouts is what girls need to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
8 US Department of Labor, 2003.
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The Campaign for Girls
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Today’s girls represent humanity’s greatest untapped talent pool. Investing in girls produces the greatest return in economic development, social progress, and public health.9 Yet girls’ programs receive only 7.5 percent of philanthropic dollars. Girl Scouts are leading the change our world so desperately needs.
Too many urgent challenges go unmet because too few girls become leaders. Boys and girls agree that leadership has no gender.10 Yet only one girl in five believes that she herself has what it takes to lead.11 The Girl Scout Leadership Experience gives girls the confidence, skills, and experience they need to make the world a better place.
9G ender Equality as Smart Economics: A World Bank Group Gender Action Plan (Fiscal Years 2007-2010), World Bank, 2006. 10 Leadership Landscape, Girl Scout Research Institute, 2009. 11 Change It Up! What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership, Girl Scout Research Institute, 2008.
How you can help. An investment in Girl Scouts is a commitment to developing young leaders who have the passion and the know-how to change the world. In partnership with Girl Scout councils across the country, we will raise $1 billion, achieving a generational leap in leadership opportunities for girls. This is the country’s largest-ever campaign for girls, and it will ensure that every girl has the opportunity to be the leader she wants to be, and the leader the world needs her to be. Our campaign will: • Expand leadership opportunities for girls • Advance Girl Scouting by reaching more girls—especially in underserved communities • Develop a national agenda for girls
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The Campaign for Girls Expanding leadership opportunities through program development Girl Scouts expands the kind of life skills and educational programs that are disappearing from our schools. No other organization provides girls with as many ways to learn and lead as today’s Girl Scouts. The result: girls who are successful in school, in family relationships, and in careers, and who are inspired to make a difference in their communities and their world.
Expanding Leadership Opportunites for Girls: $50 Million Healthy Living
STEM
Outcomes Measurement
Financial Literacy
Global Citizenship
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Advancing Girl Scouting through membership outreach and volunteer recruitment At a time when one girl in five lives with poverty and funding for education and afterschool programs is in decline, Girl Scouts says “yes� to every girl. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience changes the arc of their lives, equipping them to take on leadership roles in their community. Our goal is to double girl membership in underserved communities.
Advancing Girl Scouting: $40 Million
Membership Subsidies
Outreach to Underserved Girls
Volunteer Recruitment, Training, and Development
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The Campaign for Girls Developing a national agenda for girls through knowledge, networks, and advocacy As America’s largest girl-serving organization, Girl Scouts is the leading voice for girls’ health, growth, and potential. We are committed to advocating on their behalf at the local, regional, and national levels, and to codifying all of the knowledge and the knowhow that can be useful to other organizations that share our ambitions for girls.
Developing a National Agenda for Girls: $10 Million
Girl Scout Research Institute
Advocacy Programs
Imagine what an entire generation of girls will do with the confidence, skills, and experience they need to lead.
The Girl Scout Promise On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.
The Girl Scout Law I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.
Girl Scouts of the USA 420 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10018-2798 www.girlscouts.org