2021-22 Strategic Priorities by Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles

Strategic Priorities 2021-2022

Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles turns 100 this year and we are excited to celebrate this milestone! COVID-19, which has changed our Girl Scout community in ways none of us could have imagined, is waning throughout our council region. Our girls, who have experienced uncertainty and loss, missed school and gatherings with families, friends and their troops, are starting to gather in person again, laughing and exploring and easing into to a “new normal.” We have been profoundly impressed by their resilience, and by stories of ways they’ve made the best of a very different reality. Throughout the pandemic, we transformed in-person Girl Scout programming into unique virtual experiences to meet our girls wherever they were. We leveraged our organization’s strength and talent to deliver our core pillars of STEAM, Life Skills, Entrepreneurship, and even Outdoors to the homes of girls across our council. No surprise, our girls have consistently risen to the challenge—making the We are delighted to see them begin to gather safely in person again, taking on adventures, and planning the Girl Scout Leadership Experiences they know and love so well! With this backdrop, inspired by our girls’ remarkable resilience, we created our council’s 2021-22 Strategic Priorities. Our strategic planning looked a little different this year. Instead of creating our traditional three-year plan, we focused on near-term priorities—our Recovery Phase. The pandemic the path to leverage our strengths to stabilize and focus our priorities to sustain our organization, ensuring the resources needed to accomplish our mission and prepare for the future. We have so much to celebrate. Our 100 years of history and traditions are the solid launching pad as we soar into the future. Our mission is more important than ever, and we are committed to providing programs that engage and inspire girls as we recover from this uniquely challenging chapter in our long, beautiful history. Yours in Girl Scouting,

Theresa Edy Kiene

Ellen E. Swarts Board Chair

Priority One Stabilize and rebuild access for girls to the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Cultivate growth in communities unfamiliar to Girl Scouts and strengthen retention of all Girl Scout troops and acquisition of new troops by creating relevancy and a sense of belonging for girls and their families. We will do this by focusing on four initiatives:

Initiative One

Initiative Three

Strengthen retention of all Girl Scout troops, especially troops in underserved communities.

Cultivate growth in communities unfamiliar to Girl Scouts and create relevancy and a sense of belonging for girls and their families.

Expected Outcome

Improve the experience of troops in low-income communities leading to increased retention of girls and leaders.

Peers will encourage others in their community to join Girl Scouts as a result of their valued Girl Scout experience.

Initiative Two

Initiative Four

Drive aggressive recruitment of Daisy and Brownie troops.

Re-establish relationships with after-school community partners.

Expected Outcome

Begin rebuilding Daisy and Brownie pipeline where troop recruitment was impacted by COVID-19 in 2021.

Community partners throughout the Greater Los Angeles area value the Girl Scout program and will participate in Girl Scouts at their sites.

Priority Two Transform the volunteer experience. Redefine opportunities for volunteer engagement and provide support that aligns with the interest and capability of caring adults to provide a supportive experience for girls. We will do this by focusing on four initiatives:

Initiative One

Initiative Three

Simplify and support the volunteer leader experience.

Train and support volunteers to ensure a diverse and inclusive environment for all girls, families, and volunteers.

Expected Outcome

Leaders feel valued and supported with increased confidence to deliver the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, resulting in greater leader retention.

Leaders understand the importance and value of a diverse and inclusive troop.

Initiative Four

Initiative Two

Engage episodic volunteers and leverage the expertise of subject matter experts from across the Los Angeles area to provide relevant girl and volunteer experiences.

Reestablish and rebuild Service Unit teams to support local leaders and provide hyper-local opportunities for girls and volunteers.

Expected Outcome

Volunteers throughout Greater Los Angeles have a strong local support system.

Girls, families and volunteers will participate in a wider selection of opportunities unique to the Greater Los Angeles area.

Girls throughout Greater Los Angeles have local access to equitable experiences.

Fully utilize the human capital of our communities to better serve the mission of GSGLA.

Priority Three Deliver consistent and impactful programmatic experiences that are relevant for girls and their families. Evaluate programmatic impact to understand and prioritize girl experiences that are relevant and meaningful for girls and their families. We will do this by focusing on four initiatives:

Initiative One

Initiative Three

Support and augment the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE) of Daisy, Brownie and Junior level troops.

Develop and deliver mental health and wellness content and resources for girls, families, and leaders.

Expected Outcome

Girls will have access to a wide variety of programming opportunities to support the achievement of the five outcomes of the GSLE.

Parents, leaders, and girls view GSGLA as a resource that supports the mental health and emotional wellbeing of girls and families.

Leaders feel confident in delivering girl-led experiences.

Initiative Four

Initiative Two

Foster engagement of the Girl Scout family.

Develop relevant experiences for older girls (6th – 12th grade) including diversified opportunities for membership and programs.

Expected Outcome

Increased participation in programs that are inclusive and welcoming to girls and families.

Expected Outcome

Older girls will have meaningful experiences that develop their skills, explore their interests, and prepare them for life beyond high school.

Priority Four Increase investment in girls and strengthen financial health. Build a foundation for increased funding while ensuring organizational efficiencies to drive investment in the future of girls. We will do this by focusing on four initiatives:

Initiative Four

Initiative One

Identify and address the greatest opportunities for process improvement and organizational efficiencies in operations and properties usage.

Stabilize the cookie program.

Expected Outcome

Families recognize the value of the cookie program and its impact on girls.

Expected Outcomes PROPERTIES

1 A strategic property plan will inform decisions to meet GSGLA’s current and future needs.

Initiative Two

Increased usage of GSGLA properties and improved customer satisfaction.

Expected Outcome

2 Supervisors feel more confident in their supervisory responsibilities and the council is mitigating risk.

Set a foundational pipeline for individual donors with full financial support of the board.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Board members meet their give/get and fund development builds a portfolio of philanthropists.

GSGLA is able to recruit top talent in a timely manner. FINANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT

 Budgeting and forecasting is more accurate and timely.

Initiative Three

Provide a minimum of $500K in financial support for equitable and inclusive participation by girls.

It’s easier and more affordable for troops to open and maintain bank accounts.

Expected Outcome

 Employees experience less downtime due to equipment failure.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

More girls in low-income communities have access to the Girl Scout experience.

Higher cross departmental use of IT equipment.

Priority Five Nurture diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging. Engage our many stakeholders to inform our process to nurture diversity, equity, inclusion, access and belonging in our community. We will do this by focusing on three initiatives:

Initiative One

Initiative Two

Conduct an assessment of our council.

Establish and define the organizational expectations for DEIA and belonging.

Expected Outcome

Understand our internal and external baseline in diversity, equity, inclusion, access (DEIA) and belonging to create a work plan to advance our future initiatives.

GSGLA will develop a clear framework upon which to build short- and long-term strategies for DEIA and belonging.

Initiative Three

Create and socialize inclusivity standards for troop leaders and staff.

Expected Outcome

Volunteer leaders and staff have a strong foundational understanding of DEIA principles and definitions.

girlscoutsla.org