Girls can do anything.
At Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, we know this to be true. The impact of the Girl Scout Leadership
Experience speaks for itself when you consider that 90% of female astronauts,
80% of female tech leaders, 75% of current female U.S. Senators and 50% of
female business owners were Girl Scouts! The benefits of the girl-led programs run
by Girl Scouts have a 100+ year track record unequaled by any other leadership
program. Compared to women who weren’t Girl Scouts in their youth, Girl Scout
alumnae soar in life. Girl Scout alumnae have more successful careers, enjoy
higher household and personal income, are more active as mentors and community
volunteers, vote more regularly and are better educated. When you multiply
these results across our 59 million alumnae, the positive impact on our country
is simply astounding!
Here in Greater Atlanta, our Girl Scouts are accomplishing
incredible things. Just this year, Girl Scouts Cadettes Lauren Fitzgerald and
Chloe Fenster successfully petitioned Dunwoody City Council to enact a backyard
chicken ordinance as part of their Silver Award project. And Girl Scout
Ambassador Kendall Robinson just was named AFP’s Teen Philanthropist of the
Year for her project Love Rolls, a nonprofit organization she founded that has collected
almost 100,000 rolls of toilet paper for the homeless and others in need! Our local
Girl Scout alumnae are conducting peer-reviewed neuroscience research at
Stanford University, designing new facilities for Hartsfield-Jackson
International Airport and serving as mayors, county commissioners, state
representatives and city council members throughout the State of Georgia.
Research demonstrates that girls learn best in a single-gender
environment, especially in areas like STEM, but the fact is that most of a
girl’s life today is coed. For more than 100 years, Girl Scouts has offered
girls “fun with a purpose” in a single-gender environment that creates an
inclusive, safe space in which girls are free to explore their potential and
take the lead without the distractions found in a coed environment. From coding
to camping, Girl Scouts provides specific, research-backed, girl-centered
programs for each and every grade level and stage in a girl’s life. It is a
holistic all-girl program that builds as girls progress through each grade
level, culminating with the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award. Speaking of the
Gold Award, did you know that there are more than 40 scholarships just for Gold
Award Girl Scouts, and Gold Award Girl Scouts enter the military one rank
higher than their peers?
At Girl Scouts, girls don’t just learn a skill when they
earn a badge. Our curriculum is focused on developing healthy risk-taking,
empathy, goal-setting, and confidence so that girls are prepared to overcome
obstacles they might face as leaders in their careers and lives. When we
consider the obstacles that women face today, from being trailblazers in
male-dominated fields like cybersecurity where only 11% of the workforce is
female to dealing with sexual harassment and gender discrimination, the need
for the Girl Scout Leadership Experience has never been greater.
Through our blog Raising Awesome Girls,
Girl
Scouts offers parents and caregivers expert, time-tested guidance on raising
girls today, including easy everyday ways they can help their girls build the
leadership, values, and skills promoted through Girl Scouts. Countless parents
have shared that through Girl Scouts, their daughters have found the courage to
try new things and get outside their comfort zone, and that it has given them
the confidence and resilience to pursue challenges in other areas of their
life.
Girl Scouts understands the unique developmental needs of
girls and offers programming specifically designed with girls in mind, not with
girls as an afterthought. Now, more than ever, we must make sure today’s girls
are acquiring the courage, confidence, character, and skills they need to take
the reins of leadership in the 21st century. At Girl Scouts, we produce
G.I.R.L.s – Go-Getters, Innovators, Risk Takers, and Leaders. This is our power. This is the power of girls.
Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta is committed the future of
every girl, and we invite you to join us on the
journey.
Yours in Girl
Scouting,
Amy S. Dosik
Chief
Executive Officer
Girl Scouts
of Greater Atlanta
