Latest news with #GirlScouts
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Girl Scouts CEO Says Investing in Girls Is Key to a Bright Future
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Beyond the cookie sales and green vests filled with colorful patches, Girl Scouts is a legacy organization that has been helping girls become stronger leaders for over a century. "Our mission is to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place," Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Bonnie Barczykowski told Newsweek in an email. "We want them to know the future is theirs to lead." Leading Girl Scouts of the USA as the CEO since 2023 is both a "tremendous responsibility and a tremendous opportunity," Barczykowski said. She said her goal is to ensure the organization remains relevant in what it offers girls and to close the gaps that exist so that more girls, volunteers and communities can "fully experience the life-changing benefits of Girl Scouts—especially those we have yet to reach." Barczykowski joined Girl Scouts at the local level in Missouri as a board member and then COO in 2012, ultimately serving as CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri for nearly a decade. There, she transformed the program, expanding access to include more girls while leading a $50 million fundraising campaign. Prior to working at Girl Scouts, Barczykowski began her career as an elementary school teacher. She then transitioned into sales and marketing for a major airline before opening and operating five Curves fitness franchises. She told Newsweek that all her experiences and the perspective she's gained from them deeply inform her leadership today. "I bring both local and national insight to the table, and I lead with clarity, conviction, and an unwavering belief in the power of girls," she said. "My career has never followed a straight line, and that's what makes it unique. It's proof that courageous moves and unexpected turns can lead to extraordinary outcomes." Girl Scouts was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, at a time when women and girls had limited opportunities. The organization has since grown to include nearly two million members from 111 local Girl Scout councils and troops in more than 92 countries through USA Girl Scouts Overseas. The Girl Scout Law promotes honesty, fairness, courage, respect, sisterhood and service — values that serve as the foundation of an organization existing in an ever-changing world. "The girls we serve are always moving forward—fast—and it's our responsibility to stay in step with their pace and potential," she said. "So we'll continue to evolve to make the Girl Scout experience relevant, exciting and accessible for every girl, ensuring her individual goals and dreams are reflected." Women's Global Impact: Bonnie Barczykowski Women's Global Impact: Bonnie Barczykowski Newsweek Illustration Leading an organization that has been around for over 100 years can be daunting. But Barczykowski is up to the task. The Girl Scouts of today have different interests, priorities and challenges than scouts of the past. "My biggest, and most exciting, challenge as the CEO of an organization with such a powerful legacy—113 years of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place—is ensuring that that legacy endures and that Girl Scouts is thriving for 113 more years," she said. When leading an organization that centers on building girls' character and teaching them the importance of "leaving the world better than they found it," Barczykowski said practicality and empathy are equally important to being a solution-minded leader. Along with her "talented and dynamic" leadership team, and 111 council CEOs across the country, Barczykowski is committed to "revolutionizing" engagement with members, amplifying impact and "securing tomorrow as responsible and passionate stewards of Girl Scouting." Noorain Khan said being a Girl Scout changed her life – the organization brought her lifelong friendships, encouragement from adult mentors and opportunities to get involved with leadership and social justice programs. That formative experience kept her involved in the organization through adulthood, serving as a young adult volunteer, a National Board member and now as the National President and Daisy troop leader. Khan said Barczykowski is an incredible leader and partner, describing her as wise, kind, intentional, strategic and clear. "As a former council CEO, she knows what it means to deliver for our girls day in and day out," she said. "She always listens and tries to understand. And she's a visionary who believes that the impossible is possible—and, very importantly, she knows how to bring people along in that vision." Understanding and empathy are key when leading Girl Scouts through fast-paced technological advances and a post-pandemic society. The organization's internal research shows that more than half of girls ages five through 13 said they think the idea of being a grown-up sounds scary. In recent years, Girl Scouts has increased efforts to prepare girls to tackle the world's most pressing issues. After a recent study showed that nearly 70 percent of girls experience loneliness, Girl Scouts launched the Mental Health Initiative in 2021 in response to the growing mental health crisis among girls, in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and HCA Healthcare. This includes new mental health-related patch programs designed to facilitate important conversations and provide resources and materials to scouts and troop leaders. In the last year, Girl Scouts has also received a $30 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support character development initiatives and partnered with the League of Women Voters to support the Promote the Vote program and other civic engagement opportunities within Girl Scouts. "My greatest hope is to ignite that same spark in today's girls—to help them discover who they are, what they care about, and how powerful they already are," Khan said. "Because I'm not just helping build the future of Girl Scouts—I'm giving back to the sisterhood that helped build me." Khan said Girl Scouts has always tried to "meet girls where they are" to help best prepare them for the challenges ahead. This includes the addition of the Girl Scout Advisory Board, which features 22 Girl Scouts from across the country who help shape the organization by advising on everything from global leadership to mental wellness, outdoor exploration and the future of the Girl Scout Cookie Program. "Through all this evolution, our purpose has never been clearer: we don't just prepare girls for the future; we prepare them to lead it," she said. As society has progressed to expand the rights, freedoms and opportunities for women, Girl Scouts must keep up to promote diversity and accessibility for all girls. Barczykowski said Girl Scouts from all walks of life bring their own unique perspectives, passions and energies to their journeys within the organization. And it is Girl Scouts' organizational priority, she said, to reach every girl in every community and eliminate any obstacle that prevents any girl from getting involved. As a young hijab-wearing Muslim girl, Khan said she didn't look like most of her troop, but she felt seen, supported and celebrated. It was that sense of belonging that helped her believe in herself and inspired the culture she wants to continue as a leader. "One of my top priorities is making sure every girl feels she truly belongs in Girl Scouts—and knows this is a place where she can grow, lead and thrive," she said. "That means doing more to engage communities of color, girls with disabilities, girls who don't feel like they belong and girls who face financial barriers. They deserve to feel safe, welcomed and fully supported—and to experience the same powerful outcomes as every Girl Scout." Khan said her goals are rooted in purpose – building a thriving organization with flourishing local councils and a powerful, united movement that continuously grows in strength and relevance. She is the first Muslim American and Millennial to hold the position of National Board President. At the 2023 National Council Session, where she was elected National President, the body also voted to codify anti-racism into its constitution to eradicate discrimination within the organization. Girl Scouts is "one of the most unique and enduring forces for good in the world," she said, and said she's deeply committed to ensuring more girls in every corner of the country have access to its "life-changing power." "When girls become Girl Scouts, the impact doesn't stop with them—it ripples outward into families, neighborhoods and communities," she said. "That's why I'm focused on helping build an organization that's not only healthy and future-ready, but one that is as welcoming as it was when I walked into my first troop meeting." Barczykowski wants girls all over the world to know their worth, trust in their potential and make their dreams a reality. For everyone else, her advice is to invest in girls. "They're not just the leaders of tomorrow—they're leading in incredible ways today, and they want to put their skills to use," she said. "Introduce a mentorship program, invite a Girl Scout troop to learn more about your field, create an internship program for Gold Award Girl Scouts, or encourage your staff to volunteer with their local Girl Scout council. It's never too early to start inspiring our future workforce." Bonnie Barczykowski is one of the panelists at Newsweek's Women's Global Impact Forum that will take place at Newsweek's headquarters at One World Trade Center in New York City, on August 5, 2025. The forum aims to connect senior female executives across all industries and job functions with rising stars on the path to C-suite positions to discuss leadership, innovations and how they are inspiring all women to succeed in the business world.
Indianapolis Star
07-07-2025
- General
- Indianapolis Star
Scrub Hub: Arboretum director protects the living 'creatures' at Crown Hill Cemetery
This is the second edition of our Scrub Hub with a new format. We are reaching out across Indiana to speak one-on-one with Hoosiers who have something to say about our natural environment and presenting those interviews in this new Q&A style. If you know anyone who should be featured, please let us know. Bitternut hickories, swamp white oaks and American elms freckle the landscape inside the gates of Crown Hill Cemetery and Arboretum. So do some 133 other tree species — and Indiana's largest known specimen of hornbeam. Carrie Tauscher, the arboretum's director, stands amidst it all, peering up into the canopy to look for damage. After recent storms, there is quite a bit to be found. She's something of a Lorax around these parts. Her job is to plant, maintain and advocate for the 11,000 or so trees that grow alongside the buried coffins and mausoleums. Every day seems to bring a new adventure: in between tree care duties, she leads workshops, tours and weeding days for Girl Scouts, volunteers and home schoolers. Tauscher has been the arboretum's director for over three years, and she showed us some of her favorite trees while answering a few questions about life in the cemetery for this edition of Scrub Hub. Her answers are edited for brevity and clarity. SUGGEST A SUBJECT: Know someone doing good things for Indiana's environment and want to see them featured here? Email Karl and Sophie at: and to let us know. Storms. Absolutely, and constantly. I literally watched all those trees fail in the storm last night. I was out here planting, and I just watched them all go "plooph!" I just planted 30 trees today but that's not even enough canopy to replace one tree that we lost. After every storm, I go back around and determine whether or not those trees get to stay or if they should go. Not every tree failure is catastrophic or visible. Sometimes a tree has failed, but it stayed upright, and so we assess those trees as quickly as possible. Those are almost more dangerous. If someone sees a broken tree, they're like, 'Ooh, I'll avoid the broken tree.' But some trees could be cracked all the way down the middle from the roof plate to the top of the tree, but to the average cyclist or pedestrian walking in the cemetery using it for recreation, they're like, 'Oh, it's just a tree. It's fine.' And then you get a gentle gust, and one half of that tree completely falls over. Statistically, you would be struck by lightning three times before a tree would actually physically hurt you. But you should be cautious, right? When I was very little we went out to the woods and we dug some tree seedlings. We each got to pick out our own. They were planted in our yard, and that was our grow-with-me tree. That was the tree that I watered, that was the tree I mulched, and that was the tree I helped mom and dad prune. It was my tree. Even going to college after moving away from the farm for a while, I still checked on that tree. Consciously or not, that tree is still a part of my life. Trees are one of the few living things that can live as long or longer than you do, and you get to watch them grow and change, just like humans grow and change throughout their lifespan. And I think that is really beautiful. This living landscape is a historic artifact. The entire site is designed, from where the roads are placed, where the trees are placed to how the sites are topographically set. Every one of these grave shafts has a concrete box under it, and in a way, this is as urban as a city street in New York. But part of being a tree museum is to have the trees and the specimens for people to love and enjoy and learn from. That's why we have volunteer activities and field trips and homeschool day and all these cool things that are happening. The more grave shafts that are filled, the less space there is to fit the trees in. We have to find a balance between our purpose as a cemetery and making sure there is space for trees so that we continue to have wonderful specimens and a beautiful landscape for people to visit. A lot of people are stoked about pollinators. And a lot butterflies and moths rely on native tree species for the larval stage of their life cycle. Caterpillars eat native tree leaves, not the squishy, herbaceous plants. Luna moths need sweet gum and hickory, and question mark butterflies need hackberry trees. So, your pollinator garden should include trees! IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Independence Day celebrations
Fireworks light up the St Louis skyline and the Gateway Arch in anticipation of Fourth of July celebrations Photograph: David Carson/AP Evelyn Collins from Santa Monica Ballet Folklorico before the Independence Day parade in Santa Monica, California Photograph: Richard Vogel/AP A protest sign along the parade route in Avondale Estates, Georgia Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA A patriotic dog in Avondale Estates, Georgia Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA Girl Scouts from Troop 436 on their float in the Fourth of July parade in McAllen, Texas Photograph: Delcia Lopez/AP Members of the US Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps performing at the National Archives in Washington DC Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Vivienne Young rides her scooter under a giant American flag in Santa Monica, California Photograph: Richard Vogel/AP The baseball game between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets at Citi Field, New York City Photograph: Angelina Katsanis/AP A woman's sequined patriotic hat sparkles during the Fourth of July parade in Greeley, Colorado Photograph: Mark Makela/Reuters A volunteer passes out US flags during the Fourth of July parade in Avondale Estates, Georgia Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA
Wall Street Journal
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
10 Masterpieces to Celebrate This 4th of July Weekend
The American experiment has inspired artists for over two centuries. Stirring songs, historical paintings, commemorative statues and other works salute our nation's enduring legacy and ever-evolving identity. Below, a collection of essays highlight the relationship between American artistry and patriotism. The song is simple: dignified and foursquare; patriotic, not chauvinistic; full of love, but not sloppily sentimental. Berlin called it 'an expression of my feeling toward the country to which I owe what I have and what I am.' For him, the national and the personal were the same thing. (He donated all the song's royalties to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America.)
CBS News
01-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Girl Scouts sell lemonade, helping Pittsburgh nonprofit raise thousands of dollars
Sometimes life can be sour in a real way. And as the old saying goes: if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Some girls in Wexford, along with several other people around Allegheny County, spent all day Monday selling lemonade, trying to help people going through a tough time. Twenty Girl Scouts set up outside of the Oxford Athletic Club were trying to make cash in a very refreshing way. The only thing sweeter than the sales staff was what they were supplying. "We have regular lemonade with boba, pink lemonade with boba, then there's two regular and cookies," said Girl Scout Reagan Lynn Kennedy. Amy Fleming, the co-founder of 412 Gives Back, said, "We're a group of all-female volunteers, and our purpose is to team up with local nonprofits in the Pittsburgh area and raise money and awareness on their behalf." This year, the target organization was One Day to Remember, which provides outings to families with young children when a parent has advanced-stage cancer. The girls outside the Oxford Athletic Club weren't the only ones working. "This year, we have 27 stands throughout Pittsburgh," Fleming said. The girls at the Oxford Athletic Club also provided their own artistic advertising, and it seemed like business was pretty good. "I think we're doing better this year," said Girl Scout Madison Ann Kennedy. 412 Gives Back tallied over $16,000 for One Day to Remember this year.
