As an 18-year-old, I struggled to find my way. After high school graduation, I found myself asking the question, what was I going to be when I grew up. I opted to take the road less traveled and joined the United States Army. While it was challenging and rewarding, I knew I needed more. Upon completion of my military service, I came home and became a Ragin Cajun. I learned a lot and earned my Bachelors of Arts Degree, but the question remained what was I going to be when I grew up. Consequently, I landed a position working as a counselor for abused and neglected children, but the question still nagged at me — what was I going to be when I grew up. And, then I stumbled upon my career as a professional Girl Scout executive where I became immersed in helping girls, and women to empower themselves. Finally, I had found my leadership voice; I’d found what I wanted to be when I grew up. I am proud to be in the business of building tomorrow’s leaders.
Every day at Girl Scouts we work to encourage girls to become go-getters, innovators, risk takers and leaders, and in this time that we live in where there is such a crisis of leadership, and in some cases where women are still being blocked out of traditional leadership roles, we know a better way; and that is the Girl Scout way.
Creating more female leaders means starting young and making sure today’s girls are acquiring the skills they will need to take on the 21st century leadership roles of their futures. Through our more than 100 years of experience, we have become the experts at giving girls the tools they need to empower themselves by teaching them that their voices count, they must stand up for what they believe in, and they have the strength to take the lead. Our programs are specifically designed with girls in mind and provide opportunities that they can only get from the preeminent leadership organization for girls in the world.
Girl Scouts helps girls unlock their potential and unleash it in their communities and throughout the globe because we’re the world’s largest leadership development organization for girls, and we welcome girls of all backgrounds and interests who want to develop the courage, confidence, and character to make the world a better place. Our program bolsters the benefits of school by fostering a safe, inclusive, girl-led, and all-female environment where girls are free to practice different skills, try new things, and take on leadership positions. In fact, the all-girl environment is one of the major keys to our success. Research shows that girls learn best in an all-girl, girl-led, and girl-friendly environment where their specific needs are addressed and met.
And, of course, only Girl Scouts gives girls the chance to pursue the most challenging, rewarding, and life-changing award for girls in the world: the Girl Scout Gold Award. Earned by fewer than 6 percent of Girl Scouts annually, the Gold Award requires girls to demonstrate their leadership skills by addressing a local or global community issue. Girls typically spend one to two years on their project and must establish sustainability that benefits the chosen community in the long term. Girls’ projects range from ones that address poverty to illiteracy to environmentalism. These remarkable young women are essentially the finished product that Girl Scouts offers the world.
By the way, if you are wondering how I am feeling about the Boy Scouts’ decision to accept girls, my answer is that I am disappointed, not because there’s a new competitor, but because this competitor can’t meet today’s girls in the modern world they live in.
As Girl Scouts we firmly believe that no other organization is bringing together time-tested, research-backed methods with exciting, modern programming that speaks to today’s girls and is designed to cater to the strengths of girls’ leadership development. Girl Scouts offers the best of our legacy experiences—like outdoor adventure, camping, and our cookie program—with exciting, modern programs in STEM, computer science, computational thinking, and engineering to ensure we offer a truly one-of-a-kind experience for today’s girls.
Competitors come and go — but Girl Scouts focuses on moving forward at the pace of girls. We remain as committed and focused as ever before when it comes to serving today’s girls in new, exciting, and future-focused ways, because the need for female leadership has never been greater.
Yours in Girl Scouting,
Rachel Broussard
CEO
Girl Scouts of Louisiana – Pines to the Gulf