Girl Scouts of West Central Florida (GSWCF) and Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) debut 24 new badges to help young girls practice leadership in the male-dominated fields of automotive engineering, STEM careers, entrepreneurship, and civics.

Leadership is essential especially during a serious moment like Coronavirus. From encouraging trust to displaying compassion, the Girl Scout program teaches all participants how to be effective leaders. Fun fact: Girl Scouts are 80% more likely than their counterparts to take the initiative when it comes to decision making.

Girl Scouts give the next generation of #Girlbosses everything they need to make a change in the world. The new badges encourage the girls to explore their interests and learning new skills. Badges include:

• Entrepreneurship (grades K-12)-Girls engage in activities where they learn how to create/pitch a product or service that solves a problem. They learn how to create a business plan and other areas of business including production, cost, marketing, and competition. 75% of girls today are interested in the business world but less than that don’t have the help the really need to succeed.
• STEM Career Exploration (grades 2-8, funded by IF/THEN, an initiative by Lyda Hill Philanthropies)-Girls can connect to STEM fields to help figure out current issues. We’re aware of the lack of female representation in STEM; data shows girls are more interested in those subjects when they learn how to use it to help people.
• Automotive Engineering (grades K-5, funded by General Motors)-Learn about designing, engineering and making vehicles, and looking at the future of vehicles. Girls get the chance to design their own vehicles, test prototypes, build their own assembly line, and more. Women make up 13% of the engineers so this badge introduces them to the world.
• Civics (grades K-12, funded by Citi Foundation)-Girls earn a more detailed understanding of how government works on all levels from local to federal. They study laws and how they’re made, voting, the electoral college, and female representation. Almost 25% of eighth graders are knowledgeable in this subject and less than 50% of Americans can name the 3 branches.

“Now more than ever, it’s critical that we have strong leaders who can make informed decisions that make the world a better, safe place,” said GSUSA CEO Sylvia Acevedo. “During our current health crisis, the world leaders who have been among the most decisive and effective in addressing the pandemic have been women. With these new badge experiences in STEM, entrepreneurship, and the critically important subject of civics, Girl Scouts is continuing to build the transformational female leaders of today and the future and showing girls the power they have to truly change the world.”