Sylvia Acevedo
CEO of Girls Scouts disappointed Boy Scouts is opening its programs to girls
Girl Scouts is the premier girl leadership organization in the world, and I am proud to serve as its 20th chief executive officer. Every day we work to carry out the vision of our founder, Juliette Gordon Low, who believed in the power of every girl to make a positive impact on the world.
We are disappointed that Boy Scouts of America has chosen to open its program to girls in contravention of its charter, rather than focusing on the 90% of American boys not being served by Boy Scouts. We believe strongly in the importance of the safe, all-girl, girl-led and girl-friendly environment that Girl Scouts provides.
At Girl Scouts, girls aren’t the ancillary tag-along or supporting player — they are the central character. For more than a century, Girl Scouts has delivered unparalleled experiences that allow girls to discover their passions, develop leadership and people skills, explore their worlds, and embark on new adventures. Adult mentors and strong female role models show them they can be anything they want to be.
As a Girl Scout, I earned the science badge by building an Estes model rocket and launching it into the sky. I learned to persevere — to create a plan, to regroup when things did not go as planned, to learn from failures, and to try again. My pursuit of engineering and rocket science, at a time when girls like me were not encouraged to do so, is a direct result of my Girl Scout experience. It taught me to identify opportunities and to seize them.
Girl Scouts works, and we have the research to prove it. A Girl Scout Research Institute study last summer found that Girl Scouts shine above their non- Girl Scout peers in leadership, academics, career aspirations and hope for the future.
One particularly significant finding was that Girl Scouts can buffer girls against negative outcomes during one of the most crucial times in their lives: the middle-school years. Unlike their non- Girl Scout peers, middleschool Girl Scouts exhibit a lift in their sense of self rather than a decline. Their desire to solve problems in their communities increases during middle school, compared with a dramatic drop among others.
Girl Scouts has been filling the leadership and entrepreneurial pipeline since our very beginnings. It’s no coincidence that in America, the majority of female astronauts and female tech leaders, 76% of current senators, 52% of women in business and all female secretaries of State are Girl Scout alumnae. So are the more than half of the 89 women in the House of Representatives and four of the six women serving as governors.
And we are creating a pathway for girls who can lead in science, technology, engineering and math — in medicine, robotics, cyber security, design and the arts; as entrepreneurs, makers, inventors and designers.
We are in our second century of preparing girls for a lifetime of leadership. This is what we’re offering America — tapping this great untapped resource of girls who take action to make the world a better place.
No organization does this better than we do.