Why Girl Scouts Become Entrepreneurs

Because we are still in “the cookie season” we thought you may be interested to know that girls who participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Activity more than likely will become entrepreneurs in their lifetime! Some 80 percent of women entrepreneurs were Girl Scouts. Some may say this is a coincidence. However, we don’t believe this!

Preparing girls to become leaders is what Girl Scouts is all about. We can proudly say that more than two thirds of the female members of Congress and an incredible 80% of women business owners were Girl Scouts.

So what is it about the Girl Scouts that really makes it a success in building leaders of tomorrow?

Entrepreneurship
After decades of successful selling of Thin Mints, you’ve got to realize that this is business training! Hundreds of thousands of girls each year participate in the Cookie Activity program that teaches girls about goal-setting, decision-making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. Girl Scouts understand all the business concepts related to this activity including inventory control – how many boxes to sell, marketing – door to door sales, cookie booths, social media and mobile uses, customer satisfaction, and reaching their set goals – as well as surpassing them.

Team Work
Girl Scouts learn cooperatively. They are taught to work together to identify and solve problems or obstacles in their way. The same goes for business. Successful business leaders rely on support from others inside and outside their organization.

Community Service
One of the largest and most successful component of being a Girl Scout is community service. Giving to others. Girls learn to be socially responsible from the very beginning. Community Service has long been a major focus of Girl Scouts. It’s even written into our Mission Statement. “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.”

Go For It Attitude
Girl Scouts encourages girls to believe in the “just-go-for-it” attitude. The new GSUSA CEO, Anna Maria Chavez, has set an ambitious goal for Girl Scouts – to help close the gap between men and women in leadership positions within one generation. She has proclaimed 2012 The Year of the Girl!

Anna Maria Chavez: “We Have to Be Where Girls Are!”

Since taking the reins as CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, Anna Maria Chávez has been trying to put a new spark into her organization, which officially celebrates its centenary this year.

Girls Scouts have not been typically associated with innovation. Chávez believes that changing that reality–and the perception–is critical to the organization’s continued success in the 21st century. One of the obvious places to start is by digitizing the Girl Scouts. “We have to be where girls are,” says Chávez . “Girl Scouts was founded 100 years ago. We need to update the organization and our model, or else we’re going to lose people.”

In an effort to be where “young girls are,” Girl Scouts has been piloting “virtual troops.” Virtual troops are organized by program level, and have monthly meetings using the Adobe Connect Pro web-conferencing service. Weekly activities, analogous to the activities of an offline troop, are posted online, and the girls can complete them at their leisure. A virtual troop can be made up of girls from all over the world. At the end of a membership year, members of an online troop advance to the next girl scouting level.

Cookie sales and other formative Girl Scout experiences have played a role in developing the leadership talents of many high-profile women, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Designer Donna Karan, DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld. In addition 59% of women in Congress are Girl Scout alums, and 80% of women business owners in the U.S. are Girl Scout alums.

Chávez wants to see more Girl Scouts going on to assume roles in technology businesses and in social entrepreneurship. Today, the leaders in these fields skew heavily male. Chávez thinks scouting can have an impact on more generations of female business, technology, and social entrepreneurs. Explaining the gap, Chávez observes that “girls literally have to feel that they know everything about an issue before they can jump in and do something about it. Men are in the world where everything is possible. We’re trying to change that perception for girls and tell them that can jump in to this world, that they are ready.”

Read more of Anna Maria Chavez’s interview in Fast Company.

Happy Birthday Girl Scouts!

Whether you are one of the millions of alums who we hope will reengage with our movement, one of the thousands of Girl Scout staffers across the Nation, proud to be a part of this monumental birthday, or one girl who has joined the growing ranks of girls and women across the country who recognize that this is THE YEAR OF THE GIRL.

Take the time today to really think about what a brave undertaking Juliette Gordon Low committed herself to accomplish 100 years ago today.

Take a few minutes and shout out the Girl Scout Promise and Law as we all recommit ourselves to advocating for girls everywhere.

Take the ToGetHerThere Pledge and join us in insuring that Girl Scouts will be around for the next 100 years with the same vigor, honor, courage, confidence and character that we have over the last 100 years.

Here are a few fun ways to celebrate being 100 years!

Local 100^th Birthday Celebrations: Participate in your local area 100^th Birthday celebrations going on in your community throughout the month of March

Recreate the Historic Girl Scout Call: In 1912, Girl Scout founder Juliette Low made a historic telephone call, which led to the March 12, 1912, gathering of the first Girl Scout troop. Recreate “The Call” in the new millennium via smart phone.

Girl Scout Sunday/Sabbath: March 17 – 18, 2012 – Attend your place of worship and be recognized as a Girl Scout (as an individual or group)! Perform a service, such as greeting, ushering, or doing a flag ceremony.

Community Service: Be sure to make community service a part of your celebration. Whether it’s committing to the Forever Green project or coming up with an idea that expresses your troop and community needs.

Girl Scout Polished: Paint your nails green during Girl Scout week! A fabulous and fun green shade will show everyone you support Girl Scouts!

Wear Your Green with Pride: Show your Girl Scout spirit by wearing your Girl Scout uniform, Girl Scout apparel, or the color green on March 12th and throughout Girl Scout Week.

 Happy Birthday Girl Scouts!

Pam Kovacevich
CEO, Girl Scouts of Central Illinois

Hooray for Summer Camp!

I think it was just about a week ago, when I was leaving work at 5:00 p.m. when I noticed it had already been dark for an hour, but now it’s still light out all the way home.

This time of the year always makes me think about camp, especially the opening campfire we do at resident camp the first night.  During the summer the sun stays up so much longer, and we are always trying to time the campfire just right so it’s getting dark, but not totally dark. We typically aim for around 8:30 p.m. . . . which is a big difference from the 5:30 p.m. we are all use to.

The opening campfire is one of my favorite times of camp, because it reminds me that the girls have a whole week of camp ahead of them.  It’s the beginning of their escape from the stresses of the real world and the technology that constantly surrounds them.  This is the beginning of their journey, the beginning of friendships, and the beginning of life-long memories. This is the moment we work for all year – we get to watch it unfold with all the amazing possibilities ahead of us.

I think about the same things when I flip through the Summer Activity Guide, even though we’ve been planning these camp sessions before the last camper left last summer.  I wonder what silly stories the girls will share while they are traveling to St. Louis as a Camp Widji Teen Traveler.  I am excited for the re-connection that will happen between girls and their gals at Camp Kiwanis during their adventure at the Pixie Paradise or girls and their guys at Camp Tapawingo during their Western Adventure.  I am looking forward to the best sights at Camp Peairs is when the sailboats are out and all the beautiful sails are floating across the water under the control of our Sail Away or Sail-Yaking campers.

There is so much possibility in the pages of the Summer Activity Guide —- will your summer have horses or a Mini-Resident Camp or even a Community Day Camp in your own neck of the woods?

I hope you’ll take an evening soon and sit down with your camper and look at all the possibilities she has this summer.

Registration starts on March 14^th, so be sure to register and claim your spot soon. Every year there are several camps that fill-up the first day of registration.

if you are not sure or need some advice on choosingjust the right summer camp for your daughter, please contact one of our camp directors. We would love to assist you with your summer plans.

You’re summer adventure awaits you!

Katie “Bugs” Nolan
Program Specialist
Camp Director – Camp Tapawingo & Camp Peairs
knolan@girlscouts-gsci.org

Jennifer “Sherwood” Kernan
Program Specialist
Camp Director – Camp Widjiwagan
jkernan@girlscouts-gsci.org

Billie “Skeeter” Waddell
Program Specialist
Camp Director – Camp Kiwanis
bwaddell@girlscouts-gsci.org

Girl Scout Cookie Booths Starting

Girl Scout cookie season is a much-anticipated yearly event both for the Girl Scouts and for people looking to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Trying to find Girl Scout cookies in your community? Check out the link on the home page of our website.  Click on the Cookie Booth Locator in the right hand corner under the scrolling headline pictures. Just type in your zip code, and you’ll see a list of the booth sales (during which girls sell cookies in or near stores, malls, and other businesses) in your area.

The activity of selling cookies is directly related to our purpose of helping all girls realize their full potential and become strong, confident, and resourceful citizens.

• Girl Scouts learn life skills and are able to realize their goals and they have fun!
• Customers get a great product and get to support girls in their own community.
• All of the proceeds support Girl Scouting in our local community.

Through the Girl Scout Cookie Program girls develop five essential life skills:

• Goal setting
• Decision making
• Money management
• People skills
• Business ethics

Many successful business women today say they got their start selling Girl Scout cookies.

GSCI cookie booths run from March 9^th through April 15, 2012.

Learning Life Lessons through the Girl Scout Cookie Activity

It’s easy to think of the Girl Scout Cookie Program as girls simply hawking treats, but there’s something more behind the annual ritual, especially this year. For the first time since 1987, the Girl Scout curriculum has been revamped and now features a stronger focus on the financial literacy and business lessons behind the cookie sales.

Girl Scouts at each level, from the 5- and 6-year-old Daisies to the high school Ambassadors, learn about customer relations, business plans, research and development, marketing and sales analysis, all in the name of cookies.

The Girl Scout Cookie Activity is the largest girl-led business in the country and generates immeasurable benefits for girls, the council and our communities. Girls set cookie goals to support their chosen activities for the year, to fund community service and leadership projects, to attend summer camp, to travel to destinations near and far and to provide events for girls in their community. The activity of selling cookies is directly related to our purpose of helping all girls realize their full potential and become strong, confident, and resourceful citizens.

All of the proceeds—every penny—from a local council’s cookie activities remains in the area where the cookies are sold. This revenue is used to benefit girls, some of it directly by remaining in the Girl Scout troop/group treasury and some of it indirectly by subsidizing the cost of providing the Girl Scout program in the local area.

Money from Girl Scout Cookies helps local councils:

• Recruit and train volunteer adults to work with girls.
• Provide the financial assistance needed to make Girl Scouting available for all girls.
• Improve and maintain camp and other activity sites.
• Keep event/camp fees for all members to a minimum.
• Sponsor special events and projects.

Cookie orders have now been submitted to the council and we are awaiting shipment of cookies to begin distributing to customers. Cookie delivery to customers begins March 6 – 21, 2012.

Cookie booths begin the weekend of March 9^th through April 15^th. To locate a cookie booth near you click here. Our Cookie Booth Locator is on the upper right-hand column of our website.

Investing in Girls Now Will Pay Off for the Nation Tomorrow

Something is going on with girls today.

If we move beyond simple platitudes about young people being the future and look at the decisions girls are actually making, we see that far too many of them are opting out. At a time when our nation needs all the drive and brainpower it can muster – when we need girls to imagine their grown up selves as someday leading a boardroom, or programming the next killer app, or heading up a biomedical research team – something is stopping them.

That “something” has much do with a cycle of discouragement that leads to girls backing down from their aspirations. They’re opting out of activities they once loved. Some of them are even shying away from raising their hands in class.

What is happening? What is so discouraging for girls today?

The short answer is unsupportive environments. For girls, negative influences abound, including peer pressure not to stand out, a lack of role models and mentors, unhealthy and unattainable media images about beauty, and the bullying mentality of peers.

It’s the perfect storm. An unsupportive environment gives a girl discouraging messages starting in grade school, and continuing for the rest of her life. If this goes unchecked, millions of girls will never realize their full leadership potential. They’ll opt out of pursuing their ambitions and never dare to believe in their own potential.

Research bears out the magnitude of the problem. A recent study by the Girl Scout Research Institute shows that 61 percent of girls are either ambivalent about leadership or say it’s not important to them at all. Of the 39 percent of girls who aren’t disaffected, only one in five believes she herself has what it takes to lead.

What a waste of talent. There are girls in our community and across the country who have the brains and the talent to discover a cure for cancer or Alzheimer’s disease or AIDS. They have it within them to launch the next great tech startup that will make us more efficient and create thousands of jobs in the process.

If only they don’t opt out before they get there.

We can’t afford to let that happen – as parents, as citizens of our community, as a nation. If we invest in girls now, the payoff for our community and our country will be tremendous.

We at Girl Scouts have been in the business of helping girls find the leader within for a hundred years now. In honor of our centennial, we have launched ToGetHerThere, a call to action for all of us to be part of the solution—of getting girls to stick with it and realize their full leadership potential.

Your involvement can be as easy as learning more about the issues and taking our pledge at ToGetHerThere.org, as meaningful as volunteering with organizations that support girls, or as profound as mentoring a girl and helping her to see her possibilities in life. I can assure you that at GSCI, we always have room for one more troop leader or adult volunteer.

In whatever way you chose to get involved, you’re creating an environment that supports successful futures for girls. The only thing this requires is a sincere desire to make sure every girl reaches her potential.

Which will be a win for all of us. However you choose to participate, I’m asking you to join the ToGetHerThere cause campaign today – because when a girl succeeds, so does society.

Camp Tapawingo Stables Update

Just wanted to give a short update with pictures to our Camp Tapawingo Stables progress. The roof has been installed.  The color of the roof is a galvanized steel color.  Cupolas on the roof will be added soon.  These will be sage green with a copper top!  The utilities in the welcome center were placed in position and the concrete floor was poured as well.  A portion of the windows have been installed.  This week the contractors are working on the hardie board lap siding which will be sage green in color.  Stay tuned, more to come! View our slide show of the most recent pictures. Lots of great changes and progress everyday!!

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Amy Lefringhouse
Director of Property

World Thinking Day – February 22, 2012

Each year on February 22, World Thinking Day, girls participate in activities and projects with global themes to honor their sister Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in other countries. World Thinking Day not only gives girls a chance to celebrate international friendships, but is also a reminder that Girl Scouts of the USA is part of a global community—one of nearly 150 countries with Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

World Thinking Day is part of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts Global Action Theme (GAT) based on the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people.

The theme for World Thinking Day 2012 is girls worldwide say “we can save our planet.” This theme is based on United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal 7 focused on environmental sustainability.

The World Thinking Day award activities are designed to complement the Girl Scout leadership journeys and reinforce the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (PDF).

The World Thinking Day Award for:

• Girl Scout Daisies
• Girl Scout Brownies
• Girl Scout Juniors
• Girl Scout Cadettes
• Girl Scout Seniors
• Girl Scout Ambassadors

For more great ideas on how we can save our planet, also visit Girl Scouts Forever Green 100th Anniversary Take Action Project.

Summer is Just Around the Corner

Welcome to the GSCI 2012 Summer Activity Guide, packed full of summer opportunities for girls of all ages. Camp is one of several pathways through which girls can develop their inherent leadership, as they experience independence, develop new skills, and learn to live in harmony with the environment.

If you have joined us for summer programming before, then you know some of the exciting things that await you inside these pages. However, be sure to check out what’s new, because our summer camp directors are always looking for the latest, greatest adventure for girls and they are committed to bringing you new programs every summer along with your tried-and-true favorites.

If you are new to Girl Scouts or not yet a member, then we hope you’ll be as excited as we are by the wide array of offerings we have available this summer: horseback riding for grade 4 – adult and all levels of ability; two challenge courses featuring high and low ropes courses and a variety of elements; canoeing, kayaking, sailing, swimming, and water sports for water lovers; orienteering, backpacking, and primitive camping for the truly adventurous; progressive teen camps to ignite your sense of challenge and adventure; archery; creative arts; and so much more.

Parents and guardians, you can rest assured that when girls join us for summer programming they are not only having the time of their life and building lasting memories; they are also increasing their skills, strength, and independence, developing their leadership potential, and discovering the power of teamwork and cooperative, hands-on learning in a safe, nurturing, all-girl environment. This is what Girl Scouting has been providing girls for 100 years and will continue to deliver for the next 100 years and beyond.

Day camp, resident camp, teen leadership camp, mini-resident camp, and weekend and family events are all available. We invite you to browse these pages, mark your favorite choices, and start making your plans to join us at camp, where there is truly something for every girl, troop, or family, no matter your interests, abilities, and passions. It is our hope that you will use this Activity Guide to set your sights on adventure and let us be your source of great, girl-inspired fun for the summer of 2012!

We look forward to seeing you at camp!

Pam Kovacevich
CEO, Girl Scouts of Central Illinois