Inspiring Greater Civic Engagement and Education
Out-of-school civics programs are a crucial component of education. We advocate for policy efforts to expand girls’ access to civic education, including:
- Expanding girls’ access to civic education, including service-learning projects and informal educational programs that take place out of school.
- Improving girls’ practical understanding of the systems, laws, and processes that govern society at the local, state, and federal levels.
- Encouraging a sense of personal and community responsibility to engage in civic processes, such as voting.
Fuel Girls’ Passion for STEM
Every girl deserves to have opportunities to explore and build an interest in STEM. Girl Scouts supports policy efforts to:
- Invest in STEM programs through federal partnerships with community organizations and schools.
- Promote proven techniques for engaging girls in STEM, including single-gender learning environments and hands-on, inquiry-based learning.
- Introduce girls to diverse role models and mentors in STEM.
- Expand out-of-school STEM programming to girls and traditionally underrepresented groups, including English-language learners, racial minorities, and other students served by Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
- Encourage federal agencies to invest in developing STEM career paths for girls and other traditionally underrepresented groups.
Strengthen Girls’ Financial Literacy and Business Skills
Research shows that girls are actively interested in becoming entrepreneurs, developing financially stable futures, and using their skills to make a difference in the world.
Girl Scouts supports policy efforts that:
- Ensure all girls gain financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills.
- Bolster the role of youth-serving organizations in promoting real-world financial literacy and entrepreneurial experiences in all-girl environments.
- Expand federal initiatives that support financial literacy and entrepreneurial programs through partnerships with community organizations and schools.
- Leverage educational technology to strengthen youths’ financial literacy capabilities.
Expand Girls’ Access to Outdoor Exploration
Outdoor activities have always been a cornerstone of the Girl Scout experience, and we remain committed to ensuring that girls can take part in everything camps and our nation’s natural resources have to offer.
We support policy efforts to:
- Ensure all girls can participate in transformative outdoor experiences regularly and in varied ways.
- Engage girls from underserved communities in outdoor experiences by identifying barriers to access and inclusion.
- Provide girls with opportunities to explore solutions to conservation-related issues, thereby advancing their understanding of the natural sciences, natural resource management, and related STEM careers.
- Engage girls in environmental stewardship and advocacy so they learn the value of protecting our world and, in the process, learn to advocate for themselves.
Uphold a Strong Nonprofit Community
We support policies and activities that advance the Girl Scout mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. Accordingly, we endorse efforts that help nonprofits incentivize charitable giving and help recruit and retain staff and volunteers.
- Reform and simplification of the federal grant application process.
- Greater incentives for charitable giving. Charitable giving policies fuel the health of our nation and communities around the world. Congress can bolster the country’s vibrant and independent civil society by creating a permanent above-the-line charitable deduction.
- Reduced premiums for charitable and small employer cooperative (CSEC) pension holders.
- An increased volunteer mileage rate equal to the standard business rate.
