The research is definitive: by the time a young woman graduates from high school and begins deciding on her career path (declaring themselves a STEM or technology related field major), she’s already behind in the career race and may never catch up.
Research also shows: those that join the Girl Scouts of the USA are offered the best leadership development experience for girls, showing a demonstrable impact in preparing them for challenging careers in more than 150 countries.
At the Nov. 4 annual SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit, presented by Women in Technology Hollywood (WiTH), in Los Angeles, returning as both a live, in-person event, and online via the MESAverse virtual platform, Karen P. Layng, president of the board of directors for the Girl Scouts of USA, will deliver a keynote stressing the importance the organization has on the future professional lives of its members.
“In the past four years alone, Girl Scouts have earned over 1.4 million STEM badges and on average, almost 4,000 girls a year earn the preeminent youth leadership award, or the Girl Scouts’ highest award – their Gold Awards, many completing projects in STEM,” Layng said. “Girl Scouts learn everything from computational thinking to coding and app development to how to run and analyze a trace route. With both plugged and unplugged activities, Girl Scouts can learn about these topics with or without a computer while also making connections between how computer science and technology can be used to create change in both the real and digital worlds and our GS alums are doing just that.
Girl Scout Research Institute data shows that by creating opportunities for Girl Scouts to explore STEM and careers in technology, its programs reverse the trend of declining STEM interest in girls. The organization provides girls the training, mentoring, and hands-on experiences to help them understand the import of STEM and Tech careers and options for their own career paths.
Layng’s keynote — “Future Women Leaders in Tech Wear Green” — will show how this critical leadership development training for future change agents in tech starts in kindergarten and continues to the C-Suite. The presentation will discuss the ROI of Girl Scouting and the Gold Award and local opportunities for groups to partner with Girl Scouts.
“The world needs more innovative executive women leaders, and this could not be truer than in the currently underrepresented STEM fields that will drive transformational change be it through work for example in sustainability, aerospace engineering, innovative technology or construction and infrastructure,” Layng said. “Through this incredible opportunity to present the SoCal Women’s keynote address, attendees will learn that today’s Girl Scouts is far more than cookies, camps, and crafts. Instead, Girl Scouts have access to continuing entrepreneurial experiences that build innovative leaders.
“I hope that attendees will be engaged to partner together with GSUSA to continue to build a strong, pipeline of prepared future women STEM leaders.”
The SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit is presented by Softtek, PacketFabric, Amazon Web Services, Cognizant, Deluxe, Expert.AI, FilmTrack, Google, KeyInfo, Los Angeles Duplication and Broadcasting, Method, and Premiere Digital. The event is produced by MESA in association with the Hollywood IT Society and Women in Technology Hollywood.
To register for the event, click here. To sponsor the event, contact [email protected].
