Impact Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona
The Girl Scout Difference Girl Scouts offers girls an unparalleled leadership development opportunity — one that is designed with, by, and for them. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience is based on time-tested and research-based methods that help girls take the lead — in their own lives and in the world — through hands-on, skill-building curriculum based in STEM, Entrepreneurship, the Outdoors, and key life skills.
Program Pillars STEM Girls develop their interests in science, technology, engineering, and math, exploring fields such as computer science, space science, and robotics.
Entrepreneurship Girls learn key entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills ranging from basic money management to running a business. The Outdoors Girls take on outdoor adventures like camping, hiking, and kayaking, while learning about topics such as conservation and environmental stewardship. Life Skills Girls gain an understanding of key life skills including civic engagement, nutrition, communication, and goal setting.
Girl Scouting isn’t just about what girls can do or experience – it creates the ideal environment where a girl can: DISCOVER. CONNECT. TAKE ACTION. Discover
Connect
Take Action
who she is, what she cares about, and what her talents are.
with other people, both locally and globally, to learn from others and expand her horizons.
to make a difference in her community.
When a girl thrives, her entire community thrives. That’s why Girl Scouts works to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
Why girls? Arizona ranks among the lowest states in the nation for child well-being. While factors such as poverty, social inequalities, and housing instability pose risks to all children, they are especially critical in their impact on girls. Girls face numerous gendered barriers that can affect their willingness to take risks, believe in their abilities, or use their voices. Gender inequity also compounds longterm social and economic strains on women, making them more likely than men to work low-paying jobs, be the heads of single-parent households, experience intimate partner violence or economic abuse, and be reliant on public assistance. When a girl is given the opportunity to challenge these outcomes — by building skills, finding her voice, and creating lasting connections — she will, and she will succeed in profound ways, empowering herself for life.
Fueling Female Leadership in Southern Arizona Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona (GSSoAz) is committed to making girl-centered programming accessible to all girls throughout our community. We know that not every family has the same ability to access Girl Scouts, and recognize the diverse barriers to youth enrichment programs that girls face, as well as the numerous factors that make time-intensive volunteer commitments difficult for some families. To ensure equity and reach as many girls as possible, GSSoAz operates two program models: volunteer-supported troops, and staff-supported programs. Both models are adaptable to meet girls’ diverse needs, and provide a supportive environment where girls are mentored by consistent and caring adults.
Staff-Supported Program Model Our staff-supported model offers quality and consistent program opportunities for girls, ensuring not all programs require consistent volunteer commitments. This allows us to better serve all girls in our community, including girls who: live in rural or isolated communities; attend under-resourced schools; live in foster or outof-home placement; girls experiencing refugee, migrant, or asylumseeker status; and girls whose lives are impacted by the juvenile and criminal justice systems. These programs are facilitated by trained staff, typically collegeaged, young women. This creates a transformative near-to-peer relationship, where girls can establish healthy relationships with consistent adult role models and envision positive futures for themselves. To ensure accessibility, these programs are offered in central community locations, and are free of any cost to girls and their families.
Volunteer-Supported Troop Model Volunteers are foundational to the Girl Scout Movement, providing thousands of girls each year with consistent adult mentorship and support. In volunteer-supported troops, girls engage in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience with the help of dedicated adults who serve as mentors and role models, working in partnership with girls to plan and carry out meaningful troop activities. Volunteers are trained by GSSoAz staff and receive year-round support, including hands-on workshops, materials, and strategies to effectively facilitate girls’ learning and growth. Volunteers work closely with GSSoAz staff to connect girls to outside experts and resources, and opportunities such as council-led programs, events, and field trips.
“What I learned is to be myself, and that it is okay to make mistakes.” – School-Based Program Participant
School-Based Programs Our school-based programs provide an accessible entryway to the Girl Scout Leadership Experience for girls and their families who may otherwise perceive our programs as unavailable, due to social or economic barriers. Offering programs directly at girls’ schools allows us to meet girls where they are with consistent, reliable program opportunities in a safe and familiar location. These programs focus on engaging girls as active members in their own communities, highlighting civic engagement and advocacy as essential to building an equitable world. Our curriculum also places special emphasis on robust financial literacy education as key to personal success, and provides an opportunity for girls to participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program—the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world.
Partnerships Partnerships help to ensure our programs are relevant, effective, and accessible. We work with numerous community members and organizations who strategize with us to identify developmental, academic, and social needs of our diverse cohort of girls, and to assess education gaps that can be addressed through experiential learning outside of the classroom. Our partners also provide girls with opportunities to learn from women working in a variety of fields, helping girls discover mentors, new interests, and future careers.
GSSoAz strives to provide consistency for girls by maintaining programs at the same schools and community centers year after year. In doing so, we develop ongoing relationships with school principals, staff, parents, and community partners and can better align program curriculum to enhance girls’ learning and mentor girls throughout their progression in Girl Scouts.
Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline The rate of female incarceration in Arizona is nearly twice as high as the national state average. And while recent reforms have reduced the number of men in state prisons over the last few decades, the number of incarcerated women in Arizona has doubled. Genderresponsive strategies are critical to fight rising female incarceration rates, as they directly address the pathways that lead girls and women to interact with the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona implements a unique three-tiered approach to address female incarceration by focusing efforts on prevention, intervention, and reentry support. Our programs are designed to interrupt the long and complex processes that lead to female incarceration, and serve girls impacted by statemandated home placement, girls in juvenile detention or at risk of detention sentencing without intervention, girls recently released from detention, and girls who have experienced the incarceration of a parent.
Adelante Jovencitas Adelante Jovencitas (AJ) is designed to reduce recidivism and prevent incarceration by focusing on the unique needs of girls impacted by or at risk for involvement with the juvenile justice system. Meetings take place throughout the community and at regional detention centers. AJ places a special emphasis on empowering girls to engage in positive pursuits and explore critical life skills, including career exploration, healthy relationships, self-care techniques, and media literacy. Girls learn from program staff and guest facilitators—including university professors, law enforcement, and women in STEM fields—who bring unique perspectives and offer mentorship to girls on pursuing career and educational paths. AJ’s positive and stigma-free environment gives girls the opportunity to explore new interests and skills without fear of judgment, focusing on their strengths and looking forward to their futures.
Girl Scouts Beyond Bars Girl Scouts Beyond Bars (GSBB) brings girls and their incarcerated mothers together to build and preserve relationships, reduce long-term trauma, increase selfworth, and foster leadership development in both girls and their mothers. Through GSBB we provide regular, supervised visits and interaction between girls and their mothers who are incarcerated in the Perryville Complex in Goodyear, AZ. Unlike traditional visitation, girls and their mothers interact together in a classroom-like setting with activities that provide them an engaging way to relate to one another, work together toward common goals, and celebrate their resilience.
Re-Entry Programs To support girls and their family members experiencing community reentry following incarceration, we are developing programs that engage girls in partnership with their parents after their release. These re-entry support programs present positive opportunities for girls and their family members to reunite and build strong family relationships, and provide a community for parents to participate in peer-to-peer mentoring, supporting the nuanced challenges of parenting after incarceration.
Studies show that Girl Scouts are more likely than their peers to: • Develop a strong sense of self • Display positive values • Seek challenges and learn from setbacks • Form and maintain healthy relationships • Identify and solve problems in the community
“I learned standing up for my rights is important.� – Adelante Jovencitas Participant
Supporting Girls in Foster & Kinship Care To address the stress, uncertainty, and loss that many girls living in foster or kinship care face, we provide a consistent, holistic program environment where girls living in out-of-home placement can discover their passions, values, and talents; take positive risks and overcome challenges; learn to make healthy decisions that can help them avoid risky behaviors; forge positive, sustaining relationships; and develop skills that prepare them for entering the workforce or higher education. By bolstering these skills, girls develop tools for self-sufficiency while building a positive sense of self and lasting relationships, and are better prepared to age out of the foster care system and transition to life on their own.
Girl Voice Girl voice is central to program design, as well as program impact. And, while evaluation results and research for Girl Scouts’ impact is compelling, we find girls’ voices are the strongest indicators of long-term impact, and the learning they will carry forward throughout their lives. An overwhelming majority of Southern Arizona girls report that Girl Scouts helps them make a difference in the world, increases their confidence in school, and helps them to be a leader in other activities.
“Attending Girl Scouts has made a difference in my life because I didn't really have the advice or guidance necessary in what to do for the future, and it has helped me figure out a lot of things.” –Adelante Jovencitas Participant
Commitment to Impact We consistently monitor program impact through robust evaluation practices to ensure consistent, quality, girl-led programming where girls feel their voices and input are valued. As the interests and needs of girls are ever-evolving, these evaluation practices ensure that program content and delivery methods continue to evolve with girls. We utilize observation and program surveys to measure program success and impact through all of our programs. Women in leadership roles make a dramatic difference in policy and community well-being. When girls feel their voices are heard, they are more likely to engage in the political and social spheres, giving back to their communities in important ways. Girl Scouts grow into exceptional members of their communities: Girl Scout alumnae represent over 70% of female U.S. Senators, and half of female business leaders in the country.
Girl Scouts is not just a program, it’s a movement. Together, we are building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
4300 E. Broadway Blvd Tucson, AZ 85711 520.327.2288 / 1.800.331.6782 www.girlscoutssoaz.org