PATRICIA QUINN JOHNSTON

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP CENTER

PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS LAW

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

What lessons from your Girl Scout days do you incorporate as a woman leader today?

* Be a sister. In Girl Scouts, we learned to support and trust each other, and we lived the Girl Scout Law to “be a sister to every Girl Scout.” I practiced law for many years, and now work as a professor and as executive director of the Arkansas State University Women’s Leadership Center. In the Center’s Step Up, Reach Back, Expand Out program, career women mentor college students, peers mentor peers, and college students mentor younger girls. I am learning new leadership lessons from this ever-growing circle of kind, supportive women. My experiences in Girl Scouts helped prepare me for this opportunity.

* Be courageous. Girl Scouts encourages girls to try new things. As executive chairman of IBM, Ginni Rometry said, “I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.” The courageous leader takes risks, tries things outside of her comfort zone and learns to show her true self to the world. She may be afraid to fail, but she tries new challenges and stretches herself anyway. I try to remember this when I am taking on a new task.

* Be prepared. Being prepared means learning new things every day throughout your life and showing up for opportunities with your best self. Girl Scouts practice this discipline of preparation all the time, when learning badges, going to camp, working on a project to make the world a better place or selling cookies.

In what specific ways does participation in Girl Scouts foster and develop leadership traits?

Girls Scouts “build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.” Some of the most kind, giving and courageous college student leaders in the A-State Women’s Leadership Center have been Girl Scouts. These students are confident whether speaking to a crowd, volunteering, or mentoring others. They are mature, selfless, capable and confident and continuing to make the world a better place every day. .

Girl Scouts taught me great lessons when I struggled to have courage and confidence like many young girls. I remember the first time I made calls to sell Girl Scout cookies to people I did not know well. For some girls, this may seem easy, but I felt very shy and nervous about calling people and asking them to buy cookies. I worried they would say “no” or hang up the phone. Luckily, my parents and my Girl Scout leader encouraged me to have courage in the face of my fears. I sold a lot of cookies that year, and more importantly, I learned a lot about overcoming my fears..

What is your favorite memory as a Girl Scout?

More than any one single activity, I remember the friendships. As Girl Scouts, we played games, sang and spent time outdoors together. We learned how to make s’mores, explored caves and hiking trails, and earned badges together. Consistent elements of these activities were smiles and laughter of my friends.

JENNIFER FOWLER DIRECTOR, ARKANSAS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Established Program To Stimulate Competitive Research

What lessons from your Girl Scout days do you incorporate as a woman leader today?

I think one of the most important lessons that Girl Scouts has to offer is selfconfidence. Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts, was an activist who was passionate about the education, respect and confidence of girls and women. Those values are core tenets of Girl Scouts as an organization. Girl Scouts provides girls a consistent, supportive social structure and encourages leadership, inspires courage, and builds confidence. In my professional life, my field is not very diverse and I’m also frequently the only woman in the room. I think my experience with Girl Scouts, both in a troop as a child, and now as a board member, have provided me with confidence that I rely on as I navigate my career. In what specific ways does participation in Girl Scouts foster and develop leadership traits?

Participation in Girl Scouts provides girls with social support, education and opportunities that they are generally not receiving from their schools and communities. Two specific factors that contribute to leadership are support of girls’ mental health and the variety and quality of programming that Girl Scouts offers. A 2020 study on mental health by the Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI) showed that overwhelmingly, girls do not feel supported by their schools, counselors and sometimes even their families. Girls and women today face an array of challenges and pressures, some familiar and some new. More than two-thirds of girls who participated in the study reported that being in Girl Scouts positively supports their mental health, and 77 percent specifically acknowledged support from their troop leader. Girls generally feel that their troops are safe spaces, and they form friendships that help them cope with stressors and difficult challenges in their lives.

Girl Scouts programming is designed to build a variety of skills and enhance wellness. The badges that are offered provide attainable and rewarding goals for girls to learn and build confidence. I’m a science nerd, so I love all the STEM programming that is offered now. In 1916, Girl Scouts introduced an electrician badge. Today, the organization offers hundreds of STEM programs for all ages nationwide, and girls have earned more than 3.5 million STEM badges in topics like robotics, digital game design and math in nature. Girls also still participate in traditional outdoor activities like camping, hiking, target sports and horseback riding.

What is your favorite memory as a Girl Scout?

What I loved most about Girl Scouts was the sense of belonging my troop provided. My mom was a Girl Scout and frequently volunteered with my troop, attending our field trips and hosting events at our home. I grew up as an only child in a small town, so I went to school with all of my troop members. Being in Girl Scouts provided me with the feeling of sisterhood that I didn’t have at home.

Jennifer’s Favorite Cookie: Samoas or Caramel DeLites