Girl Scouts of the USA historically has relied on a self-generating funding system. But as it approaches the century mark, a sweeping organizational transition will mean a new focus on fundraising and an enhanced partnership with its local councils around

By David Mckenna

Ultimately, the idea is to convince girls, parents and donors that girls who participate in Girl Scouting will benefit by being trained to focus on leadership outcomes. Girl Scout activities are being redesigned, so much so that even the presentation of badges will have more of a leadership focus.

“We’ve updated handbooks over the years and done it quite well, but what we’re doing now is really a complete redesign of the Girl Scout experience, except that we still hang on to the core traditions,” Cloninger says. “One of those is environmental education, which is going to be important in the new leadership program. Juliette was a conservationist too, way ahead of her time.”