Older Girl Coalition

The Older Girl Coalition is an intergenerational group that is ways to increase older-girl inclusion, integration, and engagement.  Cadettes, Seniors, Ambassadors, Alumni, Troop Leaders, and all volunteers are invited to come together to make a more significant impact on older-girl experiences in San Diego.  

According to the  GSUSA Leadership Experience description, all Girl Scouts should have opportunities to discover, connect, and take action through girl-led initiatives, cooperative programs, and empowering learning by doing. Girl Scouts San Diego has an amazing opportunity to foster intergenerational collaboration and dramatically increase their ability to make a change by working with us young people. We are asking for a systematic shift to put more time, energy, and resources into youth integration, inclusion, and engagement. This will require organizational and programming shifts to make older-girl input more accessible. Still, we are excited to work with Council to create a more inclusive space for people of all ages and strengthen Girl Scouts San Diego.    One-page summary .  

Ideas to meet shared vision:

• Diversity and Inclusion: providing equitable opportunities for underrepresented girls to get involved, especially those outside programs such as Emerging Leaders and National Delegates; further diversify voices and representation both in-person and virtually for girls who do not have access to public transit, or live in rural communities

• Girl Advisory Board/Steering Committee: advise Council leadership in decision-making and provide programmatic input; providing a voice to shaping ongoing work of girl-led movement

• Older Girl Consultants/Representatives: representation for planning and executing specific events, programs, and any initiatives that involve older girls to share direct programming feedback and influence recommendations

• Older Girl Weekends/Workshops: girl-planned, girl-led, and adult-supported weekends or all-day workshops that feature topics in the STEM, outdoors, life skills, and entrepreneurship

• Interest Groups: girl-led, adult-supported, and council-promoted groups in areas such as trailblazer, mariner, STEM, career exploration and networking, social issues (such as Global Arms of Advocacy), environment, and more

• Older-Girl Training Program: connecting older girls with peers and mentors to gain skills in starting their own initiatives, leading younger girls, and jumpstarting their actions collectively

• Older-Girl Communications: internal system to ensure older girls are connected with council happenings, have a way to access opportunities themselves, and can communicate with one another; older-girl-focused newsletters, monthly Town Halls/Leadership Connection Calls, social media geared toward girl audiences