How Can Participation In Girl Scouts Add Value To a Girl's Life?

Social pressures, image issues and uncertainty in our world...girls are faced with many choices as they navigate the road to adulthood. As a Girl Scout she has a "girls only" network of friends and adult mentors to guide her. She grows in confidence as she develops her leadership skills; learns to understand and respect others; is encouraged to make positive decisions based on strong values; and contributes to make the world a better place.

At the heart of The Power of Girls is a pledge that urges American girls to learn about issues affecting girls worldwide and share their findings with friends. The pledge, which can be found here, places a particular focus on raising awareness of the barriers that prevent girls from going to school in developing countries, including lack of funding, gender discrimination, and chronic poverty. The goal is to collect 50,000 pledges by International Women's Day 2011 (March 8).

Participants in Learning to Lead included MTV News Correspondent SuChin Pak, actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, Seventeen Editor-in-Chief Ann Shoket, and the director of CARE Afghanistan, Lex Kassenberg, as well as other speakers from CARE and representatives of the Girl Scouts Research Institute and the Population Council.