Our Commitment to IDEA/RJ (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access & Racial Justice)

We are building on a 110-year legacy of women and girls who pushed the boundaries of what was possible in their time by righting the wrongs disenfranchising members of our siblinghood today. At Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes, we are working to recognize biases, eliminate barriers, repair past errors, and hold ourselves accountable as we grow. This work elevates the representation, engagement, and leadership of our youth, families, volunteers, staff, and community by honoring our diverse histories, cultures, and identities.

We committed to building trust and visibility in our Latinx and Hmong communities by adding bilingual staff members whose sole focus is on making Girl Scouts a more accessible and equitable place. This work has included direct service by adding bilingual troops and internal work to make Girl Scouts a reality for families in their preferred language. Over half of Girl Scout staff completed multicultural engagement training to learn how to apply an inclusive mindset to on-the-ground strategies and tactics in their ways of work. Through these efforts, we are making the strategic and systemic shifts needed to continue our legacy of boundarypushing for the next 110 years.

Girl Scouts saw themselves represented through five new culture-affirming patch programs, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, Black History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

We grew inclusive mindsets through development offerings for staff and volunteers. Each GSNWGL staff member completed 10–14 hours of IDEA/RJ development. Staff had the opportunity to participate in five training sessions and two book clubs and were afforded designated time for service and learning on Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth. Volunteers participated in live training sessions on the basics of inclusion and diversity and supporting LGBTQ+ Girl Scouts. They also gained access to self-paced resources on using inclusive language and integrating cultural connections and representation into their Girl Scout experiences.

We installed land acknowledgments at Camp Pow Low and our Appleton Service Center, recognizing the Anishinaabe, Menominee, and Ho-Chunk Nations for their sacred, historical, and significant connection as the original caretakers of the land on which these two properties rest.

We also removed a decorative structure fashioned after a totem pole on the camp property. We know the pole initially came from good intentions and much hard work from our Girl Scouts. However, without a historical connection and the collaboration of our local Indigenous nations, we did not feel that we could continue to display this structure on a Girl Scout property in a way that truly honored our Indigenous sisters.

Finally, we continued to utilize our staff-led Reaching Out program to create an accessible ramp into Girl Scouts from which we can introduce ourselves and engage families and invite participants to become members, join a troop, attend events, and attend camp.

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