By: Joy Wheeler, CEO

If you placed the 3,710 boxes of Girl Scout cookies Paige Thomas sold last year end to end, they would stretch over five-and-a-half football fields. Just imagine how many vanloads, door-to-door visits and frigid cookie booth sessions that took. This year, she and her super-volunteer mom, Maggie, are bound to do it again.

Paige has been our top seller three years in a row, and she’s only 10 years old. Now, that’s a successful entrepreneur!

Business lessons from a 10-year old leader
Paige has learned multiple lessons in her five years of cookie selling – ones we can all use:

• Make eye contact when you speak to a customer.
• Keep your math skills sharp.
• Say thank you – whether you make the sale or not.
• When you don’t make the sale, don’t take it personally.

Paige has achieved a wealth of wisdom beyond her 10 years!

Entrepreneurship mindset has far-reaching effects
The Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches the entrepreneurial attributes of risk-taking, innovation and leadership development that are critical to the future of girls – and to the world. Girl Scouts are rewarded for their efforts in goal setting, budgeting and teamwork as they earn special awards and proceeds for their troop to use for their activities.

Recent Girl Scouts USA research explains that, “If girls are left out of the entrepreneurial space, they can suffer from long-term financial and career consequences that contribute to the leadership and wage gap between men and women. But when girls’ and women’s ideas for how to change the world are put into action, the economy gains revenue and society gains ingenuity.”

Girls are poised to be leaders in entrepreneurship. For example, six in 10 girls have an entrepreneurial mindset. About 78% are interested in becoming entrepreneurs, and 84% want to lead a cause or campaign in something they believe in. Yet, they face barriers – access to information about how to get started, access to the social and financial capital and technology to succeed, and perceptions of a glass ceiling related to gender. They have the interest and aptitude; we just need to support them in getting there!

Your help is needed
Girl Scouts programs – including the Cookie Program and the hundreds of other hands-on skill-building experiences support these principles and directly lead to changes in the world. We ARE the 51% Solution, and you can help make it happen:

1. Visit a booth sale and buy cookies: Visit www.gsksmo.org/cookies or use the official Girl Scout Cookie Finder app, free on iOS and Android devices. 
2. Recognize and celebrate the great things girls are already doing, and make sure they know these activities are the foundation for entrepreneurship.
3. Acknowledge and encourage girls when they’re curious about how things work, adapting to change, collaborating with others and trying again when things don’t work the first time.
4. Encourage girls to overcome the fear of failure.
5. Give them the chance to try on entrepreneurship in safe spaces – like cookie sales.
6. Ensure they have access to financial literacy education that grows as they do.
7. Connect girls to mentors.
8. Ask adult role models to commit to eliminating gender bias from their dialogue.
9. Teach girls about social entrepreneurship, too – finding solutions to problems in their communities.

Learn more about how you can help support girl entrepreneurs as they seek to make the world better for all of us.

By Joy Wheeler, CEO

They say the best leaders are always looking for their replacements. They share their strength, and they help pull others up. But examples of that are sometimes hard to showcase in what can sometimes be a divisive world. Strong mentoring programs and opportunities like the Mentoring Monday event today helps support and encourage the next generation of leaders.

Bizwomen’s Mentoring Monday – February 24, 2020
In that spirit, Girl Scouts was proud to be a national sponsor for all Bizwomen’s Mentoring Monday events across the country. Did you know that the Kansas City event is the largest with more than 400 who attended today? What a thrill to bring some of our Girl Scouts to this incredible event where they joined with other women to participate in table discussions with topics like time management or how to effectively communicate your message. Following these discussions, our Girl Scouts participated in one-on-one speed coaching sessions with some of the most influential women in the local business community. The atmosphere was spirited and powerful as everyone gained career insights and made new connections.

Mentoring only enhances what a Girl Scout brings to the table 

• Did you know that Girl Scouts are twice as likely to have a bachelor’s degree?
• Did you know that Girl Scouts earn 23% more than other women?
• Did you know that Girl Scouts are more likely to pursue STEM careers, become civic leaders and own businesses?

Yes, all true! The Girl Scouts I had the honor to bring with me today include a Gold Award (the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn after researching, planning and implementing a sustainable project benefitting her community or beyond) Alum who is in her second year of medical school; three 2020 Gold Award Girl Scouts – one will be headed to Michigan State in the fall to pursue a degree in logistics and supply chain management, another a junior in high school and already planning her college path to be in engineering and the other graduating high school early and looking toward a future path pursuing a psychology degree. Two of our Girl Scouts are future Gold Award Girl Scouts and are high achieving in every aspect from their educational accomplishments to their advocacy for others. I was so proud to watch these leaders soak up every moment and connect with inspiring women across our community. Today is what it is all about – standing up for girls, supporting and mentoring the next generation of our world’s leaders!

What our next generation says about the power of mentoring

The following quotes are from our Girl Scouts who attended today.

“I love hearing about her leadership journey, how she got there, tips and what you have to push through to accomplish your career goals.”

“The advice I loved and will carry with me is to always be curious and be your own advocate.”

“You don’t always have to be perfect. Don’t say no to something just because you think you don’t have every single skill listed. Don’t be afraid to fail and learn from it.”

Powerful mentoring happens every day
Girl Scouts connects girls with businesses and organizations in our community for opportunities and experiences lead by female role models. She experiences STEAM, Entrepreneurship, Civic Engagement and Outdoor Adventure. Girls can decide for THEMSELVES what their future career options can be. She gains the courage, confidence and character to move gender bias and stereotypes aside in pursuit of HER dream.

Unleash the power of girls
We have a collective responsibility to support the next generation of leaders. Women and girls make up 51% of the population. And when we unleash our power by supporting one another fully, we become the change we need to see in the world. That’s why Girl Scouts ARE the 51% solution! Join with us and stand up for girls!

By GSKSMO CEO, Joy Wheeler

Holiday music, religious observances and all the lights tend to get most people thinking charitably this time of year. And while some organizations rely on extra volunteers and contributions during November and December, most of them need help year-round.

Have you thought about where your own instincts to volunteer and contribute came from? I suspect many of you can trace your earliest philanthropy exposure to the Girl Scouts – whether you were a Girl Scout or watched your mom, your sisters or your classmates in action. I couldn’t wait for the holiday season to arrive when I would join my Girl Scout sisters to spread cheer with carols, crafts, conversation and treats with our community’s nursing home residents.

Northeast Kansas and Northwest Missouri communities benefit greatly from the contributions of Girl Scouts. Our 22,000 girls gave an average of 30 hours each this year, doing things like helping with environmental cleanup, supporting pet adoption organizations, holding food drives, collecting personal care items, making sandwiches for the homeless, and attacking hunger with the Harvesters. And yes, they’ll step those efforts up in December, with caroling, nursing home visits and special cards for veterans.

All told, they’ll give more than 600,000 hours this year. And what do you think would happen if those hours went away? How would that impact our most vulnerable populations? Ultimately, how would the absence of this experience change the way the next generation of women operates in their communities?

The leaders at Harvesters – The Community Food Network – can give you an idea. Girl Scouts were responsible for about 1 of every 50 volunteer hours during the agency’s last fiscal year. According to their Communications Manager Gene Hallinan, Harvesters depends on Girl Scouts. “Without them, we would have to hire more staff and would not be able to reach the number of people we do today.”

What’s more, through multiple events with Harvesters throughout the year, Girl Scouts get an education on the challenge of hunger. With hands-on programs like Maddi’s Fridge, they come to understand that one in six U.S. children don’t know whether they’ll eat tomorrow. And they’re inspired when they can translate that to their own neighborhoods to make a difference.

“What you hope is that this kind of experience – started early – will inspire girls to give back and to grow up and be community supporters,” says Gene, “teaching their own children to give back, too.” (By the way, Gene is a lifelong Girl Scout volunteer herself. She serves as an advisor to girls working toward their Gold Award.)

Now that’s exactly the way Girl Scouts builds courage, confidence and character. It’s exactly how we turn out women who are leaders in business and philanthropy. And it’s exactly how we’re delivering the 51% solution to our communities now and in the future. As you consider how you’ll pitch in this holiday season, I hope you’re inspired by these go-getter girls, too.

By GSKSMO CEO, Joy Wheeler

You’re likely to read a lot about today being Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. It’s a great way to celebrate the amazing contributions women-owned businesses make to our economy.

Every day is Women’s Entrepreneurship Day for the Girl Scouts. Empowering girls to become leaders is what we’re all about. And it’s never too early to start.

A few weeks ago, I watched as kindergarten and first-grade girls begin their entrepreneurial learning journey at our Daisy Cookie College. They practiced simple skills like how to count change, budget their snack money and talk with customers. These are 5- and 6-year-old girls! And they’re already learning the five pillars of our own signature entrepreneurial training program: goal setting, decision-making, money management, people skills and business ethics.

I have no doubt some of these girls will reflect the trends noted in the Girl Scout Research Institute study released today. Many will be interested in becoming entrepreneurs, but three in four will come to believe their gender is a stumbling block. Although girls start out strong, they expect to experience less support for their entrepreneurial spirit as they age.

There is good news out there about the state of female entrepreneurship. There were more than twice as many women entrepreneurs in the United States last year than 20 years ago. And the stats are piling up about their success. Founders with women on their teams are performing better than all-male teams – 63% better for one venture capital firm.  And investors like Boston Consulting Group showed women in a start-up accelerator program generating exponentially more revenue than their male counterparts. Despite evidence like this, women-led startups receive just a fraction of the venture capital available.

Here are five ways you can influence this trend and make sure all girls have every opportunity to succeed when they grow up. The first four are summarized from Entrepreneur.com:

1. Amplify women whose voices are unheard.
2. Reach out to pull a woman up the ladder and into your circle.
3. Leverage your social network to expand their reach.
4. Become an angel investor or coach to open doors.

And the last idea is from me to you:

• Support Girl Scouts. It’s the largest girl-development organization in the United States, and, as today’s study shows, it makes a measurable impact on girls’ leadership potential.

Helping girls enter the business and entrepreneurial workforce is beneficial for girls and the world. If girls are left out of the entrepreneurial space, they can suffer from long-term financial and career consequences that contribute to the leadership and wage gap between men and women. But when girls’ and women’s ideas on how to change the world are put into action, the economy gains revenue and society gains ingenuity.

Like myself, once an entrepreneur always an entrepreneur.  I know how much your support will mean to the next girl or young woman who is tempted to follow that entrepreneurial dream and make a meaningful difference for her community.

As you kick off your Girl Scout year, you are likely starting to brainstorm activities and events that require funds. As you start planning for these expenses, we want to remind you of a few guidelines around money earning as a troop. Before you dive in, be familiar with the 5 Steps to Money Earning as a Girl Scout Troop!

Quick Checklist:

• Participate in Council Product Programs: Candy, Nuts & Magazine and Cookies – These are the primary money earning sources for troops across our council and across the country.
• Assess troop needs – You will be required to indicate how you will use the funds generated by your additional money earning activity. If you are earning money for a trip, complete your travel application and receive approval prior to fundraising initiatives.
• Brainstorm with your troop what type of additional activities you want to do to earn money – The process should be girl led and age appropriate.
• Complete your Money Earning Application – involve your girls in completing the application and share the questions with them
• Determine if you need to purchase additional insurance for non-members (common in babysitting fundraisers) and do so at least 2 weeks prior to event.
• Evaluate – How did it go?  What did your girls learn? Is this an activity you would recommend to another troop? Share your ideas and experiences.  

Do’s and Don’ts:

Do: Be creative, use your skills, talk to other troops, utilize your network, get parental permission and girl buy-in, follow all local health and safety laws as well Safety Activity Checkpoints.

Don’t: Fundraise for other organizations, endorse or campaign for any public or elected official, sell or endorse commercial products, use games of chance like raffles or lotteries, or solicit money or in-kind donations directly. This includes crowd funding like GoFundMe (the only exception is Girl Scouts with approval working on a Gold Award).

For more information on Troop Money earning, refer to Troop Leader Central or communicate with your Troop Experience Manager!