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What do Taylor Swift, Nikki Haley, Angela Davis and General Motors CEO Mary Barra have in common? They were all Girl Scouts.
WaveMakers with Tom and Janet hosted two future WaveMakers, Emma Clough and Bianca Raises, on Tuesday, May 28. They’re both Girl Scouts who have earned a Gold Award for their community projects. It’s the most prestigious honor a Girl Scout can achieve, given only to girls whose chosen project creates a significant and sustainable positive change.
Their achievements will be recognized on June 8 in a ceremony at Hillsborough Community College, along with 26 other Girl Scouts.
Emma’s project was construction of a human foosball game that will encourage girls to engage in physical activity for years to come at the Camp Dorothy Thomas, Bianca organized letter-writing campaigns to help young people hone their writing skills and familiarize themselves with how “snail mail” works.
WaveMakers also spoke to Girl Scouts of West Central Florida CEO Mary Pat King about the value of an organization focused on cultivating women leaders.
“There’s a lot of research around the importance of single gender experiences and we create that for them,” King said. “We’re girl led so all of our programming is designed with the unique needs of girls in mind. What do girls need? Right now girls are showing us that they need a lot around their mental and emotional well-being, especially post pandemic, so we’re really leaning into those needs. We’re seeing that girls really are interested in STEM and they want to be considered for future STEM jobs, so we’re leaning into that education. They want to be in the outdoors. They want to learn survival skills so we’re doing a lot around that. And they want adventure. They want to be out there and push themselves. So Girls Scouts creates the opportunities across an array of experiences.”
Hear the entire conversation by clicking the link below, going to the WaveMakers archives or by searching for WMNF WaveMakers wherever you listen to podcasts.