February 3, 2024 • 34 mins
The Girl Scouts have been a fixture across America for more than 100 years, and here in Massachusetts, dozens of troops help bring girls together each and every day to make memories. Barb Fortier, the CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, joins Nichole this week to talk about all the ways Girl Scouting can help young women make friends, learn critical life skills, enrich their self-esteem, and give back to their community. She'll also discuss her upcoming retirement after nearly a quarter-century of service, and a discussion on Girl Scout cookies is also on the agenda!
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From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend. Each week
we come together and talk about allthe topics important to you and the place
where you live. It is sogood to be back with you again this
week. I'm Nicole Davis. Well, maybe your local Girl Scout recently reached
out to you about grabbing a fewboxes of cookies. Perhaps maybe you saw
them at the store, your localcraft fair, sporting event. They are
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out there doing their thing. Itreally is the perfect time to load up
on those thin mints and peanut butterpatties and the shortbreads there and all the
other ones you like to get.But there is so much more to Girl
Scouts than just getting out there andselling cookies for a few months at a
time. Now, the Scouts haveactually been around for more than one hundred
years. They started up back innineteen twelve down in Georgia, in Savannah,
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and the first troop was made upof eighteen girls who at the time
were hoping to embrace a way oflife that back those days wasn't really possible
for women and girls. Now we'retalking about the early nineteen hundreds here,
women were most often staying at hometo clean the house and cook the meals
and bear the kids, so onand so forth. They didn't even have
the right to vote. But theGirl Scouts back then known as the Girl
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Guides, what they were trying todo was help young women learn skills that
could help them grow in other areasoutside the home, like spending time in
nature and playing sports, learning aboutthe wilderness, learning how to take care
of themselves, their inner self andother people too. All these years later,
the main goals of the Girl Scoutsremained the same, and right here
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in Eastern Massachusetts, thousands of girls, starting as young as pre k serving
through their teens. They're out thereall over the state, finding friends and
making memories and learning the critical lifeskills that the Girl Scouts love to help
them with. One woman has beentheir front and center for many years making
this happen. But now Barb Fortier, the CEO of the Girl Scouts of
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Eastern mass it's time for her tostep aside so a new era can begin.
She is here on the show.You know we got to talk about
this, Baharb, thank you somuch for your time here on New England
Weekend. We're obviously going to talkabout your retirement. We'll get to that
in a few first, though,while I've got you, let's talk a
bit more for people who might notbe familiar really about what the Girl Scouts
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have to offer here in Massachusetts andreally in the program at large. Actually,
believe it or not, a lotof people still know the Girl Scouts
for cookies, camps, crafts,and other things, and those are definitely
part of our tradition and the heritageof this organization. But we're so much
more than that. Our cookie program, for instance, people think that's really
just about girls generating cash for theorganization, when in fact, the girls
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earn learn six lessons money management,people, communications, decision making, and
other skills. So when I talkwith somebody and they want to challenge why
would I spend six dollars buy apackage of cookies, I say to them
because you're buying girl empowerment and you'refacilitating girl empowerment. And that seems to
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resonate with folks. But we havestem programming. We are renown for our
outdoor programming. So the Girl Scouts, by virtue of the fact that there
are very many generous donors over theyears have donated property to the Girl Scouts,
and I'm talking not just about ourGirls Council but across the country,
so we have really leveraged that toour advantage. We offer the premiere outdoor
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program experience for girls. So entrepreneurship, we teach life skills. I remember
growing up many centuries ago, andin school I learned about cooking and homec
and other skills like that. SoI'm not necessarily talking about those types of
skills, but there's just general lifeskills that there are absent in most of
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the educational opportunities that girls have today. Stem outdoor program, entrepreneurial and life
skills are the four pillars of GirlScouts today, and people are surprised to
hear some of that, and notsurprising to me that they would be surprised
because I mean, I went toGirl Scout camp and I learned how to
swim at Girl Scout Camp. Idid not know how to swim before I
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went to Girl Scout Camp. Ican make a fire outside because of Girl
Scout Camp. I know how tocook because of my time in the Girl
Scouts. I mean, people don'trecognize how deeply you get involved in your
troop and you learn to how tobuild bonds, and I remember we would
all stand there and you know,recite the promise what is on my honor,
I will try to serve my country, help people at all times,
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and live by the Girl Scout law. And people think, oh, that's
just you know, like a pledge, but it means a lot when you're
involved with this group. Well,let me tell you. We had our
national convention this past summer and therewas a proposal on the table to change
the language of both the promise andthe law. Oh and there was vehement
dialogue going back and forth for thefolks that want to lead that does is
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and it's been that way for nearlyone hundred years, or change it,
and ultimately it stays the same becauseit means that much. For instance,
it says I will try, andpeople were saying, well, let's move
will try, like I will dosomething with Girl Scouting. And the girls
reacted really negatively to that because theyview Girl Scouts as a safe place and
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a safe space where they can trypretty much anything they want to and failure
is part of the learning curve andit's a supportive environment. No one's ever
chastised or ashamed because they can't throwa hatchet and hit the middle of a
target. Hatchet throwing is one ofour programs. Yeah, And to be
a young girl and to be ina space where society, i think puts
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a lot of pressure on young girlsto do it right and learn this quickly
and all this other and really justexcel in everything, especially if you're a
girl who is really good at maybeacademics or something, are really good at
sports. It's such a good feelingto be in a group of girls and
having fun learning, but also knowingthat when you're there people are going to
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be honest and they're going to bekind and be that safe space that frankly
a lot of girls may not havein their everyday lives. Well, that's
a great point because there are alot of other spaces that girls occupy,
whether they're in school or whatever,where they get a lot of overt and
sometimes subliminal subliminal messages that well,girls can't do that, or you know,
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don't try that, you know,do this. So in Girl Scouts
it's all no holds barred. Whateverwe offer. All of our programming,
by the way, is backed upwith outcomes. We we have measurable outcomes
for everything that we do. Ournational organization gs USA has a research institute
who constantly is outpinging girls and adultmembers about, you know, what they
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want to see for their daughters.So our programming evolves pretty rapidly over time
to account for that. But literally, our education process for the folks who
have the most influence over the girls, troop leaders continues so that they are
open and nurturing and supportive and lettingthe girls you know, really experiment and
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they develop the who they are throughthe Girl Scout program. And again in
other spaces that doesn't necessarily happen consistently, and I think that many Girl Scouts
to hold those truths with them throughouttheir lives. You talk to a lot
of people, at least you know, I'm an older millennial, and most
of the girls I know or thewomen I know now you know, we
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all went to Girl Scouts in oneway, shape or form, and we
can all connect and relate through that. People think that Girl Scouts just ends
at you know, Brownies or Daisiesand that's it, and then you're eight
nine years old and you're done.I don't think people realize that Girl Scouts
goes all the way to adulthood ifyou want it to the you know,
quite frankly, we have a littlebit of an outpouring at the fourth to
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sixth grade level. That's when girlsget exposed to other things that aren't necessarily
in our sweet spots, sports ordance or very specific and targeted training.
So we work really hard to makeour programming compelling because if we can get
them through that that age range,then nine times out of ten, they'll
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continue to stay in Girl Scouting toexperience the full spectrum of the leadership development
program we offer. Girls join whenthey are Daisies and Brownies. Daisies our
kindergarten first grade. Brownie is ourfirst grade second grade. They're all about
making friends and having fun, andthat is their focus. But as Girl
Scouts evolves pretty soon in that fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth
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grade level, that's when girls they'rebecoming young adults. They're making decisions,
they're experimenting and really determining who andwhat they want to be. It's not
a complete process, but it certainlysets them on the path. So it's
so it's overwhelming to see girls whohave achieved the highest pinnacle in Girl Scouting
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which is the Gold Award, andhave gone through the entire program. It's
remarkable the difference in their overall boys, their self assurance, their self esteem.
They're just brave, they're bold,and they're outdoing amazing things in this
world. And when you see thatand you actually see the result of that,
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and I see that very regularly,it's just it's it's humbling and it's
overwhelming to watch. So we're agood deal. Do you find that more
girls these days, especially post COVID, are staying in the program, going
into maybe juniors and cadets and furtherthan that, or do you find that
you're still struggling with that outpouring,like you said after Brownies, as kids
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make their way out. Yeah,it's hard. We're still evaluating the impact
of COVID. Sometimes it can takein our world a couple of three years
to kind of map some girls andfigure out if that's the case. But
again, we do our very bestto facilitate and hopefully help girls stay in
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the program because the program people have. The other thing that people have a
misunderstanding about is they have to goevery week, they have to do X
number of meetings. They think thatGirls Scouting comes in one shape and size,
and it doesn't. There are sometroops that meet once a month because
that works for them and it allowsthe girls to do other activities. But
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ultimately, we do a lot ofwork educating parents and guardians about what the
program is about, because you know, particularly for the younger girls, they
are the decision makers. So youknow, leadership development. If that's really
critical and important for you and yourdaughter or the girl that you're the guardian
for, then you're going to probablyweigh that more heavily than perhaps, well,
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you know, you can take adance class, but you know,
let's carve out the time and allowyou to do girl Scouting. So you
have made a big impact personally,and we'll talk about that in a bit.
But the council itself, Girl Scoutsof Eastern Massachusetts, it's one of
the biggest councils in the United States. I mean, I think you're number
ten if I remember correctly, andyou're the biggest organization in Massachusetts. That
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is a big deal, more thanthirty thousand members right now. What's it
like knowing that so many girls aretaking part in your programming here in Eastern
mass How do you feel about that. Well, it's a double edged sword.
It's overwhelming, and it's just there'sa lot of pride about what we're
doing and how we're impacting girls.We are number ten in the country and
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we are as a result, wehave a lot more resources let's say monetary,
human resources, etc. To domore with the programming than let's say
smaller councils. So we're looked upto as a council that a we share,
we believe in it's for us.Let's share with other counsels and see
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if it will help them overcome whatevertheir issues are. But it's really it's
humbling to know that we have thatmuch of an impact and that every person
in this organization and every volunteer thathelps us, we all contribute. And
people think it's like a little butall of those littles form a massive amount
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of support for the girls. Andyou know, our motto is we'd like
every girl that really would like thisexperience to be able to partake. So
we remove a lot of barriers.You know, we offer financial aid,
we offer again different ways that girlscan have touch points with this organization.
Some girls, honestly their Girl Scoutexperience is summer camp, and that's fine.
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There's no time limit. Somebody saidto me, oh, I was
a Brownie, but I wasn't agirl Scout, So I had to explain,
there's six levels. There are sixlevels, and it doesn't matter if
you're with girl scouting. I mean, we'd love for girls to have the
whole experience all twelve years, butit doesn't matter if you get one year,
two years. We have heard.I have a niece, she's twenty
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four. She ran her own business. She's out in the world. She
graduated from you Maryland terribly shy asa young girl. She had two full
years of girl Scouting and primarily hadto stop because there wasn't any volunteer that
was willing to pick up. Buther mom and she both credit her success
today that those two years. Imean, you get so much out of
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every aspect or every time, everyamount of time you spend with girl Scouts.
So yeah, it's important. Yeah, And you talked about those touch
points. And of course you havegirl Scouts in your suburban towns and even
rural areas, but urban areas,you do a lot of work in the
cities as well, places like Boston, and Lawrence and Lowell, Fall River,
New Bedford, the bigger cities inMassachusetts, you do. We have
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a community engagement team and their goalI believe they have I don't remember the
firm number, but it's probably somewherein eighteen to twenty. Communities that fall
into that, they generally have morediverse populations, they're generally more underrepresented with
respect to Girl Scouts, and thebarriers for them are different and they're heavier.
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So we do a lot of intenseeducation in those communities we meet with
in community centers. We have outreacheddifferent ways of outreaching again the decision makers,
because there are particularly if you areif the daughter, the girl is
a first line American born here,but parents weren't outside of the United States,
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sometimes girl Scouting is not known,so we have to do a lot
to convey to parents and guardians whatit is, what the value is,
and what the experience is like.And we have to you know, we
want to meet every girl where sheis, but in those communities it's even
more important. One initiative we've gotgoing right now, we're purchasing a van
and it's being fit out for STEMand it's going to travel around. It's
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not exclusively for our underrepresented communities,but it's going to go into those communities
as well as some other communities sothat we can bring the magic that is
Girl Scouts to where they are sothey can see it, touch it,
feel it, and get some semblance. You can talk about Girl Scouting,
but when you can actually bring itto them and demonstrate the capacity that we
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have, that's the magic, andthat's when people can really feel and understand
the positive impact that the experience couldhave. Wow. I mean, that's
just overwhelming to me because I knowso many young kids who may not have
access to that. But you know, as a young girl, I just
this interview is just bringing back alot of great memories of being in Girl
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Scouts, of all the fun thatI had. And you know, you've
been with the organization for so longat this point. I mean, I'm
not trying to say you've pan aroundso long, but you know what I'm
saying, you've you've really made yourpresence known around the Girl Scouts of Eastern
Massachusetts, and now you've decided it'stime to take your next step. I'm
actually retiring. I free there areother things I would like to explore,
but it won't be necessarily taking anotherjob, because this is it. I've
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reached the pinnacle of my career inthis, in this organization. I was
a high tech person who took alittle time off after a company I worked
for went public and randomly someone said, hey, barn the Girl Scouts of
Patriots Trail was the Boston centric organization. They're looking for board members. I
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thought, well, that would befun to do, and that led to
some pro bono consulting. I wasan information technology professional prior to that,
and then it's like a hook.It just grabs on to you and suddenly
it's not a job, it's avocation, it's a mission, it's a
passion. And I thought I woulddo that for a year or two.
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And I've been involved, both myboard experience and my employment experience for almost
twenty five years so. And thething of it is, there was a
gentleman that I worked with thirty yearsago and he said to me he was
retiring and he said, you know, there are signs in the universe that
let you know when it's time togo. And then he stopped and he
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said, you know when you know, and quite Frankly, I've culmination for
me. Three years ago, Imoved into the CEO role. For most
of my experience here, i've beenthe COO, and that's a role.
Obviously I was comfortable. I hadthat role in my prior career in high
tech. And what a joy andwhat a challenge. It pushed me in
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ways that I didn't feel were possible. And we got through COVID. That
was you know, as far asI'm concerned, the entire organization worked so
hard for us to move forward andget beyond that, and I think for
me, I'm done. I thinkI've done a good job. I certainly
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could not have worked harder, couldnot have been more committed to this organization.
I love this organization. This It'sembedded in my soul. I will
never leave it. I will continueto volunteer and continue to support it.
But it's time for somebody to comein and take what we've built on the
foundation and leap forward and continue tobring the organization forward. And I am
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looking forward to seeing who that willbe and in supporting them in any way,
shape or form. But I'm goingto travel and relax and spend more
time. I've got a home onthe Cape. I'm fortunate for that and
rest. You care very much aboutyour job, you care about these girls,
you care about this organization, andI'm sure you're going to leave it
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in really, really good hands.And maybe it's going to be another former
Girl Scout. You don't know,you don't know our organization because it's number
ten, you know, might bean attractive jump for somebody who's in a
smaller Girl Scout organization. But thenagain, there may be like like me,
I was in high tech and reallythat was so exhausting and to do
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good work. I did good workin my other jobs, don't get me
wrong, but to do good workthat matters every day and every decision and
everything that you do is going toadd to or detract from a girl having
this great experience. So the it'snot pressure, it's just joy. It's
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love. It's doing everything in yourpower to support the staff, you know,
to support the volunteers. We havea wonderful board and we have a
great board chair. I've been veryblessed to work with our board chair for
the last three years, so allof the all of the elements are there
and just I'm so looking forward tosomebody coming in and leveraging that and keep
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continuing to move this organization forward.That would that would be the the what
do you call it, the creamand the crop or the tip of the
iceberg for me is to see thathappen and be witnessed to it and continue
to support the organization. I mean, one could say that you truly are
living the Girl Scout law by makingthe world a better place and being a
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sister to every Girl Scout. Yes, And actually my one regret of my
life is I was never a GirlScout to tell me really. I grew
up in the town of Tewksbury outsideand at the time, I'm happy to
say Tewksbury is a very thriving GirlScout community now, but back then that
just it wasn't you know. Therewere four h and some religious organizations and
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everything, so I never got theexperience. And when I joined the board
of Patriots Trail, that was myfirst entry point. I was given the
option to pay for my membership onan annual basis or buy a lifetime membership,
and I bought a lifetime membership there. But when I see what the
girls are doing, and I youknow, obviously It's a regret that can't
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be undone, but it feels goodthat although I wasn't a girl, I
was able to as an adult,really really hopefully make a difference. I
know that I am the benefactor ofthis experience. I am a better person.
I am just a whole bunch ofthings because of this opportunity that I
consider myself. The accidental girl Scoutand the friend who called me that day
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to let me know about the boardposition that was open. I have often
I've lost track of her, andI've often wanted to call her and let
her know that you change the courseof my entire rest of my career.
Ending my career on this note,Honestly, it couldn't. It's a story
for me that couldn't be written anybetter. So well, I would say
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that you have earned your space inthe Girl Scout organization. You are you
are definitely a Girl Scout at thispoint. So let's kind of wrap this
up and talk about You know,if a mother is listening or a family
member is listening and they say mykid needs to be in Girl Scouts,
like this sounds amazing, Or maybethere's somebody listening whose kid was in Girl
Scouts, but they didn't think theycould bring them back. Whatever it is,
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tell us how we can get intouch with the Girl Scouts of Eastern
Massachusetts. We'll talk about the cookiesin a second, but this is important
first question. Our website www.Dot g s EMA dot org has a
wealth of information and on there there'sa link that you can click to get
more information about joining the organization.There's obviously, like every other organization,
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we have donation opportunities, but wehave a customer care line customer care at
g S e m A dot org, and that's our entry point. We
actually moved away from having telephone numberswith COVID because nobody was in the offices
to answer them. So our customercare line has become our number one way
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to reach us. And you willbe you know, put in the type
of question that you have and youwill be responded to and then connected with
someone in the organization who will helpyou. And it's informational. You know,
if someone's interested but are fearful thatonce they get on the phone they'll
be you know, sucked into signingup for anything, that's not the case.
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It's informational. We need to furtherembellish whatever information they have coming into
the call or information inquiry, tomake sure that we're addressing concerns that they
have. Number One for most parentsand guardians is safety, Like what are
you doing about safety? And I'lltell you. In them last few years,
particularly with COVID, a lot ofmental health questions, a lot of
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like what are you specifically doing tohelp address mental health issues with girls?
And quite frankly, my response tothat is always, we can't execute or
involve girls in this program without consideringmental health and their well being. It's
just impossible to separate those because it'sall tied into how a girl feels about
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herself, her self esteem, herself development, and ultimately her leadership development.
So we have such a dedicated staffand they do a great job at
shepherding people who are maybe less familiarwith what we do and for people who
sometimes you know, people will callus up, Yeah I know all about
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you, guys. You know,how do I set my girl up?
And we want to just take thetime to refresh their refresh their knowledge of
our organization because nine times out often they don't actually understand the breath and
scope of what it is we offeras part of this leadership development. We're
in the business of breaking down barriersfor girls to enter girl scouting, whether
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that's financial issues, transportation to programming, transportation to camp. There are a
lot of issues that people generally havewhen they're making decisions for their children,
and we are in that business.We recognize that and we want to level
the playing field so that again ourgoal is any girl who would like this
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experience, we want to make surethat they can have it. Just wanted
to touch on a couple of things. You've got to Share the Love campaign
going on, so tell us abit about that and how that's all working.
So Share the Love It happens obviouslyaround Valentine's Day, and it's our
effort to take people are so generouswhen they purchase cookies. If they don't
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want the product themselves, then theydonate it. So we have a lot
of cookies for a cause, andindividuals can do it at their town level
food banks, first responders, butat our level, what we do is
highlight several organizations every year that reallydo good work. Last year, one
of our awardies was the Boston TeachersUnion. Talk about people who give and
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give and give. So we broughta few thousand boxes of cookies to the
Boston Teachers Union and I have severalfriends and acquaintances who happen to be Boston
school teachers and I got tons ofnotes. But it's just an expression of
thanks for what they're doing, andit's a recognition that there are a lot
of people behind the scenes who aresupporting these organizations. So we make a
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big deal of it. This year, we're doing a new location, the
Pine Street in so on February thirteenth, actually the day before, we'll deliver
product to the Pine Street in Butit's just building awareness that the Girl Scouts.
You know, one of the keysto Girl Scouting is giving back,
and that happens, you know.The cookie sale is one large scale,
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visible way that we can demonstrate thathappens all the time. So and in
the that's toward the middle of oursales. So it's also a nice way
to remind the public that we're stillout there and the girls are still selling.
You can buy them online, andthis is where our website becomes important
again. Www dot g S em A dot org. There's a link
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on there and you can either findgirls in your town by zip code,
or just generally do donations of cookiesthrough the website. So it's awareness.
You know, we talk a lotabout the skills that girls learned selling cookies.
It is the largest entrepreneurial program girlprogram in the world, I think
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about it. I believe it.It's roughly eight hundred and fifty million dollars
across the whole US generated in GirlScout cookie sales. Our sale generate,
we sell approximately two million, eighthundred thousand packages of cookies, and Eastern
mass oh my gosh, most ofthem to my house. I have to
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say I'm a strong supporter of theGirl Scout cookie endeavor. I probably shouldn't
say this on the radio, butif I hear from a girl, I
buy at least a half a dozenboxes from you, and I have to
yes. So it ends up beingI only have my own private cookie stash
in my office as well as home. Yeah. Yeah, no. And
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let's you know, let's talk reallyquickly about the cookies. And obviously we've
got all the classic flavors. You'vegot your thin mints and your caramel delights,
the peanut butter patties. You've gotsome newer ones though, caramel chocolate
chip. You got a gluten freeI think that one's peanut free as well.
And one about French toast. Thatone's interesting to me. The toast
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Ya okay, that's a cookie thatyou love it or you don't. If
you drink tea, you super loveit. It's a great cookie with tea.
We also have the Adventureful. That'sa new cookie. I think this
is its third year, and thatis my absolute drop dead favorite. It's
got sea salt caramel brownie and itit's really good. Oh my gosh.
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And the classic trifoils. I havebeen eating those since I was a kid.
I love those things. Oh youcan have them with tea like you
mentioned, and coffee. I sometimessprinkle them on ice cream. I was
just going to say, I puta couple in a bowl and put the
ice cream on it and then letthe ice cream melt a little. Yeah.
The other thing about cookies is peoplemay not know that two or three
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I forget what the latest stats are, but two or three of the Girl
Scout cookie offerings are in the topten selling cookies in the US, against
cookies like chips of hooy and Oreosthin mints. I believe is number three
I see, and that's a cookiethat's sold for roughly three months of the
year by a girl. Wow,and it is takes place with Oreos.
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Think of the number of outlets andplaces that you can find Oreos or Chips
and Hoy cookies. They're everywhere,gas station, you know, the vending
machines, cbs, you know,anywhere exactly exactly, so the you know,
it's an iconic brand and people loveit. We increase our price this
year to six dollars, and typicallywe have a little bit of a depression
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in sales because people get cranky.But then I remind them you're not buying
just a box of cookies. You'rebuying girl power and girl empowerment exactly.
You've got to remember that and behindthat. And by the way, another
side benefit people may not know isgirls can earn cookie credits and other incentives
during the cookie sale, and veryoften they use that toward paying for summer
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camp. Oh so okay. It'sa good way, particularly if you know
finances are challenging. It's a goodway to allow the girl to forge their
own path, yeah, and makedecisions on their own. And it has
a lot of tentacles that people maynot think about, but largest girl run
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business in the world. That isstunning to think about that. I'm twenty
five years in and I'm still wow, how can that be? But yeah,
it's great. It's quite the operation, and I'm so grateful it's around.
Not just because of the cookies,that's nice and all, but like
you said, just knowing that afterall these years, I mean, the
(31:34):
leader, the founder of Girl Scouts, Jeanette Gordon Lowe, I think her
name is Julietton, Juliet Gordon Lowe. It's been a while, you know.
I think that she would be soproud to see where the organization is
here in twenty twenty four and movinginto the future. I really think so,
you know, she was. Iwent to see her. Her home
(31:55):
was in Savannah, Georgia, andshe sold a string of her mother's pearls
to fund the first couple of GirlScout troops. But at her home,
she painted, she welded, steals, she did many things. So she
was very progressive for girls to beable to do things that were not necessarily
for girls back years ago. She'dbe overwhelmed. This would be her biggest
(32:22):
dream of dreams to come through.And every year her birthday is actually on
Halloween, so every year we doa lot of celebrating around her birthday.
Because how does one person get anidea and then it translates into an organization
that has well over three million membersacross the US. It's just I know,
(32:46):
it would be mind boggling, Ithink for her to appreciate the depth
and the fact that we still talkabout her. Yes, she comes up
in every conversation. And there's somelocal women in Massachusetts who were also fundamental.
Helen Storrow of Storrow Drive Thing surewas an acquaintance of hers, and
(33:07):
she was very instrumental in organizing andgetting Massachusetts troops started. So so the
history, you know, it's history. It's it's fascinating. And again I
want to I will work as hardas I can until the day that I
hand my keys in at the endof June to ensure a smooth transition.
(33:31):
And I'm excited for new leadership.I'm sad, you know, it's hard
to it was hard to finally makethis decision, but it's the right decision
for me and it will be theright decision for the organization. They deserve,
like let's kick the tires, let'skick it up a notch, and
our girls need need that, SoI hear you well. Thank you for
(33:54):
all you've done for our girls forall these years, and all you will
continue to do for our girls,because you're going, but you're not going.
You're sticking around. You're not goinganywhere. So Barb, thank you
again for all you have done forour girls in Eastern Massachusetts. Girl Scouts
of Eastern Massachusetts g S e ma dot org appreciate your time here on
(34:17):
the show. Barb, thank you, Nicole, thank you so much.
Have a safe and healthy weekend.Please join me again next week for another
edition of the show. I'm NicoleDavis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend. Each week
we come together and talk about allthe topics important to you and the place
where you live. It is sogood to be back with you again this
week. I'm Nicole Davis. Well, maybe your local Girl Scout recently reached
out to you about grabbing a fewboxes of cookies. Perhaps maybe you saw
them at the store, your localcraft fair, sporting event. They are
(00:30):
out there doing their thing. Itreally is the perfect time to load up
on those thin mints and peanut butterpatties and the shortbreads there and all the
other ones you like to get.But there is so much more to Girl
Scouts than just getting out there andselling cookies for a few months at a
time. Now, the Scouts haveactually been around for more than one hundred
years. They started up back innineteen twelve down in Georgia, in Savannah,
(00:53):
and the first troop was made upof eighteen girls who at the time
were hoping to embrace a way oflife that back those days wasn't really possible
for women and girls. Now we'retalking about the early nineteen hundreds here,
women were most often staying at hometo clean the house and cook the meals
and bear the kids, so onand so forth. They didn't even have
the right to vote. But theGirl Scouts back then known as the Girl
(01:15):
Guides, what they were trying todo was help young women learn skills that
could help them grow in other areasoutside the home, like spending time in
nature and playing sports, learning aboutthe wilderness, learning how to take care
of themselves, their inner self andother people too. All these years later,
the main goals of the Girl Scoutsremained the same, and right here
(01:38):
in Eastern Massachusetts, thousands of girls, starting as young as pre k serving
through their teens. They're out thereall over the state, finding friends and
making memories and learning the critical lifeskills that the Girl Scouts love to help
them with. One woman has beentheir front and center for many years making
this happen. But now Barb Fortier, the CEO of the Girl Scouts of
(01:59):
Eastern mass it's time for her tostep aside so a new era can begin.
She is here on the show.You know we got to talk about
this, Baharb, thank you somuch for your time here on New England
Weekend. We're obviously going to talkabout your retirement. We'll get to that
in a few first, though,while I've got you, let's talk a
bit more for people who might notbe familiar really about what the Girl Scouts
(02:19):
have to offer here in Massachusetts andreally in the program at large. Actually,
believe it or not, a lotof people still know the Girl Scouts
for cookies, camps, crafts,and other things, and those are definitely
part of our tradition and the heritageof this organization. But we're so much
more than that. Our cookie program, for instance, people think that's really
just about girls generating cash for theorganization, when in fact, the girls
(02:44):
earn learn six lessons money management,people, communications, decision making, and
other skills. So when I talkwith somebody and they want to challenge why
would I spend six dollars buy apackage of cookies, I say to them
because you're buying girl empowerment and you'refacilitating girl empowerment. And that seems to
(03:07):
resonate with folks. But we havestem programming. We are renown for our
outdoor programming. So the Girl Scouts, by virtue of the fact that there
are very many generous donors over theyears have donated property to the Girl Scouts,
and I'm talking not just about ourGirls Council but across the country,
so we have really leveraged that toour advantage. We offer the premiere outdoor
(03:30):
program experience for girls. So entrepreneurship, we teach life skills. I remember
growing up many centuries ago, andin school I learned about cooking and homec
and other skills like that. SoI'm not necessarily talking about those types of
skills, but there's just general lifeskills that there are absent in most of
(03:53):
the educational opportunities that girls have today. Stem outdoor program, entrepreneurial and life
skills are the four pillars of GirlScouts today, and people are surprised to
hear some of that, and notsurprising to me that they would be surprised
because I mean, I went toGirl Scout camp and I learned how to
swim at Girl Scout Camp. Idid not know how to swim before I
(04:15):
went to Girl Scout Camp. Ican make a fire outside because of Girl
Scout Camp. I know how tocook because of my time in the Girl
Scouts. I mean, people don'trecognize how deeply you get involved in your
troop and you learn to how tobuild bonds, and I remember we would
all stand there and you know,recite the promise what is on my honor,
I will try to serve my country, help people at all times,
(04:36):
and live by the Girl Scout law. And people think, oh, that's
just you know, like a pledge, but it means a lot when you're
involved with this group. Well,let me tell you. We had our
national convention this past summer and therewas a proposal on the table to change
the language of both the promise andthe law. Oh and there was vehement
dialogue going back and forth for thefolks that want to lead that does is
(05:00):
and it's been that way for nearlyone hundred years, or change it,
and ultimately it stays the same becauseit means that much. For instance,
it says I will try, andpeople were saying, well, let's move
will try, like I will dosomething with Girl Scouting. And the girls
reacted really negatively to that because theyview Girl Scouts as a safe place and
(05:25):
a safe space where they can trypretty much anything they want to and failure
is part of the learning curve andit's a supportive environment. No one's ever
chastised or ashamed because they can't throwa hatchet and hit the middle of a
target. Hatchet throwing is one ofour programs. Yeah, And to be
a young girl and to be ina space where society, i think puts
(05:47):
a lot of pressure on young girlsto do it right and learn this quickly
and all this other and really justexcel in everything, especially if you're a
girl who is really good at maybeacademics or something, are really good at
sports. It's such a good feelingto be in a group of girls and
having fun learning, but also knowingthat when you're there people are going to
(06:08):
be honest and they're going to bekind and be that safe space that frankly
a lot of girls may not havein their everyday lives. Well, that's
a great point because there are alot of other spaces that girls occupy,
whether they're in school or whatever,where they get a lot of overt and
sometimes subliminal subliminal messages that well,girls can't do that, or you know,
(06:30):
don't try that, you know,do this. So in Girl Scouts
it's all no holds barred. Whateverwe offer. All of our programming,
by the way, is backed upwith outcomes. We we have measurable outcomes
for everything that we do. Ournational organization gs USA has a research institute
who constantly is outpinging girls and adultmembers about, you know, what they
(06:54):
want to see for their daughters.So our programming evolves pretty rapidly over time
to account for that. But literally, our education process for the folks who
have the most influence over the girls, troop leaders continues so that they are
open and nurturing and supportive and lettingthe girls you know, really experiment and
(07:16):
they develop the who they are throughthe Girl Scout program. And again in
other spaces that doesn't necessarily happen consistently, and I think that many Girl Scouts
to hold those truths with them throughouttheir lives. You talk to a lot
of people, at least you know, I'm an older millennial, and most
of the girls I know or thewomen I know now you know, we
(07:38):
all went to Girl Scouts in oneway, shape or form, and we
can all connect and relate through that. People think that Girl Scouts just ends
at you know, Brownies or Daisiesand that's it, and then you're eight
nine years old and you're done.I don't think people realize that Girl Scouts
goes all the way to adulthood ifyou want it to the you know,
quite frankly, we have a littlebit of an outpouring at the fourth to
(07:59):
sixth grade level. That's when girlsget exposed to other things that aren't necessarily
in our sweet spots, sports ordance or very specific and targeted training.
So we work really hard to makeour programming compelling because if we can get
them through that that age range,then nine times out of ten, they'll
(08:20):
continue to stay in Girl Scouting toexperience the full spectrum of the leadership development
program we offer. Girls join whenthey are Daisies and Brownies. Daisies our
kindergarten first grade. Brownie is ourfirst grade second grade. They're all about
making friends and having fun, andthat is their focus. But as Girl
Scouts evolves pretty soon in that fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth
(08:43):
grade level, that's when girls they'rebecoming young adults. They're making decisions,
they're experimenting and really determining who andwhat they want to be. It's not
a complete process, but it certainlysets them on the path. So it's
so it's overwhelming to see girls whohave achieved the highest pinnacle in Girl Scouting
(09:05):
which is the Gold Award, andhave gone through the entire program. It's
remarkable the difference in their overall boys, their self assurance, their self esteem.
They're just brave, they're bold,and they're outdoing amazing things in this
world. And when you see thatand you actually see the result of that,
(09:26):
and I see that very regularly,it's just it's it's humbling and it's
overwhelming to watch. So we're agood deal. Do you find that more
girls these days, especially post COVID, are staying in the program, going
into maybe juniors and cadets and furtherthan that, or do you find that
you're still struggling with that outpouring,like you said after Brownies, as kids
(09:48):
make their way out. Yeah,it's hard. We're still evaluating the impact
of COVID. Sometimes it can takein our world a couple of three years
to kind of map some girls andfigure out if that's the case. But
again, we do our very bestto facilitate and hopefully help girls stay in
(10:09):
the program because the program people have. The other thing that people have a
misunderstanding about is they have to goevery week, they have to do X
number of meetings. They think thatGirls Scouting comes in one shape and size,
and it doesn't. There are sometroops that meet once a month because
that works for them and it allowsthe girls to do other activities. But
(10:33):
ultimately, we do a lot ofwork educating parents and guardians about what the
program is about, because you know, particularly for the younger girls, they
are the decision makers. So youknow, leadership development. If that's really
critical and important for you and yourdaughter or the girl that you're the guardian
for, then you're going to probablyweigh that more heavily than perhaps, well,
(10:54):
you know, you can take adance class, but you know,
let's carve out the time and allowyou to do girl Scouting. So you
have made a big impact personally,and we'll talk about that in a bit.
But the council itself, Girl Scoutsof Eastern Massachusetts, it's one of
the biggest councils in the United States. I mean, I think you're number
ten if I remember correctly, andyou're the biggest organization in Massachusetts. That
(11:18):
is a big deal, more thanthirty thousand members right now. What's it
like knowing that so many girls aretaking part in your programming here in Eastern
mass How do you feel about that. Well, it's a double edged sword.
It's overwhelming, and it's just there'sa lot of pride about what we're
doing and how we're impacting girls.We are number ten in the country and
(11:43):
we are as a result, wehave a lot more resources let's say monetary,
human resources, etc. To domore with the programming than let's say
smaller councils. So we're looked upto as a council that a we share,
we believe in it's for us.Let's share with other counsels and see
(12:05):
if it will help them overcome whatevertheir issues are. But it's really it's
humbling to know that we have thatmuch of an impact and that every person
in this organization and every volunteer thathelps us, we all contribute. And
people think it's like a little butall of those littles form a massive amount
(12:26):
of support for the girls. Andyou know, our motto is we'd like
every girl that really would like thisexperience to be able to partake. So
we remove a lot of barriers.You know, we offer financial aid,
we offer again different ways that girlscan have touch points with this organization.
Some girls, honestly their Girl Scoutexperience is summer camp, and that's fine.
(12:52):
There's no time limit. Somebody saidto me, oh, I was
a Brownie, but I wasn't agirl Scout, So I had to explain,
there's six levels. There are sixlevels, and it doesn't matter if
you're with girl scouting. I mean, we'd love for girls to have the
whole experience all twelve years, butit doesn't matter if you get one year,
two years. We have heard.I have a niece, she's twenty
(13:15):
four. She ran her own business. She's out in the world. She
graduated from you Maryland terribly shy asa young girl. She had two full
years of girl Scouting and primarily hadto stop because there wasn't any volunteer that
was willing to pick up. Buther mom and she both credit her success
today that those two years. Imean, you get so much out of
(13:37):
every aspect or every time, everyamount of time you spend with girl Scouts.
So yeah, it's important. Yeah, And you talked about those touch
points. And of course you havegirl Scouts in your suburban towns and even
rural areas, but urban areas,you do a lot of work in the
cities as well, places like Boston, and Lawrence and Lowell, Fall River,
New Bedford, the bigger cities inMassachusetts, you do. We have
(14:00):
a community engagement team and their goalI believe they have I don't remember the
firm number, but it's probably somewherein eighteen to twenty. Communities that fall
into that, they generally have morediverse populations, they're generally more underrepresented with
respect to Girl Scouts, and thebarriers for them are different and they're heavier.
(14:22):
So we do a lot of intenseeducation in those communities we meet with
in community centers. We have outreacheddifferent ways of outreaching again the decision makers,
because there are particularly if you areif the daughter, the girl is
a first line American born here,but parents weren't outside of the United States,
(14:48):
sometimes girl Scouting is not known,so we have to do a lot
to convey to parents and guardians whatit is, what the value is,
and what the experience is like.And we have to you know, we
want to meet every girl where sheis, but in those communities it's even
more important. One initiative we've gotgoing right now, we're purchasing a van
and it's being fit out for STEMand it's going to travel around. It's
(15:11):
not exclusively for our underrepresented communities,but it's going to go into those communities
as well as some other communities sothat we can bring the magic that is
Girl Scouts to where they are sothey can see it, touch it,
feel it, and get some semblance. You can talk about Girl Scouting,
but when you can actually bring itto them and demonstrate the capacity that we
(15:35):
have, that's the magic, andthat's when people can really feel and understand
the positive impact that the experience couldhave. Wow. I mean, that's
just overwhelming to me because I knowso many young kids who may not have
access to that. But you know, as a young girl, I just
this interview is just bringing back alot of great memories of being in Girl
(15:58):
Scouts, of all the fun thatI had. And you know, you've
been with the organization for so longat this point. I mean, I'm
not trying to say you've pan aroundso long, but you know what I'm
saying, you've you've really made yourpresence known around the Girl Scouts of Eastern
Massachusetts, and now you've decided it'stime to take your next step. I'm
actually retiring. I free there areother things I would like to explore,
but it won't be necessarily taking anotherjob, because this is it. I've
(16:27):
reached the pinnacle of my career inthis, in this organization. I was
a high tech person who took alittle time off after a company I worked
for went public and randomly someone said, hey, barn the Girl Scouts of
Patriots Trail was the Boston centric organization. They're looking for board members. I
(16:48):
thought, well, that would befun to do, and that led to
some pro bono consulting. I wasan information technology professional prior to that,
and then it's like a hook.It just grabs on to you and suddenly
it's not a job, it's avocation, it's a mission, it's a
passion. And I thought I woulddo that for a year or two.
(17:10):
And I've been involved, both myboard experience and my employment experience for almost
twenty five years so. And thething of it is, there was a
gentleman that I worked with thirty yearsago and he said to me he was
retiring and he said, you know, there are signs in the universe that
let you know when it's time togo. And then he stopped and he
(17:32):
said, you know when you know, and quite Frankly, I've culmination for
me. Three years ago, Imoved into the CEO role. For most
of my experience here, i've beenthe COO, and that's a role.
Obviously I was comfortable. I hadthat role in my prior career in high
tech. And what a joy andwhat a challenge. It pushed me in
(17:57):
ways that I didn't feel were possible. And we got through COVID. That
was you know, as far asI'm concerned, the entire organization worked so
hard for us to move forward andget beyond that, and I think for
me, I'm done. I thinkI've done a good job. I certainly
(18:19):
could not have worked harder, couldnot have been more committed to this organization.
I love this organization. This It'sembedded in my soul. I will
never leave it. I will continueto volunteer and continue to support it.
But it's time for somebody to comein and take what we've built on the
foundation and leap forward and continue tobring the organization forward. And I am
(18:41):
looking forward to seeing who that willbe and in supporting them in any way,
shape or form. But I'm goingto travel and relax and spend more
time. I've got a home onthe Cape. I'm fortunate for that and
rest. You care very much aboutyour job, you care about these girls,
you care about this organization, andI'm sure you're going to leave it
(19:03):
in really, really good hands.And maybe it's going to be another former
Girl Scout. You don't know,you don't know our organization because it's number
ten, you know, might bean attractive jump for somebody who's in a
smaller Girl Scout organization. But thenagain, there may be like like me,
I was in high tech and reallythat was so exhausting and to do
(19:27):
good work. I did good workin my other jobs, don't get me
wrong, but to do good workthat matters every day and every decision and
everything that you do is going toadd to or detract from a girl having
this great experience. So the it'snot pressure, it's just joy. It's
(19:47):
love. It's doing everything in yourpower to support the staff, you know,
to support the volunteers. We havea wonderful board and we have a
great board chair. I've been veryblessed to work with our board chair for
the last three years, so allof the all of the elements are there
and just I'm so looking forward tosomebody coming in and leveraging that and keep
(20:11):
continuing to move this organization forward.That would that would be the the what
do you call it, the creamand the crop or the tip of the
iceberg for me is to see thathappen and be witnessed to it and continue
to support the organization. I mean, one could say that you truly are
living the Girl Scout law by makingthe world a better place and being a
(20:33):
sister to every Girl Scout. Yes, And actually my one regret of my
life is I was never a GirlScout to tell me really. I grew
up in the town of Tewksbury outsideand at the time, I'm happy to
say Tewksbury is a very thriving GirlScout community now, but back then that
just it wasn't you know. Therewere four h and some religious organizations and
(20:56):
everything, so I never got theexperience. And when I joined the board
of Patriots Trail, that was myfirst entry point. I was given the
option to pay for my membership onan annual basis or buy a lifetime membership,
and I bought a lifetime membership there. But when I see what the
girls are doing, and I youknow, obviously It's a regret that can't
(21:18):
be undone, but it feels goodthat although I wasn't a girl, I
was able to as an adult,really really hopefully make a difference. I
know that I am the benefactor ofthis experience. I am a better person.
I am just a whole bunch ofthings because of this opportunity that I
consider myself. The accidental girl Scoutand the friend who called me that day
(21:44):
to let me know about the boardposition that was open. I have often
I've lost track of her, andI've often wanted to call her and let
her know that you change the courseof my entire rest of my career.
Ending my career on this note,Honestly, it couldn't. It's a story
for me that couldn't be written anybetter. So well, I would say
(22:07):
that you have earned your space inthe Girl Scout organization. You are you
are definitely a Girl Scout at thispoint. So let's kind of wrap this
up and talk about You know,if a mother is listening or a family
member is listening and they say mykid needs to be in Girl Scouts,
like this sounds amazing, Or maybethere's somebody listening whose kid was in Girl
Scouts, but they didn't think theycould bring them back. Whatever it is,
(22:29):
tell us how we can get intouch with the Girl Scouts of Eastern
Massachusetts. We'll talk about the cookiesin a second, but this is important
first question. Our website www.Dot g s EMA dot org has a
wealth of information and on there there'sa link that you can click to get
more information about joining the organization.There's obviously, like every other organization,
(22:52):
we have donation opportunities, but wehave a customer care line customer care at
g S e m A dot org, and that's our entry point. We
actually moved away from having telephone numberswith COVID because nobody was in the offices
to answer them. So our customercare line has become our number one way
(23:12):
to reach us. And you willbe you know, put in the type
of question that you have and youwill be responded to and then connected with
someone in the organization who will helpyou. And it's informational. You know,
if someone's interested but are fearful thatonce they get on the phone they'll
be you know, sucked into signingup for anything, that's not the case.
(23:36):
It's informational. We need to furtherembellish whatever information they have coming into
the call or information inquiry, tomake sure that we're addressing concerns that they
have. Number One for most parentsand guardians is safety, Like what are
you doing about safety? And I'lltell you. In them last few years,
particularly with COVID, a lot ofmental health questions, a lot of
(24:00):
like what are you specifically doing tohelp address mental health issues with girls?
And quite frankly, my response tothat is always, we can't execute or
involve girls in this program without consideringmental health and their well being. It's
just impossible to separate those because it'sall tied into how a girl feels about
(24:21):
herself, her self esteem, herself development, and ultimately her leadership development.
So we have such a dedicated staffand they do a great job at
shepherding people who are maybe less familiarwith what we do and for people who
sometimes you know, people will callus up, Yeah I know all about
(24:41):
you, guys. You know,how do I set my girl up?
And we want to just take thetime to refresh their refresh their knowledge of
our organization because nine times out often they don't actually understand the breath and
scope of what it is we offeras part of this leadership development. We're
in the business of breaking down barriersfor girls to enter girl scouting, whether
(25:02):
that's financial issues, transportation to programming, transportation to camp. There are a
lot of issues that people generally havewhen they're making decisions for their children,
and we are in that business.We recognize that and we want to level
the playing field so that again ourgoal is any girl who would like this
(25:26):
experience, we want to make surethat they can have it. Just wanted
to touch on a couple of things. You've got to Share the Love campaign
going on, so tell us abit about that and how that's all working.
So Share the Love It happens obviouslyaround Valentine's Day, and it's our
effort to take people are so generouswhen they purchase cookies. If they don't
(25:47):
want the product themselves, then theydonate it. So we have a lot
of cookies for a cause, andindividuals can do it at their town level
food banks, first responders, butat our level, what we do is
highlight several organizations every year that reallydo good work. Last year, one
of our awardies was the Boston TeachersUnion. Talk about people who give and
(26:10):
give and give. So we broughta few thousand boxes of cookies to the
Boston Teachers Union and I have severalfriends and acquaintances who happen to be Boston
school teachers and I got tons ofnotes. But it's just an expression of
thanks for what they're doing, andit's a recognition that there are a lot
of people behind the scenes who aresupporting these organizations. So we make a
(26:33):
big deal of it. This year, we're doing a new location, the
Pine Street in so on February thirteenth, actually the day before, we'll deliver
product to the Pine Street in Butit's just building awareness that the Girl Scouts.
You know, one of the keysto Girl Scouting is giving back,
and that happens, you know.The cookie sale is one large scale,
(26:56):
visible way that we can demonstrate thathappens all the time. So and in
the that's toward the middle of oursales. So it's also a nice way
to remind the public that we're stillout there and the girls are still selling.
You can buy them online, andthis is where our website becomes important
again. Www dot g S em A dot org. There's a link
(27:19):
on there and you can either findgirls in your town by zip code,
or just generally do donations of cookiesthrough the website. So it's awareness.
You know, we talk a lotabout the skills that girls learned selling cookies.
It is the largest entrepreneurial program girlprogram in the world, I think
(27:45):
about it. I believe it.It's roughly eight hundred and fifty million dollars
across the whole US generated in GirlScout cookie sales. Our sale generate,
we sell approximately two million, eighthundred thousand packages of cookies, and Eastern
mass oh my gosh, most ofthem to my house. I have to
(28:06):
say I'm a strong supporter of theGirl Scout cookie endeavor. I probably shouldn't
say this on the radio, butif I hear from a girl, I
buy at least a half a dozenboxes from you, and I have to
yes. So it ends up beingI only have my own private cookie stash
in my office as well as home. Yeah. Yeah, no. And
(28:27):
let's you know, let's talk reallyquickly about the cookies. And obviously we've
got all the classic flavors. You'vegot your thin mints and your caramel delights,
the peanut butter patties. You've gotsome newer ones though, caramel chocolate
chip. You got a gluten freeI think that one's peanut free as well.
And one about French toast. Thatone's interesting to me. The toast
(28:49):
Ya okay, that's a cookie thatyou love it or you don't. If
you drink tea, you super loveit. It's a great cookie with tea.
We also have the Adventureful. That'sa new cookie. I think this
is its third year, and thatis my absolute drop dead favorite. It's
got sea salt caramel brownie and itit's really good. Oh my gosh.
(29:15):
And the classic trifoils. I havebeen eating those since I was a kid.
I love those things. Oh youcan have them with tea like you
mentioned, and coffee. I sometimessprinkle them on ice cream. I was
just going to say, I puta couple in a bowl and put the
ice cream on it and then letthe ice cream melt a little. Yeah.
The other thing about cookies is peoplemay not know that two or three
(29:37):
I forget what the latest stats are, but two or three of the Girl
Scout cookie offerings are in the topten selling cookies in the US, against
cookies like chips of hooy and Oreosthin mints. I believe is number three
I see, and that's a cookiethat's sold for roughly three months of the
year by a girl. Wow,and it is takes place with Oreos.
(30:02):
Think of the number of outlets andplaces that you can find Oreos or Chips
and Hoy cookies. They're everywhere,gas station, you know, the vending
machines, cbs, you know,anywhere exactly exactly, so the you know,
it's an iconic brand and people loveit. We increase our price this
year to six dollars, and typicallywe have a little bit of a depression
(30:25):
in sales because people get cranky.But then I remind them you're not buying
just a box of cookies. You'rebuying girl power and girl empowerment exactly.
You've got to remember that and behindthat. And by the way, another
side benefit people may not know isgirls can earn cookie credits and other incentives
during the cookie sale, and veryoften they use that toward paying for summer
(30:48):
camp. Oh so okay. It'sa good way, particularly if you know
finances are challenging. It's a goodway to allow the girl to forge their
own path, yeah, and makedecisions on their own. And it has
a lot of tentacles that people maynot think about, but largest girl run
(31:11):
business in the world. That isstunning to think about that. I'm twenty
five years in and I'm still wow, how can that be? But yeah,
it's great. It's quite the operation, and I'm so grateful it's around.
Not just because of the cookies,that's nice and all, but like
you said, just knowing that afterall these years, I mean, the
(31:34):
leader, the founder of Girl Scouts, Jeanette Gordon Lowe, I think her
name is Julietton, Juliet Gordon Lowe. It's been a while, you know.
I think that she would be soproud to see where the organization is
here in twenty twenty four and movinginto the future. I really think so,
you know, she was. Iwent to see her. Her home
(31:55):
was in Savannah, Georgia, andshe sold a string of her mother's pearls
to fund the first couple of GirlScout troops. But at her home,
she painted, she welded, steals, she did many things. So she
was very progressive for girls to beable to do things that were not necessarily
for girls back years ago. She'dbe overwhelmed. This would be her biggest
(32:22):
dream of dreams to come through.And every year her birthday is actually on
Halloween, so every year we doa lot of celebrating around her birthday.
Because how does one person get anidea and then it translates into an organization
that has well over three million membersacross the US. It's just I know,
(32:46):
it would be mind boggling, Ithink for her to appreciate the depth
and the fact that we still talkabout her. Yes, she comes up
in every conversation. And there's somelocal women in Massachusetts who were also fundamental.
Helen Storrow of Storrow Drive Thing surewas an acquaintance of hers, and
(33:07):
she was very instrumental in organizing andgetting Massachusetts troops started. So so the
history, you know, it's history. It's it's fascinating. And again I
want to I will work as hardas I can until the day that I
hand my keys in at the endof June to ensure a smooth transition.
(33:31):
And I'm excited for new leadership.I'm sad, you know, it's hard
to it was hard to finally makethis decision, but it's the right decision
for me and it will be theright decision for the organization. They deserve,
like let's kick the tires, let'skick it up a notch, and
our girls need need that, SoI hear you well. Thank you for
(33:54):
all you've done for our girls forall these years, and all you will
continue to do for our girls,because you're going, but you're not going.
You're sticking around. You're not goinganywhere. So Barb, thank you
again for all you have done forour girls in Eastern Massachusetts. Girl Scouts
of Eastern Massachusetts g S e ma dot org appreciate your time here on
(34:17):
the show. Barb, thank you, Nicole, thank you so much.
Have a safe and healthy weekend.Please join me again next week for another
edition of the show. I'm NicoleDavis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio.
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