October 9, 2024 • 61 mins
Carol Dedrich, CEO of Girl Scouts San Diego, joins host Grant Oliphant to explore the evolving role of Girl Scouts in shaping the next generation of leaders. Drawing from her rich experiences as a U.S. Army captain and Girl Scout alumna, Carol shares how her journey is intricately connected to the mission of empowering young women in today’s complex world. She reflects on the similarities between military service and Girl Scouts, where camaraderie, resilience, and community play vital roles in both environments.
Carol delves into the impactful programs offered by Girl Scouts, from outdoor adventures and STEM education to addressing youth mental health. With a focus on fostering courage, confidence, and character, she discusses how Girl Scouts are equipped to navigate challenges like bullying, social media pressures, and isolation. Supported by partnerships, including the Prebys Foundation, Carol reveals how Girl Scouts are nurturing the mental well-being of girls, ensuring they thrive not just as future leaders but as individuals.
Throughout the conversation, Carol emphasizes the importance of mentorship, fun, volunteerism, and adapting to the changing needs of girls in diverse communities. Her vision for Girl Scouts includes expanding access and developing a model that builds valuable skills for the future while fostering well-being.
Listen to Carol Dedrich explain how Girl Scouts are helping young girls discover their potential, lead with purpose, and enjoy the journey along the way.
Credits:
This is a production of the Prebys Foundation.
Hosted by Grant Oliphant
Co-Hosted by Crystal Page
Co-produced by Crystal Page and Adam Greenfield
Engineered by Adam Greenfield
Production Assistance by Tess Karesky
The Stop & Talk Theme song was created by San Diego’s own Mr. Lyrical Groove.
Recorded at the Voice of San Diego Podcast Studio
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Grant Oliphant (00:10):
Hey, Crystal.
Crystal Page (00:11):
Hello, Grant.
Grant Oliphant (00:12):
How are you doing?
Crystal Page (00:14):
I am cool.
Grant Oliphant (00:16):
That's an appropriate intro for the
conversation we're about tohave, which is with Carol
Diedrich, the, CEO of GirlScouts of San Diego, and this is
actually going to be a reallycool conversation. We're gonna
get into Girl Scouts and whatthey do, their continuing
mission, what's different aboutGirl Scouts today from what
(00:39):
maybe many of our listenersremember. I'm excited about this
conversation.
Crystal Page (00:44):
Me too. I would say the only interaction I've
had with Carol is I went to thecool women's luncheon this year
Which is led by a series of highschool Girl Scouts who are
incredibly professional. Iwalked away ready to hire them
all to come work at Prebysimmediately, but it also made me
think back to childhood. Like,why didn't I wanna be a Girl
Scout?
Grant Oliphant (01:04):
Yeah.
Crystal Page (01:04):
So I just am so impressed by what they do and
how they empower, girls andwomen.
Grant Oliphant (01:09):
Yeah. Well, and you did, by the way, when you
came back from that lunch andtalk about all the all the
people you'd met, the younggirls that you'd met that you
wanted to hire.
Crystal Page (01:17):
Exactly.
Grant Oliphant (01:19):
It it clearly is an inspirational set of of,
young women and girls, and, Ithink that we we get a sense for
why in the course of thisinterview. I I should warn folks
that if you are here for thecookies, we're not gonna talk
about cookies, because we reallywanted to go deep on what it is
(01:40):
that Girl Scouts are doing andhow relevant their mission is to
today's world in San Diego. ButI do wanna acknowledge that the
Girl Scout Cookies program, is Ithink the largest
entrepreneurship program forkids in the country. It's an
extraordinary aspect of how theyteach young women and girls
(02:04):
entrepreneurship and sales andall of that. But we're gonna
talk about other efforts thatthey have ongoing.
I think it was important tomention that though at the
outset.
Crystal Page (02:15):
I think that's a good disclaimer, Grant, because
I think this conversation willshow Girl Scouts are so much
more than the cookies. Right?That's just a a form of growth
for them, but I would say anyonewho's listening, if they wanna
pull up their own Girl Scoutcookies and munch on them as as
we talk or as you talk, thatwould be great.
Grant Oliphant (02:33):
Definitely go out and buy some. And I would
also wanna acknowledge upfrontthat, the Girl Scouts were are a
youth well-being grantee ofPrebys, and, we're gonna get
into that. And the connectionbetween youth mental health and
the Girl Scouts may surpriseyou, but I think by the end of
(02:54):
this interview, people willreally understand why it's
important.
Crystal Page (02:58):
Let's dive in.
Grant Oliphant (02:59):
Alright. Let's do it.
Alright, Carol. Thank you somuch for joining us. Really is a
pleasure to have you here.
Carol Dedrich (03:09):
Thank you for inviting me. It's great to be
here as well.
Grant Oliphant (03:12):
Right before we started, you and I were chatting
a little bit about yourbackground, and I I asked you a
question about being a captainin the US Army and how you got
there. And I wanna start thereactually because I think it's
important to the conversationwe're going to have. So why did
you go into the military? How'dthat come about?
Carol Dedrich (03:32):
Oh, interesting. So I came from a family of 5
kids. Grew up in the Midwest in,Michigan, a lower income, middle
income family. You know, younever know what income you are
when you're growing up.
Right? Right. Right. Family didthe best we could. Many times
dad did not have a job, workedin job shops, but always said
(03:55):
that education was important.
So was promoting us along theway to whatever we wanted to do
in college was there, but theycould not afford to send us. So
we had to find our own way.Brothers and sisters, several of
them went to community collegeand I wanted to go to a 4 year
school. And so I applied forvarious scholarships, got a lot
(04:17):
of partial scholarships, and oneof which was an ROTC scholarship
that I applied for and I endedup getting a full ride. So that
is what took me to school, tocollege, and getting a 4 year
degree.
When I was going through ROTC, Ifound that I learned so much
about leadership, aboutcamaraderie, about esprit de
(04:41):
corps, about working together ona common mission, and the values
were aligned with my values andfelt very strongly about this
career choice. So when Ifinished my 4 year degree and
was commissioned as a secondlieutenant, I went into the
military and chose to be acombat arms branch officer and
(05:03):
there was only 1 combat armsbranch at the time that was
available to women in the armyand I became an air defense
artillery officer and a patriotmissile officer, and so I
served, overseas and went toDesert Shield and Desert Storm.
Grant Oliphant (05:18):
I was gonna say you went to both of those
operations.
Carol Dedrich (05:22):
Yeah. I was one of the scud busters if you
remember that time.
Grant Oliphant (05:25):
I do. I remember it well, and, yeah, hats off to
you for amazing service.
Carol Dedrich (05:32):
Thank you.
Grant Oliphant (05:33):
And I wanna just start there because I'm I'm
curious about what you you know,the women who I have spoken with
and know who served in themilitary, particularly in combat
roles, feel like theyexperienced a lot, both through
and at the hands of themilitary, and they learned a you
(05:55):
you just referenced a couple ofthe things that you took away
from that experience. But nowyou're working with in a role
that is all about training thenext generation of young women,
and I am curious what you thinkyou took away from your military
service that is relevant to thisvery different role of working
(06:16):
with, young girls and women ingirl scouts.
Carol Dedrich (06:20):
So many. I one of the things that propelled me to
want to go to work for girlscouts is, one, I grew up as a
girl scout. So I knew howvaluable and important that
experience was as a child andhow it served me in building my
sense of community and communityservice, my sense of building
(06:40):
friendship, looking to and withand for out for each other. You
learn that in the military aswell. Right?
You serve each other, as well asthe mission and take care of
each other as well as themission. And I think that serves
me in my in my current role as aleader and throughout my life,
doing that. One of the otherthings that has really compelled
(07:03):
me to get involved in anorganization that is focused on
women and girls is that when Iwas going through my career, my
mentors were men. I didn't havea lot of female mentors. In
fact, there it's almost was likea scarcity mindset that, women
who were above me in certainroles felt that there was only
(07:27):
maybe 1 or 2 roles open. And ifthey supported and helped the
next, then that would eliminatetheir role and put them out. So
there was this scarcity mindsetthat I felt when I was going
through my career. As I wasdeveloping into a leader, and
(07:48):
this applies in the military aswell because I was the only
female officer in my unit.
So I had to look for, malementors to do this. What I also
saw was that when women cametogether and supported each
other, there was nothing that wecouldn't do together. So the
combination of understanding,scarcity mindset and how that
(08:10):
could dissuade women fromhelping and supporting each
other to educating women on thepower and the importance of
supporting not only their, theirpeers, but also those that are
coming up behind them andhelping to guide them into
(08:30):
whatever challenges they mayface or opportunities and
opening the door for them.
Grant Oliphant (08:35):
There's so much there. You've just laid out
several themes that I thinkcould take us through the rest
of the podcast. Let's see how wecan do with this. First of all,
thank you for your reflectionabout that, and I do think it's
incredibly powerful in thecontext of the work that you're
now doing. Many people might besurprised to hear that
(08:57):
organizations like the GirlScouts are still relevant in the
way that they are.
And before we get to that, I'djust like you to say a little
bit more about your experiencehaving been a Girl Scout
yourself. You, you know, youdescribed the sense of community
that you got, the sense ofempowerment that you got. What
else did you get from theexperience that you think, is
(09:19):
important to today's girls?
Carol Dedrich (09:21):
I think friendship and connection. I
think in in society today,there's a, there's almost a lack
of connection. There's anisolation factor that's
happening out there that isaffecting mental health of a lot
of young people. And so I feelstrongly that Girl Scouts
promotes that connection andbuilds healthy relationships
(09:42):
because we also know thatbullying has been a part of
childhood for a long time.
Right? And so Girl Scout even inGirl Scouts, that could that
could rear its head as well. Sowe're teaching about how to
identify bullying, what it is,and then how to what do you do
when that happens? So we haveanti bullying, journeys that the
(10:05):
Girl Scouts go on so that theycan understand. What do you do
in this situation, and how doyou handle it?
How do you support yourself, andhow do you support your your
friends? And maybe evenindividuals that you don't even
know. How do you support them?
Grant Oliphant (10:18):
Did you find a connection at all, from the
experience you had in girlscouts to helping you be better
prepared to be in the military?
Carol Dedrich (10:28):
Oh, I think there were so many things. I think one
is relying and trusting onothers. Right? Because that's a
big part of the military thatyou have to. Everybody has a
role in the military to play,and supporting each other is a
is a major component of not onlycompleting a mission, but even
survival.
You know, it's life and death.So I think learning, like, when
(10:50):
we went camping, you know, as agirl scout, all of us took a
role in setting up the tentsRight. And preparing the meals,
and everybody played a role. Andit became not only, efficient in
we getting it done, but it wasalso fun.
And we learned skills, you know,as we're going through it. I
think the other thing iscommunity service. I think as a
(11:12):
child who grew up in a familythat, you know, were barely
making it at times, going outand serving others and
supporting others was a bigcomponent of of getting out of
maybe a stuckness that we felt,maybe an insecurity that we felt
that now presented itself in away that says, I can make a
(11:34):
difference in the community. Idon't need to have a lot of
wealth to do that and still makea difference and an impact.
Grant Oliphant (11:42):
Do you, do you in fact encounter people who are
surprised to find out that girlscouts play the role that they
do still?
Carol Dedrich (11:51):
Yes. And I think the bigger surprise is how much
we continue to evolve as anorganization. The reason why
we've been around for over a 110years is because we evolve with
the times. And so when, youknow, I was growing up as a as a
girl scout, some of the badges,were, you know, getting us
(12:11):
outdoors, but they weren't theextremes, adventures that we're
on right now, which is, youknow, doing all kinds of of
hiking and mountain climbingand, assorted adventures. You
know, ours was getting out andsetting up a tent and preparing
a meal, which are also veryimportant to it.
So I think it's Some of usshould start there, by the way.
(12:34):
This is true. This is true. ButI also think STEM, you know,
science, technology,engineering, and math has become
a big, growing program area forgirl scouts and has been around
for, you know, a decade or morenow and is making a significant
impact on how many girls aregoing into the tech industry.
Grant Oliphant (12:52):
Yeah. I was I was gonna ask, so, remind me
where you grew up.
Carol Dedrich (12:55):
Michigan.
Grant Oliphant (12:56):
Okay. And in a rural or urban setting?
Carol Dedrich (13:00):
Suburban.
Grant Oliphant (13:01):
Okay. And and how did you get introduced to
Girl Scouts?
Carol Dedrich (13:04):
My mom was my troop leader.
Grant Oliphant (13:06):
Oh, okay.
Well that's a pretty persuasivecase. How do you find most young
girls today hear about girlscouts? How do they find their
way there?
Carol Dedrich (13:16):
In some cases, it's through their friends who
are already girl scouts. Inother cases, it's the parents.
Our our challenge and ourstruggle, and I think this is
across nonprofits as well, isthat, the dynamics of
volunteerism is changing. Right?So there was, a decline in the
trends of of the number ofvolunteers as well as the amount
(13:38):
of time that people arevolunteering.
So, you know, back in the daywhere it was easier to get
people to lean into theexperience, now we're we're,
struggling with that a littlebit, and we're also taking it as
an opportunity to look at whatis the value of volunteering.
(13:59):
What is the value to thatcaregiver, that adult, or even
somebody who doesn't havechildren to be a volunteer with
girl scouts? What are theskills, learning, experience,
and even the heart filling joythat they are craving that they
can get in girl scouts? Soshining a light on those
components with adults is anencouragement to get them
(14:21):
involved in volunteer with girlscouts.
Grant Oliphant (14:22):
It's interesting. I hadn't even
thought about that dynamic andwhat it must be like to try and
rely on yeah. Because volunteersare so important to the process
of what you're doing. It makesme think about an article I
recently saw on Robert Putnamwho is the author of Bowling
Alone and who predicted decadesago that we were going to end up
(14:44):
as a society pretty much wherewe are, which is in a place
where because people are joiningless often and becoming, less
and less frequently part ofcivic organizations, that
there's more isolation, andwe're experiencing more mental
health challenges, and kind of adecline in in the the civic
(15:06):
space that keeps us alltogether. Volunteerism is a big
part of that.
So how do you work with adultsto get them to understand? I I
mean, I love the fact thatyou're thinking about how to
pitch this to them. How do youdo it?
Carol Dedrich (15:21):
Mhmm. Yeah. So, traditionally, it's really about
their daughter. Right? What's inthe best interest?
And that's how we pull a lot ofthem in. But recently, that is
not necessarily the pull becausetime is the challenge. Right? So
Grant Oliphant (15:36):
Time is so scarce for everyone to really be
honest.
Carol Dedrich (15:39):
So now we're looking at how do we develop a
different delivery model so thatwe can be much more, out in
different communitiesthroughout, you know, San Diego
and throughout the country,actually? And so we're looking
at we have something called thegirl scout outreach program
where we're, we have staff goinginto schools. Mhmm. And these
(16:01):
are in communities that are nottraditionally well equipped for
girl scouts.
Let's put it that way. And sonot a large group of volunteers
that are, you know, willing tostep in or do not have an
experience of girl scouts. Sothey don't know what they don't
know, and they're not gonna leaninto it. So our our girl scout
outreach program, has staffgoing into the schools, and it's
an after school program wherethey're actually troop leaders
(16:24):
for these girls. So the girlsare right there at school
receiving the girl scoutexperience.
And we're looking at modelingthat because right now, we're in
maybe 4 or 5 weeks at a time.And we see the relevance and the
significance of that, but wealso know how much deeper we can
go if we could do it year round.Right? So working with the
(16:45):
schools and in an after schoolspace to provide that and then
taking it one step further. Soas I talk to other CEOs, for
profit and non for profit, whatwe're finding is that the the
younger generation coming intothe work world do not have some
basic skill sets.
Right? And some of the copingskills are not necessarily as
(17:08):
strong as they need to be inorder to deal with a variety of
challenges in the in theworkspace. Right? So what we're
also considering and looking atis how do we develop this model
where now we build a skill setin in the next generation that's
coming up for maybe a year or 2.They are working for girl scouts
(17:30):
to get certified in a variety ofdifferent skills.
Right? And then we launch theminto the work world. Wouldn't
that be a magnificent, you know,model? So it does a couple
things. 1, it introduces them tothe working world.
Right? 2, it gives themcertifications that they can use
on their resumes to build thisout. You know? And maybe we're
(17:51):
working with collaborators inthe workspace. Right?
Work workplace partnership orsomething like that where they
they probably have certificationprograms. And then what it does
is it it allows us to go into,schools throughout San Diego and
Imperial Counties regardless ofthe number of volunteers. What
it also does, it allows theparents and the caregivers to
(18:15):
step in as volunteers, but nothold the burden of maybe all the
administrative stuff or all ofthe, you know, the care and
feeding of, you know, what whatare we gonna do today, right,
and planning it out. It's there.They can show up.
They can have the experience oflearning. They can get training
(18:35):
as well, but they can have theexperience of learning alongside
or with their daughter or evenwitness the change of the
dynamics with their daughter.
Grant Oliphant (18:43):
That idea. That's a great idea. I'm
curious, though, focusing on theparents still for a second, how
you work with them in this eragiven how scarce time feels for
and, you know, we have couplesboth couples working or we have
single family household orsingle parent households
households where the parent ismaybe carrying more than one
job, could be 2 or 3 jobs,volunteering feels like a a real
(19:03):
stretch. How do you how do youreach parents parents like that
and give them opportunities forengagement without making them
feel guilty for not being ableto do more?
Carol Dedrich (19:21):
Yeah. And I think part of it is the community
spirit around girl scouts sothat if there's a sharing. So
some of our troops, when theyhave, you know, 12 to 15 girls,
every parent takes a role inbeing a troop leader, right, in
some capacity. Right? So they'recoming in and maybe they're
(19:41):
they're sharing.
Like, 1 month, I got the thetroop meeting or the outing. The
next month, you know, theseindividuals have it. These
parents have it. So it's asharing of that, and it's a
building of community becausewhat that also does is
strengthens their relationships.
Grant Oliphant (19:56):
Yeah. I like that model.
Carol Dedrich (19:58):
So when they're challenged, they rely on each
other to pull through. So that'sone of the ways we do it. The
other way is inserting more ofthe staff approach and then
bringing the volunteers inslowly, and then and then
having, volunteer mentors thatwork with the the volunteers so
that if they're feeling illequipped, not ready, they have
(20:19):
somebody that they can rely on.
Grant Oliphant (20:20):
Yeah. You spoke a moment ago about the, the
outdoors and getting girls intothe outdoors. And one of the,
interactions that we've had isthat the Prebys Foundation was
pleased to support your work insupporting youth mental health,
which some people may besurprised to learn as an aspect
(20:42):
of what the girl scouts havebeen focusing on. For us, it
made a lot of sense in terms ofhow you're connecting them with
nature, but let me let you speakto that. Tell me how you how how
you interact with, mental healthissues and what your focus is in
this work.
Carol Dedrich (21:00):
So if for those that have grown grown up as a
girl scout and and so I'mspeaking to all of the women out
there. If you look back at yourchildhood, you're not looking at
it from a child perspective.You're looking now you're
looking at it from an adultperspective. You were outside.
You were camping.
You were building relationships.You were in connection. You were
(21:23):
having free play. You werelearning along the way. You were
building your courage, yourconfidence, your character.
You were making mistakes andlearning to overcome them. All
of that has been a part of girlscouts since its inception.
Right? We're still doing all ofthat. And the outdoors is a big
component.
It's a cornerstone of girlscouts camping. So, you know,
(21:45):
going up to camp and and beingaround the girls, you go to the
pool. And what are they doing?They're jumping in the pool.
They're getting back out of thepool to jump back in the pool.
And they're laughing and they'regiggling and they're screaming
and they're having a blast.That's pure joy. Right? That's
mental health. That's feedingtheir spirit.
That's feeding their soul.That's feeding them in a way
(22:07):
that, you know, being online,being in social media does not.
Right? So so having that andcontinuing with that is an
important component of what GirlScouts is doing. The other part
is the connection.
Right? Having girls cometogether with other girls in a
safe environment with trustedadults so that they can try new
(22:28):
things.
Grant Oliphant (22:29):
Mhmm.
Carol Dedrich (22:29):
They can build their skills. They can build
their interests. They canexplore new opportunities that
they never thought they wouldever be interested in.
I had a girl scout who, youknow, joined, a robotics team
because all her friends did.Well, she was an artist, and she
said, well, I'll do themarketing.
I'll do our t shirts. I'll, youknow, put the slogans together.
(22:50):
I'll do all that. And as she gotinvolved with the robotics team
and going to competition, she'slike, that's not enough. I wanna
learn how to code.
I wanna learn to to win thiscompetition. She not only joined
the team, became a criticalmember of the team. She became
the captain of the team, andthat team was in the finals for
and won an award for teamwork,and she was the captain of that
(23:13):
team. So that's what Girl Scoutsdoes. It expands what they
already know, but does it in away that's a safe space so they
can learn and make mistakes andhave fun.
Because fun is also a criticalcomponent of mental health.
Grant Oliphant (23:30):
Yeah. I think that's such an important
statement that I, I'd love foryou to say more about that
because I really do think weforget about that as part of
youth. You know, part of what weall enjoyed growing up was as we
were jumping into the pool andjumping out of the pool and
running around in the woods waswe were also having a good time,
(23:52):
most of the time. You know? Whyis why have we forgotten about
fun as part of the equation, doyou think?
Carol Dedrich (23:59):
It's interesting. You know, I think a lot is is to
do with the sense ofaccomplishment and achievement,
the sense of, you know, what isthe right thing to do for your
child in order to get them towhatever stage, whatever school,
or whatever college. Right?Right. And there's a path there
that is related to achievements
(24:21):
And doing certain things thatget you there. But maybe fun is
not on that list, and maybecolleges need to put fun on that
list. Yeah. How do you have havefun? How do you relate to others
in a way that inspires them?
Yeah. You know? I think thatmight be part of it.
Grant Oliphant (24:37):
Yeah. Well, I, you know, I think I think
parents are navigating so manychallenges these days and trying
to figure out I mean, you justyou just described it well.
They're trying to figure out howto put their feet down in just
the right way so their kids getto where they hope they will be
able to get to, and and it canbe exhausting, obviously. One of
(25:01):
the tensions that I thinkparents struggle with is, giving
kids freedom to be outdoors andto explore the outdoors in the
way you were describing, becauseit's a big scary world out
there, and the media is full oflots of terrible stories, and
girls are especially vulnerable.And so parents think about all
(25:23):
of that.
And then there are the otherpriorities that come up in our
society. And you mentioned STEM,which arguably has gotten a
disproportionate amount ofattention over the course of the
last couple of decades. And andI loved your story about the the
girl and the robotics and thecoding program because that's
(25:45):
sort of the positive expressionof technology. The negative
expression is social media andthe whole online world, which
absorbs so much of our kids'time, and for a long time felt
like the safer alternative toletting them be running around
outside on their own. What we'renow learning, of course, through
the work of sociologists likeJonathan Haidt and others is
(26:07):
that that is actually terriblefor our kids' mental health.
And I'm curious as Girl Scoutsthinks about all these things
you're putting together, sotechnology and the outdoors. How
are you managing the balance ofthose worlds and helping parents
navigate these very complicatedchoices?
Carol Dedrich (26:28):
Such a complex question, and so important right
now. So there's a variety ofthings that we're looking at and
doing, and one of them iseducating. So we held most
recently a panel, with,individuals that are focused on
child psychology, right? And,they came in and shared with a
(26:50):
group of, a lot of parents, someof our donors, some of our board
members about what social mediais doing to the the child brain,
you know, the youth brain andhow it is disrupting their sense
of of wonder and their curiosityand their growth in a way that
(27:10):
is not adult.
Grant Oliphant (27:12):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (27:12):
Right? Right. Because they're getting exposed
to content that is adult Right.And not necessarily child. So,
through those kind ofconversations where, you know,
we're doing more of that toeducate the parents.
The other component of that isto, I think, take away the
stigma of mental health so thatcaregivers and parents can lean
(27:35):
into learning more. Because thefirst thing that a lot of us are
finding out in reading thesestudies is that being on the
screen is not the best way toraise a child, right, or to have
a child come into the world.Some of it's going to have to be
there, but how do they do lessof that? The significance of the
(27:57):
amount of time that they'respending on it, and they're just
now studying the effects on thebrain. And how do we get that
out to the parents?
Because it's really the parentsthat are gonna help with that.
To take it a step further is howdo we equip the parents to know
that, these mental healthchallenges that are that are
(28:18):
occurring with their children,their daughters, and those of
their friends, it's it's walkinginto a conversation and being
available to them withoutworrying about what to do or
what to say or all of that. Andthe way that we're doing that is
through the money that wereceive from Prebys, which is
youth mental health first aidand opening up that subject so
(28:41):
parents and caregivers andadults can learn about what do
you say, how do you react, whatdo you not say, what do you not
do in situations, And how do youidentify the signs and symptoms
that a child could be instruggle? Right? And hopefully
identify before they go intocrisis mode.
(29:01):
Right? So we all have a part toplay in that, and being able to
teach that and train that inadults would magnify, and also
spread a ripple effect thatcould change our community for
the better as people step intoit.
Grant Oliphant (29:19):
Well and, thank you for the shout out about
Prebys. We're actually pleasedto support this work. We think
it's, important and in a really,invaluable context because of
the connection that you havewith with young people. If it's
successful, what do you hopewill come from it?
Carol Dedrich (29:38):
I hope that, parents and caregivers and
adults will lean into more ofthis understanding and building
this awareness so that they- youknow, was part of it. I'm hoping
that they'll understand the thedetriment of social media.
They'll understand how play andgetting, kids more active and
(29:58):
involved with each other inactivities is more important
than having them spend time on ascreen. Right?
Grant Oliphant (30:06):
Yeah. Yeah.
Carol Dedrich (30:07):
So it's all of that. And and also the
understanding of when is theright time to introduce social
media and a phone to a child.When it what is the timing of
that? And the fact that ifadults and caregivers are on
their phone all the time, who'swatching them?
Grant Oliphant (30:25):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (30:26):
Our kids are watching us. Right? So we can
say, you can't be on the phone.Take it away. But then they're
watching us do it.
And where is that connectionthen that we have with our
youth? And where is thatconnection we have with each
other
Grant Oliphant (30:39):
That's right.
Carol Dedrich (30:40):
If we're modeling that behavior that we're trying
to get them to stop doing?
Grant Oliphant (30:44):
Right. Right. Such an important and powerful
question, and I think one that'sgoing to be part of a long and
uncomfortable social reckoning,I'm afraid. But I've gotta ask
you what it's like. I want youto talk for a moment about girl
scout summer camp.
And how do you help girls detoxfrom technology and social media
(31:06):
in that context?
Carol Dedrich (31:07):
You know, it's so simple. It's really getting them
out of what they do on a dailybasis and taking them to a
beautiful place like we do, youknow, at our camps, Winnetka and
and Whispering Oaks, and havingthem be with other girls in in a
variety of activities. So goingon a hike, you know, going
(31:28):
stargazing, learning about theenvironment, planting a tree,
going surfing, all of thosegoing into a pool with your
friends and, again, jumping inand jumping out, going into the
dining hall. Right? So when weset up for lunch, each of the,
groups will have a turn atpreparing not preparing the
(31:50):
food, but preparing the, thedining hall for the other
campers to come in and eat.
Right? Putting out thecondiments, putting out the
spoons and the knives and theforks and all of the things.
Right? Setting it up. And so allof that gets them away from
their they don't miss theirphone then because they're doing
all of these fun things, andthey're out in nature.
(32:11):
And nature, come on. Let's faceit. It's a magical place.
Grant Oliphant (32:14):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (32:15):
Being away from, the cements, being away from the
screens, and being out there andlooking around, and my goodness,
we're in a one of the mostbeautiful parts of the world.
Getting them outside andenjoying it with others who are
also having a good time, that'show we do it.
Grant Oliphant (32:33):
I so appreciate that vision and your
description. I, part of what youhave just described is that if
we trust kids to theirrelationships with each other
and to a relationship with thenatural world, then they will
find their path, and that theydon't need to be hiding behind
(32:55):
screens. And I think that's sucha powerful notion.
Carol Dedrich (32:59):
That's a beautiful way of putting it, and
it's so true. I mean, don't weall feel that way too? I mean,
take a moment and go for a walk.
Grant Oliphant (33:06):
Yeah. I think we do. I mean, we know that it's
one of the best things you cando is hit the reset button by
going and taking a walk when youneed to sort of check-in and
and, yeah, get a hold ofyourself, and it's powerful. I
think it's powerful for adultsin the same way as it is for
kids. But somebody needs to tellthem about that and give them
(33:27):
exposure to it.
So I appreciate that you'redoing it in such a thoughtful
way. I still wanna I still wannareflect on the the difference,
and similarities between theGirl Scouts that those of us who
are older may hold in our mindsand the Girl Scouts of today.
When you think about the girlsthat you're working with in
(33:50):
today's group, how do you seethem facing different challenges
and different opportunities thanwhat you faced?
Carol Dedrich (34:00):
That's such a great question. So I think part
of this is the fact that we keepevolving the program and the
experience based on whatbecomes, you know, relevant in
today's world. So to give anexample of that, our highest
award is the gold award, andgirl scouts in in high school
(34:20):
earn this high achievement, andit takes about 2 years to earn
it. And they have to take on a aproject, a cause that makes a
sustainable, not just adifference, but a sustainable
difference in the community.
Right? So I'll give you anexample of a gold award project.
Alright? So a girl scout whosefamily is from India goes to
(34:44):
visit family in India. And inthe community in which she's
visiting, she sees some of thegirls not going to school.
And she asked the question, whyare they not going to school?
And they say, because we'reafraid. What are you afraid of?
We're being afraid we're afraidof being attacked. So they don't
wanna go to school becausethey're afraid of being
(35:04):
attacked.
They want to go to school, butthey're afraid. So what does she
do? She comes back, and she, sheshe learns martial arts. And not
only does she learn it, shelearns to train it. And then she
goes back so this is her goldaward project.
She goes back to India to trainthe girls on martial arts. And
what makes it sustainable,because it's not just about
(35:25):
that, what makes it a gold awardproject is that she's training
the girls who are becomingseasoned in it as trainers so
that they can train the nextgrades coming up so they don't
have to be afraid to go toschool. Wow. That is a gold
award, girl scout.
Grant Oliphant (35:41):
Yeah. What a great example. As you think
about projects like that, andthe opportunity to help girls
develop through, throughdeveloping projects like that,
you have set an intention to bethe leading partner for the
development of leadership amonggirls in in San Diego. Tell us
(36:05):
how you got to that and whatthat looks like for you.
Carol Dedrich (36:08):
Another really good question, and I appreciate
you asking it because leadershipand leadership development has
been a part of Girl Scouts andthe movement for about 10 years
now. Mhmm. And when we firststarted using that language, our
parents pushed back on itbecause leadership at the time,
if you can think back about 10years ago, meant, like, CEO.
Grant Oliphant (36:30):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (36:31):
It meant something different than it
means today. Right? It's muchmore broader in scope today. So
what we did here when we weregoing through our strategic plan
and looking at it, we thoughtit's not just about being a
leader. It's about the howbehind that.
Grant Oliphant (36:50):
Mhmm.
Carol Dedrich (36:50):
And part of it is it's it's beyond traditional
leadership. It's about buildingthe well-being and fostering the
well-being in each of the girlsso that they can be the best
possible self as they handle thechallenges. So it's a little
nuance, but I thinksignificantly different. Because
in today's society, what do weneed more than anything right
(37:13):
now? We need our young people togrow up with a sense of self
that is is full of courage,confidence, character, but also
a strong self esteem, right?
And so to just focus onleadership, good, important, but
without that component, are wedeveloping the type of leaders
(37:36):
that we want in this world?Right. Right? Right. One that
have stronger EQs, one that areare leading by example with
compassion and sensitivity andcultural sensitivity.
Ones that, can step out of theircomfort zone to show how it can
be done if you have a little bitof courage and you bring people
(37:57):
along and you collaborate.
Grant Oliphant (37:59):
Yeah.
Carol Dedrich (37:59):
Right? Yeah. So it's more than just leadership.
It's about the how ofleadership. It's about the the
the essence of it.
Grant Oliphant (38:07):
Yeah. I I think that is huge, and and incredibly
powerful. I mean, really, whatyou're describing is leadership
not as a positional authority,but leadership as a behavior.
And, yeah, anybody can be aleader in that sense. What they
need is a sense of agency andpower and confidence as you
said.
So, and so when you think aboutthe role of girl scouts in being
(38:34):
the leading partner in helpingdevelop that, how do you how do
you orient your organization tobe that?
Carol Dedrich (38:43):
Yeah. Yeah. I think a large part of it is
looking at what we're not doingwell. Mhmm. Right?
So, you know, when we look atour demographics, it doesn't
mirror the demographics of SanDiego. Mhmm. We can do better.
Right? And so why doesn't it?
Like, let's look at that. Whydoesn't it mirror it? Right? And
(39:04):
so it's our delivery model. It'sit's
Grant Oliphant (39:06):
I was gonna ask, does it track the what you were
saying earlier about thevolunteers and the and the
community representation.
Carol Dedrich (39:13):
That's a that's a big component of it. And it's
also like, what I was talkingabout earlier is how do we do a
better job of getting into thevariety of communities that are
out there working with partnerslike the school districts,
right, who already have them andthey're struggling with, you
know, kids and attendance andbehaviors and things like that
(39:33):
that we deal with. We build thatagency of what's the what's the
way that you respond and reactto, you know, your your peers
and your friendships and thingslike that. Right? And do it in a
way where they're also learning.
Right? But having fun too.
Grant Oliphant (39:50):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (39:50):
I mean, that's a big component of it. So, yeah,
it's it's a big challenge. Theother the other way is to look
at what and who are the partnersout there that we should be
working closer with. Right? Wedon't we're not gonna be doing
everything right.
We know girls. Right? We knowthat. But maybe we don't have
the cultural sensitivity of ofone of the many cultures or
(40:13):
several of the many cultureshere. But there's communities
and there's organizations thatdo.
How do we learn from each other,and how do we share resources
and leverage that so that webuild a stronger community?
Grant Oliphant (40:25):
I think that's such well, it's an invaluable
question for a nonprofitorganization to be asking, and
it's the essence of howcommunity can work together. So
I appreciate you doing that. Iwonder if there are lessons,
this is a bit of a digression,but are there lessons in how
you're, approaching the work fororganizations that work with
(40:47):
boys? Are there less Do you everdo you ever get asked about
about how boy scouts, forexample, can learn from girl
scouts?
Carol Dedrich (40:57):
Not usually. Mhmm. You know, usually, we get
compared between the 2organizations, and, boy scouts
has recently, changed theirmodel to include both boys and
girls. And we looked at that,and we stand firm on the
importance and the relevance ofbeing a girl only organization.
(41:19):
If you look at, like, the CDCreport that came out and and
shared that 5 out of, or 3 outof 5 girls felt hopeless or
persistently hopeless and sad, Imean, that's a significant
number.
That's the double the rate ofboys. Right? So there's
something different betweengirls and boys. I mean, come on.
(41:39):
Let's face it.
There's a lot of things that aredifferent. Right. The
developmental stages of a girlis different from a boy. There's
many things that, we need totake care of and focus on, and
we that's that's our that's whatwe do. And so standing firm and
being a girl only organizationthat serves girls is really
(42:01):
important to society.
Because if you look at it rightnow, you have a handful of
organizations that are singlegender. Right? And there is a
challenge with our girls rightnow, and they need our support
more than ever.
Grant Oliphant (42:15):
Yeah. Well, I have to say I appreciate the
clarity of that answer, and Ithink the fact that you've
investigated it and come to theconclusion that you have,
expresses your commitment toyour mission. So, and to what
you're seeing with the girlsthat you're working with. So I
appreciate that. You have thisfabulous luncheon called the
(42:37):
cool girls luncheon.
Carol Dedrich (42:38):
Cool women.
Grant Oliphant (42:39):
The cool women luncheon. I was referred to in
my office as that. And, I haveto say the the folks who went to
that luncheon came back withsuch enthusiasm and such so many
smiles on their faces. How didyou come up with that as a model
for how to build communitysupport, and why is there such
(43:01):
it appears to me that there'svery strong community support in
San Diego for Girl Scouts. Howdid that come about, and and how
did the luncheon come about?
Carol Dedrich (43:10):
Well, I will say that I stand on the shoulders of
greatness. There have beenseveral CEOs before me that have
paved the way and set a strongfoundation for this
organization. And when I, hadthe, the blessing of taking over
this organization and beingselected as the CEO, I looked at
(43:32):
many of the things that we weredoing here and thought, okay.
This cool women event is isawesome. And yet, I want every
event that we do focused on thegirl, and how do we do that,
right?
So the cool women event, as itsays in the name, cool women, is
(43:54):
focused on honoring 5 incrediblewomen in our community that get
nominated and selected. And thenthe, we have something called
emerging leader girl scouts, andthese are high school girl
scouts that apply to be a partof the emerging leader girl
scout program.
Grant Oliphant (44:12):
Mhmm.
Carol Dedrich (44:12):
And so we marry the 2. So the the emerging
leader girl scouts go throughorientations. They learn things
about self branding. They learnabout information interviews.
They learn about askingquestions.
They learn about networking. Didyou ever learn about networking
when you were in high school?How to walk into a room, how to
go up to somebody and and ask aquestion, how to reach out and
(44:35):
shake their hand and say
Grant Oliphant (44:36):
Lord, no. And I wish I had. Right? It would've
saved me a bunch of years.
Carol Dedrich (44:40):
That's what girl scouts is doing for these
emerging leader girl scouts. Wewanna prepare them so that when
they go into the cool womenevent, this is their event. So I
think it's that reason that it'sabout the girls. It's about the
mission. And everyone in thatroom, we want them to tap into
why this organization iscritical to San Diego and to and
(45:02):
to the world.
And they get that experiencebecause they get to see these
girls in action. They get to seethem networking. They're the
ones that are going up on thestage and introducing the cool
women because they went and metwith these amazing women. Okay.
So here's the other thing.
They're meeting with CEOs whoare in prominent positions in
(45:23):
the community, and they're inhigh school doing that.
Grant Oliphant (45:25):
Yeah.
Carol Dedrich (45:26):
Think of the courage and the confidence that
they're building out of thatexperience. And then they go up
on stage with over 500 people inthe audience, and they introduce
that woman to everyone else.Right?
Grant Oliphant (45:38):
Yeah.
Carol Dedrich (45:38):
So that I think that's the magic of why so many
people love that event becausethey get to bear witness of
strong women who we all look upto, and they're great role
models, but then have the hopeof the future because of these
women these young women comingup.
Grant Oliphant (45:57):
Yeah. That's fantastic. When you, when you
think about, the support thatyou get in San Diego outside of
that luncheon, how manyvolunteers do you have would you
say?
Carol Dedrich (46:09):
So we have about 9,000 volunteers.
Grant Oliphant (46:11):
Wow. And that's extraordinary. I mean, that
number is is significant rightthere. And and then, when you
when you look at the financialsupport you get from the
community through that lunch andand other mechanisms, and, of
course, everybody talks aboutthe girl scout cookie drive.
And, why is it important still?
(46:32):
When you're talking to peopleabout here's what I want you to
know about the girl scouts andwhy it matters that we are a
target for your philanthropy.What do you want them to know
as, you know, in your 30 secondelevator pitch about why
philanthropy for Girl Scoutmatters?
Carol Dedrich (46:49):
The most important thing is that they are
the next generation that isgonna take us into the future.
And if you look at how manywomen are in the workforce, it's
over 50%. Right? So if we're nottaking care of this next
generation of girls to step intothose roles, we're not doing our
(47:10):
society and our future justice.
It is our responsibility, all ofours, to feed, nurture, care
for, mentor, support, andchallenge this next generation
so that they are ready for thefuture and taking on the
challenges of the future.
Grant Oliphant (47:26):
It's a fantastic message. You know, I wanna I
wanna honor the fact that youwere a leader and you are a
leader obviously, but you were aleader also in the military and
going into the roles that youwent into. I know from having
spoken to other female US armycaptains that that is not an
easy role, especially in acombat position, and you were a
(47:50):
pioneer. Many of the girls thatyou're working with not be
pioneers, they will be, I'm surethey'll be pioneering in their
own ways, but they'll be walkingin a pathway that you and others
have helped create for them. Andsometimes the messages that we
get about young girls and andwomen and children, young people
in general in our society isabout the challenges they face
(48:14):
and about the the the kind ofthe negatives.
I would love for you to concludeby just saying something about
what inspires you about thisgeneration of young people and
young girls, and what you hopethe rest of us will will take
away as a memory of thisconversation.
Carol Dedrich (48:33):
I think the biggest thing is just see them
for who they are, appreciatethem, and allow them to step
into their potential. Right?Because they have so much to
give and they are so thoughtful.And this generation coming up
wants to make a difference. Theywant to help.
(48:54):
They want to serve. We just needto be there as guides and just
offer, you know, ourselves as asas mentors and those that can
help to serve them so that theycan step into whatever, life
holds for them. And I think the,the most important thing for us
(49:15):
to know is that when we when welook at this next generation
coming up, the hope and promisethat they are is is within them,
and it's our responsibility tohelp them to explore it,
experience it, and not be afraidof it.
Grant Oliphant (49:32):
I love that. That's beautiful. Alright. Well,
thank you so much. I've reallyenjoyed this conversation.
It's been a it's been apleasure.
Carol Dedrich (49:41):
Thank you for having me. This was wonderful.
Yeah.
Crystal Page (49:46):
Yeah. I want to be a dress code.
Grant Oliphant (49:49):
Yeah. That was that was a pretty incredible
conversation. I there's so muchhere, and I I think important
takeaways for all of us in thecommunity, even those of us who
weren't a Girl Scout and nevercould have been. I was struck by
Carol's reflections, first ofall, on her own military
(50:12):
experience and what she sawsimilarities with what girls get
from the from the girl scoutexperience. You know, a sense of
community, a sense ofconfidence, a, a sense of their
power together, and their, youknow, the that collective agency
and individual agency. Shetalked about leadership as a
(50:35):
behavior.
I loved all of that and reallycame away with a sense that, the
the mission of the modern girlscouts is really about
empowerment of young girls in ain an age that may feel very
different from when theystarted, but they've learned how
to adapt their mission overtime.
Crystal Page (50:57):
Yes. And the piece that she talked about where she
talked about 3 to 5 girls felthopeless or sad, imagine taking
those folks and then helpingbuild the confidence that you
were just talking about. And itseems like those outcomes for,
hopefully, a lot of those girlswho become young women who
become women, are a lot better.You know, we won't know what's
(51:19):
what. Was it the Girl Scoutsthat did it or some other
opportunity?
But I I think it's a beautifulvision and, execution.
Grant Oliphant (51:26):
Yeah. Well, I'm so when you said I wanna be a
girl scout, tell us why.
Crystal Page (51:31):
You know, I went to sea camp in middle school and
it was life changing for me, seacamp at Catalina Island. But if
someone had told me that I couldhave focused on having fun, one,
I was too serious of a child.But if someone told me I could
have fun and go to camp in thesummer, I don't think I put 2
and 2 together. So the fact thatshe takes, young women to,
(51:52):
Julian and they get to camp andjust be friends and have a good
time, I think sometimes I thinkI'm of that the the eldest
millennial who it's aboutaccomplishments. What are we
accomplishing?
What degrees are we getting? Andit's like, oh, you can still
learn stuff and have fun. Imean, you know how I feel,
Grant. Even at this job, youremind me to have fun. And I was
like, oh, I didn't know.
(52:13):
Wait. What? Yeah. So it it justdoesn't compute. And I think
that's sometimes where we loseour humanity.
We treat ourselves like robots.
Grant Oliphant (52:19):
Right. Yeah. We that's exactly right. And you
know what? For me, I begin tonotice themes that begin to
emerge, from interview tointerview, and here we're
talking with the head of thegirl scouts who's talking about,
mental health for young girls,and how resonant it was with the
(52:42):
interview we did with doctor BenMaxwell where we were talking
about youth mental health.
And you know some of the commonthemes were around getting off
of screens and getting off ofsocial media and getting a break
from your technology. Gettinginto nature and getting, in the
case of the girl scout girlscouts, a sense of mastery over
(53:03):
nature by being able to actuallyinteract in it and operate in it
in a way that maybe many didn'tknow that they could when they
started. And, yeah, that themearound fun, you know, that we we
live in this time where we takeourselves so seriously, and and
everything's supposed to beobligation and duty and
responsibility and getting thejob done. But really without
(53:26):
that sense of wonder and awe andexploration that fun opens up
for us, we really can'taccomplish much of anything. And
I so I was really struck by that
In this interview.
Crystal Page (53:39):
Well, you're reminding me too. Right? This
episode harkens back to doctorBen Maxwell. It also hearkens
back to Irwin Jacobs because hetalked about, you know, as
people as we evolve in our timeand our work, we're gonna have
more free time, and what do wedo with that free time? And
Carol was very much on it aboutmaking sure that we are
volunteering and committed toour communities and services
(54:01):
just as part of being in thecommunity.
And I know some folks are stillout there volunteering every
day. I can't say I do it as wellas I used to, so I love the
community and culture that she'stalking about with girl scouts
and and how we use that freetime that Irwin has referenced
or doctor Maxwell has talkedabout. You know? Because we're
(54:22):
just using our cell phones tofill that void. Right?
Carol Dedrich (54:24):
So
Crystal Page (54:24):
yeah. Yeah.
Grant Oliphant (54:25):
And she's really pointing in that thank you for
bringing that up because she'sreally pointing in that too to a
phenomenon that we're seeingacross the board in the in in
the nonprofit sector, which isthe challenge that organizations
face to get volunteers, and thechallenge that civic
(54:45):
organizations face to getmembers. And it's you know I
referenced Robert Putnam inBowling Alone, but we really are
in this new era where people'stime is much more fragmented and
our interests are much moreatomized. And so we're just
disconnected and theseorganizations that bring us
(55:06):
together suffer from that, andthen they face very real
challenges, the girl scouts doas do many similar volunteer
dependent organizations, to tobe able to get a share of their
parents' time, because theydepend on that to help work with
the girls in the way that theydo, and then to train them,
(55:28):
which is a challenge they facein getting into all the
communities that they need toget into so that they actually
reflect and represent San DiegoCounty. So we're we're we're
operating at a at a reallychallenging time for models like
theirs, but I loved the way thatshe talked about putting those
pieces together and figuring outand making it work.
(55:52):
And you were commenting on thisafterwards, but they they may
face challenges working withvolunteers and yet they have
9,000. So they're doingsomething right. I I also was
really struck, you know, to comeback to the mental health piece
of the conversation that theyare engaging parents and
training them in, in workingwith girls and young women and
(56:17):
helping them see the signs andrecognize the signs of mental
health challenges and knowingwhat to do about that and also
using girl scouts as a vehiclefor a healthy preventative
response.
Crystal Page (56:29):
Yeah. What I love about that is she point Carol
pointed out that parents canintervene sooner. Right? They
see their kids every day. So ifthey know how to identify it and
they're just available.
They're not feeling the pressureto have the all the right
answers, but how to have thoseconversations. We know that that
won't just benefit that parentand their kid, but it's gonna
(56:49):
benefit the kids around thatcommunity. Right? Right. I'm
sure many of us had parents whowere that parent for other kids.
So I think that vision wasbeautiful and also how she
frames what the youth bring interms of the assets. Right?
Instead of just saying, youknow, kids these days or or
whatever, old saying we use,it's much more like this is our
(57:11):
future, and when we give themopportunity and potential, look
at all the beautiful things thatcan happen. And and that's
hopeful and energetic andinspiring, and, hopefully, that
inspires some of us to volunteerwith these folks and get more
involved.
Grant Oliphant (57:25):
Yeah. I was taken by that too and I, well,
we were talking a moment ago,before, as we were saying
goodbye to her about the examplethat she gave, on the gold
award, of the young woman whotaught martial arts and trained
(57:47):
teachers in martial arts, backin India so that her her fellow
girls could go to school andfeel comfortable going to
school. You know what you whatyou realize is there's so much
ingenuity, and creativity stillwaiting to be unlocked in every
(58:09):
generation. And I think I thinkone of the mistakes we all make
is to- I loved your friend, youknow, the way you describe kids
these days. One of the mistakeswe all make is we we sort of
reach a point where we think wehave learned all the things
there are to learn, and we knowall the answers.
The problem is the questionskeep changing, and the and the
generations keep changing. Andin a way, each generation has to
(58:33):
keep inventing the model thatworks for them. And I what I
what I really enjoyed about thisconversation was how Carol
talked about how they're helpinggirls of this generation respond
to today's challenges. Becauseit would be so easy to sort of
see them as a creature of adifferent generation in a
(58:54):
different time. And by the way,on that score, I give her a lot
of credit.
I give the Girl Scouts a lot ofcredit for being able to,
improve by learning what's notworking. And she used that
phrase that, you know, they'rewilling to learn.
Crystal Page (59:09):
Yeah. I think there's empowerment in one, I
love the gold awards story, butthe idea that the young woman
looked at that situation and shedecided that she could actually
do something about it. Like, howpowerful I don't care if you're
9, 14, 45. But if you can lookat a situation and say, I'm
gonna do something about this,and she built out her 2 year
(59:31):
plan and got her gold award andmade a sustainable difference.
And I think in the same way,whether it's with the adults
training the adults or, youknow, as you just talked about
her saying, let me look at myorganization as a team and
figure out where we can bebetter and grow from that.
Those are all positions ofpower. She's choosing to look
(59:52):
and be better and stronger forthe future. So I I think it's
all beautiful. I think you did agreat job in this interview. You
covered so many topics, Grant.
Grant Oliphant (59:59):
We covered we covered a lot.
Crystal Page (01:00:01):
But, yeah, I think it's worth a worth a few
listens. So I think we have lotsto think on, and hopefully we
can tie it with future episodesas well.
Grant Oliphant (01:00:07):
Well, thank you. And as always, thank you for
doing it with me. It is apleasure.
Crystal Page (01:00:12):
Likewise. Thank you, Grant.
Grant Oliphant (01:00:17):
This is a production of the Prebys
Foundation, hosted by GrantOliphant, and co hosted by
Crystal Page. The program is coproduced by Crystal Page and
Adam Greenfield, and it'sengineered by Adam Greenfield.
Production assistance isprovided by Tess Karesky, and
(01:00:39):
our new theme song is by misterLyrical Groove, a local San
Diego artist. Download episodesat your favorite podcatcher or
visit us at stop and talkpodcast.org. If you like this
show, and we really hope you do,the best way to support it is to
(01:00:59):
share, subscribe, and review ourpodcast.
Thank you for your support, yourideas, and most of all, for
listening. This program has beenrecorded at The Voice of San
Diego Podcast Studio.
Hey, Crystal.
Crystal Page (00:11):
Hello, Grant.
Grant Oliphant (00:12):
How are you doing?
Crystal Page (00:14):
I am cool.
Grant Oliphant (00:16):
That's an appropriate intro for the
conversation we're about tohave, which is with Carol
Diedrich, the, CEO of GirlScouts of San Diego, and this is
actually going to be a reallycool conversation. We're gonna
get into Girl Scouts and whatthey do, their continuing
mission, what's different aboutGirl Scouts today from what
(00:39):
maybe many of our listenersremember. I'm excited about this
conversation.
Crystal Page (00:44):
Me too. I would say the only interaction I've
had with Carol is I went to thecool women's luncheon this year
Which is led by a series of highschool Girl Scouts who are
incredibly professional. Iwalked away ready to hire them
all to come work at Prebysimmediately, but it also made me
think back to childhood. Like,why didn't I wanna be a Girl
Scout?
Grant Oliphant (01:04):
Yeah.
Crystal Page (01:04):
So I just am so impressed by what they do and
how they empower, girls andwomen.
Grant Oliphant (01:09):
Yeah. Well, and you did, by the way, when you
came back from that lunch andtalk about all the all the
people you'd met, the younggirls that you'd met that you
wanted to hire.
Crystal Page (01:17):
Exactly.
Grant Oliphant (01:19):
It it clearly is an inspirational set of of,
young women and girls, and, Ithink that we we get a sense for
why in the course of thisinterview. I I should warn folks
that if you are here for thecookies, we're not gonna talk
about cookies, because we reallywanted to go deep on what it is
(01:40):
that Girl Scouts are doing andhow relevant their mission is to
today's world in San Diego. ButI do wanna acknowledge that the
Girl Scout Cookies program, is Ithink the largest
entrepreneurship program forkids in the country. It's an
extraordinary aspect of how theyteach young women and girls
(02:04):
entrepreneurship and sales andall of that. But we're gonna
talk about other efforts thatthey have ongoing.
I think it was important tomention that though at the
outset.
Crystal Page (02:15):
I think that's a good disclaimer, Grant, because
I think this conversation willshow Girl Scouts are so much
more than the cookies. Right?That's just a a form of growth
for them, but I would say anyonewho's listening, if they wanna
pull up their own Girl Scoutcookies and munch on them as as
we talk or as you talk, thatwould be great.
Grant Oliphant (02:33):
Definitely go out and buy some. And I would
also wanna acknowledge upfrontthat, the Girl Scouts were are a
youth well-being grantee ofPrebys, and, we're gonna get
into that. And the connectionbetween youth mental health and
the Girl Scouts may surpriseyou, but I think by the end of
(02:54):
this interview, people willreally understand why it's
important.
Crystal Page (02:58):
Let's dive in.
Grant Oliphant (02:59):
Alright. Let's do it.
Alright, Carol. Thank you somuch for joining us. Really is a
pleasure to have you here.
Carol Dedrich (03:09):
Thank you for inviting me. It's great to be
here as well.
Grant Oliphant (03:12):
Right before we started, you and I were chatting
a little bit about yourbackground, and I I asked you a
question about being a captainin the US Army and how you got
there. And I wanna start thereactually because I think it's
important to the conversationwe're going to have. So why did
you go into the military? How'dthat come about?
Carol Dedrich (03:32):
Oh, interesting. So I came from a family of 5
kids. Grew up in the Midwest in,Michigan, a lower income, middle
income family. You know, younever know what income you are
when you're growing up.
Right? Right. Right. Family didthe best we could. Many times
dad did not have a job, workedin job shops, but always said
(03:55):
that education was important.
So was promoting us along theway to whatever we wanted to do
in college was there, but theycould not afford to send us. So
we had to find our own way.Brothers and sisters, several of
them went to community collegeand I wanted to go to a 4 year
school. And so I applied forvarious scholarships, got a lot
(04:17):
of partial scholarships, and oneof which was an ROTC scholarship
that I applied for and I endedup getting a full ride. So that
is what took me to school, tocollege, and getting a 4 year
degree.
When I was going through ROTC, Ifound that I learned so much
about leadership, aboutcamaraderie, about esprit de
(04:41):
corps, about working together ona common mission, and the values
were aligned with my values andfelt very strongly about this
career choice. So when Ifinished my 4 year degree and
was commissioned as a secondlieutenant, I went into the
military and chose to be acombat arms branch officer and
(05:03):
there was only 1 combat armsbranch at the time that was
available to women in the armyand I became an air defense
artillery officer and a patriotmissile officer, and so I
served, overseas and went toDesert Shield and Desert Storm.
Grant Oliphant (05:18):
I was gonna say you went to both of those
operations.
Carol Dedrich (05:22):
Yeah. I was one of the scud busters if you
remember that time.
Grant Oliphant (05:25):
I do. I remember it well, and, yeah, hats off to
you for amazing service.
Carol Dedrich (05:32):
Thank you.
Grant Oliphant (05:33):
And I wanna just start there because I'm I'm
curious about what you you know,the women who I have spoken with
and know who served in themilitary, particularly in combat
roles, feel like theyexperienced a lot, both through
and at the hands of themilitary, and they learned a you
(05:55):
you just referenced a couple ofthe things that you took away
from that experience. But nowyou're working with in a role
that is all about training thenext generation of young women,
and I am curious what you thinkyou took away from your military
service that is relevant to thisvery different role of working
(06:16):
with, young girls and women ingirl scouts.
Carol Dedrich (06:20):
So many. I one of the things that propelled me to
want to go to work for girlscouts is, one, I grew up as a
girl scout. So I knew howvaluable and important that
experience was as a child andhow it served me in building my
sense of community and communityservice, my sense of building
(06:40):
friendship, looking to and withand for out for each other. You
learn that in the military aswell. Right?
You serve each other, as well asthe mission and take care of
each other as well as themission. And I think that serves
me in my in my current role as aleader and throughout my life,
doing that. One of the otherthings that has really compelled
(07:03):
me to get involved in anorganization that is focused on
women and girls is that when Iwas going through my career, my
mentors were men. I didn't havea lot of female mentors. In
fact, there it's almost was likea scarcity mindset that, women
who were above me in certainroles felt that there was only
(07:27):
maybe 1 or 2 roles open. And ifthey supported and helped the
next, then that would eliminatetheir role and put them out. So
there was this scarcity mindsetthat I felt when I was going
through my career. As I wasdeveloping into a leader, and
(07:48):
this applies in the military aswell because I was the only
female officer in my unit.
So I had to look for, malementors to do this. What I also
saw was that when women cametogether and supported each
other, there was nothing that wecouldn't do together. So the
combination of understanding,scarcity mindset and how that
(08:10):
could dissuade women fromhelping and supporting each
other to educating women on thepower and the importance of
supporting not only their, theirpeers, but also those that are
coming up behind them andhelping to guide them into
(08:30):
whatever challenges they mayface or opportunities and
opening the door for them.
Grant Oliphant (08:35):
There's so much there. You've just laid out
several themes that I thinkcould take us through the rest
of the podcast. Let's see how wecan do with this. First of all,
thank you for your reflectionabout that, and I do think it's
incredibly powerful in thecontext of the work that you're
now doing. Many people might besurprised to hear that
(08:57):
organizations like the GirlScouts are still relevant in the
way that they are.
And before we get to that, I'djust like you to say a little
bit more about your experiencehaving been a Girl Scout
yourself. You, you know, youdescribed the sense of community
that you got, the sense ofempowerment that you got. What
else did you get from theexperience that you think, is
(09:19):
important to today's girls?
Carol Dedrich (09:21):
I think friendship and connection. I
think in in society today,there's a, there's almost a lack
of connection. There's anisolation factor that's
happening out there that isaffecting mental health of a lot
of young people. And so I feelstrongly that Girl Scouts
promotes that connection andbuilds healthy relationships
(09:42):
because we also know thatbullying has been a part of
childhood for a long time.
Right? And so Girl Scout even inGirl Scouts, that could that
could rear its head as well. Sowe're teaching about how to
identify bullying, what it is,and then how to what do you do
when that happens? So we haveanti bullying, journeys that the
(10:05):
Girl Scouts go on so that theycan understand. What do you do
in this situation, and how doyou handle it?
How do you support yourself, andhow do you support your your
friends? And maybe evenindividuals that you don't even
know. How do you support them?
Grant Oliphant (10:18):
Did you find a connection at all, from the
experience you had in girlscouts to helping you be better
prepared to be in the military?
Carol Dedrich (10:28):
Oh, I think there were so many things. I think one
is relying and trusting onothers. Right? Because that's a
big part of the military thatyou have to. Everybody has a
role in the military to play,and supporting each other is a
is a major component of not onlycompleting a mission, but even
survival.
You know, it's life and death.So I think learning, like, when
(10:50):
we went camping, you know, as agirl scout, all of us took a
role in setting up the tentsRight. And preparing the meals,
and everybody played a role. Andit became not only, efficient in
we getting it done, but it wasalso fun.
And we learned skills, you know,as we're going through it. I
think the other thing iscommunity service. I think as a
(11:12):
child who grew up in a familythat, you know, were barely
making it at times, going outand serving others and
supporting others was a bigcomponent of of getting out of
maybe a stuckness that we felt,maybe an insecurity that we felt
that now presented itself in away that says, I can make a
(11:34):
difference in the community. Idon't need to have a lot of
wealth to do that and still makea difference and an impact.
Grant Oliphant (11:42):
Do you, do you in fact encounter people who are
surprised to find out that girlscouts play the role that they
do still?
Carol Dedrich (11:51):
Yes. And I think the bigger surprise is how much
we continue to evolve as anorganization. The reason why
we've been around for over a 110years is because we evolve with
the times. And so when, youknow, I was growing up as a as a
girl scout, some of the badges,were, you know, getting us
(12:11):
outdoors, but they weren't theextremes, adventures that we're
on right now, which is, youknow, doing all kinds of of
hiking and mountain climbingand, assorted adventures. You
know, ours was getting out andsetting up a tent and preparing
a meal, which are also veryimportant to it.
So I think it's Some of usshould start there, by the way.
(12:34):
This is true. This is true. ButI also think STEM, you know,
science, technology,engineering, and math has become
a big, growing program area forgirl scouts and has been around
for, you know, a decade or morenow and is making a significant
impact on how many girls aregoing into the tech industry.
Grant Oliphant (12:52):
Yeah. I was I was gonna ask, so, remind me
where you grew up.
Carol Dedrich (12:55):
Michigan.
Grant Oliphant (12:56):
Okay. And in a rural or urban setting?
Carol Dedrich (13:00):
Suburban.
Grant Oliphant (13:01):
Okay. And and how did you get introduced to
Girl Scouts?
Carol Dedrich (13:04):
My mom was my troop leader.
Grant Oliphant (13:06):
Oh, okay.
Well that's a pretty persuasivecase. How do you find most young
girls today hear about girlscouts? How do they find their
way there?
Carol Dedrich (13:16):
In some cases, it's through their friends who
are already girl scouts. Inother cases, it's the parents.
Our our challenge and ourstruggle, and I think this is
across nonprofits as well, isthat, the dynamics of
volunteerism is changing. Right?So there was, a decline in the
trends of of the number ofvolunteers as well as the amount
(13:38):
of time that people arevolunteering.
So, you know, back in the daywhere it was easier to get
people to lean into theexperience, now we're we're,
struggling with that a littlebit, and we're also taking it as
an opportunity to look at whatis the value of volunteering.
(13:59):
What is the value to thatcaregiver, that adult, or even
somebody who doesn't havechildren to be a volunteer with
girl scouts? What are theskills, learning, experience,
and even the heart filling joythat they are craving that they
can get in girl scouts? Soshining a light on those
components with adults is anencouragement to get them
(14:21):
involved in volunteer with girlscouts.
Grant Oliphant (14:22):
It's interesting. I hadn't even
thought about that dynamic andwhat it must be like to try and
rely on yeah. Because volunteersare so important to the process
of what you're doing. It makesme think about an article I
recently saw on Robert Putnamwho is the author of Bowling
Alone and who predicted decadesago that we were going to end up
(14:44):
as a society pretty much wherewe are, which is in a place
where because people are joiningless often and becoming, less
and less frequently part ofcivic organizations, that
there's more isolation, andwe're experiencing more mental
health challenges, and kind of adecline in in the the civic
(15:06):
space that keeps us alltogether. Volunteerism is a big
part of that.
So how do you work with adultsto get them to understand? I I
mean, I love the fact thatyou're thinking about how to
pitch this to them. How do youdo it?
Carol Dedrich (15:21):
Mhmm. Yeah. So, traditionally, it's really about
their daughter. Right? What's inthe best interest?
And that's how we pull a lot ofthem in. But recently, that is
not necessarily the pull becausetime is the challenge. Right? So
Grant Oliphant (15:36):
Time is so scarce for everyone to really be
honest.
Carol Dedrich (15:39):
So now we're looking at how do we develop a
different delivery model so thatwe can be much more, out in
different communitiesthroughout, you know, San Diego
and throughout the country,actually? And so we're looking
at we have something called thegirl scout outreach program
where we're, we have staff goinginto schools. Mhmm. And these
(16:01):
are in communities that are nottraditionally well equipped for
girl scouts.
Let's put it that way. And sonot a large group of volunteers
that are, you know, willing tostep in or do not have an
experience of girl scouts. Sothey don't know what they don't
know, and they're not gonna leaninto it. So our our girl scout
outreach program, has staffgoing into the schools, and it's
an after school program wherethey're actually troop leaders
(16:24):
for these girls. So the girlsare right there at school
receiving the girl scoutexperience.
And we're looking at modelingthat because right now, we're in
maybe 4 or 5 weeks at a time.And we see the relevance and the
significance of that, but wealso know how much deeper we can
go if we could do it year round.Right? So working with the
(16:45):
schools and in an after schoolspace to provide that and then
taking it one step further. Soas I talk to other CEOs, for
profit and non for profit, whatwe're finding is that the the
younger generation coming intothe work world do not have some
basic skill sets.
Right? And some of the copingskills are not necessarily as
(17:08):
strong as they need to be inorder to deal with a variety of
challenges in the in theworkspace. Right? So what we're
also considering and looking atis how do we develop this model
where now we build a skill setin in the next generation that's
coming up for maybe a year or 2.They are working for girl scouts
(17:30):
to get certified in a variety ofdifferent skills.
Right? And then we launch theminto the work world. Wouldn't
that be a magnificent, you know,model? So it does a couple
things. 1, it introduces them tothe working world.
Right? 2, it gives themcertifications that they can use
on their resumes to build thisout. You know? And maybe we're
(17:51):
working with collaborators inthe workspace. Right?
Work workplace partnership orsomething like that where they
they probably have certificationprograms. And then what it does
is it it allows us to go into,schools throughout San Diego and
Imperial Counties regardless ofthe number of volunteers. What
it also does, it allows theparents and the caregivers to
(18:15):
step in as volunteers, but nothold the burden of maybe all the
administrative stuff or all ofthe, you know, the care and
feeding of, you know, what whatare we gonna do today, right,
and planning it out. It's there.They can show up.
They can have the experience oflearning. They can get training
(18:35):
as well, but they can have theexperience of learning alongside
or with their daughter or evenwitness the change of the
dynamics with their daughter.
Grant Oliphant (18:43):
That idea. That's a great idea. I'm
curious, though, focusing on theparents still for a second, how
you work with them in this eragiven how scarce time feels for
and, you know, we have couplesboth couples working or we have
single family household orsingle parent households
households where the parent ismaybe carrying more than one
job, could be 2 or 3 jobs,volunteering feels like a a real
(19:03):
stretch. How do you how do youreach parents parents like that
and give them opportunities forengagement without making them
feel guilty for not being ableto do more?
Carol Dedrich (19:21):
Yeah. And I think part of it is the community
spirit around girl scouts sothat if there's a sharing. So
some of our troops, when theyhave, you know, 12 to 15 girls,
every parent takes a role inbeing a troop leader, right, in
some capacity. Right? So they'recoming in and maybe they're
(19:41):
they're sharing.
Like, 1 month, I got the thetroop meeting or the outing. The
next month, you know, theseindividuals have it. These
parents have it. So it's asharing of that, and it's a
building of community becausewhat that also does is
strengthens their relationships.
Grant Oliphant (19:56):
Yeah. I like that model.
Carol Dedrich (19:58):
So when they're challenged, they rely on each
other to pull through. So that'sone of the ways we do it. The
other way is inserting more ofthe staff approach and then
bringing the volunteers inslowly, and then and then
having, volunteer mentors thatwork with the the volunteers so
that if they're feeling illequipped, not ready, they have
(20:19):
somebody that they can rely on.
Grant Oliphant (20:20):
Yeah. You spoke a moment ago about the, the
outdoors and getting girls intothe outdoors. And one of the,
interactions that we've had isthat the Prebys Foundation was
pleased to support your work insupporting youth mental health,
which some people may besurprised to learn as an aspect
(20:42):
of what the girl scouts havebeen focusing on. For us, it
made a lot of sense in terms ofhow you're connecting them with
nature, but let me let you speakto that. Tell me how you how how
you interact with, mental healthissues and what your focus is in
this work.
Carol Dedrich (21:00):
So if for those that have grown grown up as a
girl scout and and so I'mspeaking to all of the women out
there. If you look back at yourchildhood, you're not looking at
it from a child perspective.You're looking now you're
looking at it from an adultperspective. You were outside.
You were camping.
You were building relationships.You were in connection. You were
(21:23):
having free play. You werelearning along the way. You were
building your courage, yourconfidence, your character.
You were making mistakes andlearning to overcome them. All
of that has been a part of girlscouts since its inception.
Right? We're still doing all ofthat. And the outdoors is a big
component.
It's a cornerstone of girlscouts camping. So, you know,
(21:45):
going up to camp and and beingaround the girls, you go to the
pool. And what are they doing?They're jumping in the pool.
They're getting back out of thepool to jump back in the pool.
And they're laughing and they'regiggling and they're screaming
and they're having a blast.That's pure joy. Right? That's
mental health. That's feedingtheir spirit.
That's feeding their soul.That's feeding them in a way
(22:07):
that, you know, being online,being in social media does not.
Right? So so having that andcontinuing with that is an
important component of what GirlScouts is doing. The other part
is the connection.
Right? Having girls cometogether with other girls in a
safe environment with trustedadults so that they can try new
(22:28):
things.
Grant Oliphant (22:29):
Mhmm.
Carol Dedrich (22:29):
They can build their skills. They can build
their interests. They canexplore new opportunities that
they never thought they wouldever be interested in.
I had a girl scout who, youknow, joined, a robotics team
because all her friends did.Well, she was an artist, and she
said, well, I'll do themarketing.
I'll do our t shirts. I'll, youknow, put the slogans together.
(22:50):
I'll do all that. And as she gotinvolved with the robotics team
and going to competition, she'slike, that's not enough. I wanna
learn how to code.
I wanna learn to to win thiscompetition. She not only joined
the team, became a criticalmember of the team. She became
the captain of the team, andthat team was in the finals for
and won an award for teamwork,and she was the captain of that
(23:13):
team. So that's what Girl Scoutsdoes. It expands what they
already know, but does it in away that's a safe space so they
can learn and make mistakes andhave fun.
Because fun is also a criticalcomponent of mental health.
Grant Oliphant (23:30):
Yeah. I think that's such an important
statement that I, I'd love foryou to say more about that
because I really do think weforget about that as part of
youth. You know, part of what weall enjoyed growing up was as we
were jumping into the pool andjumping out of the pool and
running around in the woods waswe were also having a good time,
(23:52):
most of the time. You know? Whyis why have we forgotten about
fun as part of the equation, doyou think?
Carol Dedrich (23:59):
It's interesting. You know, I think a lot is is to
do with the sense ofaccomplishment and achievement,
the sense of, you know, what isthe right thing to do for your
child in order to get them towhatever stage, whatever school,
or whatever college. Right?Right. And there's a path there
that is related to achievements
(24:21):
And doing certain things thatget you there. But maybe fun is
not on that list, and maybecolleges need to put fun on that
list. Yeah. How do you have havefun? How do you relate to others
in a way that inspires them?
Yeah. You know? I think thatmight be part of it.
Grant Oliphant (24:37):
Yeah. Well, I, you know, I think I think
parents are navigating so manychallenges these days and trying
to figure out I mean, you justyou just described it well.
They're trying to figure out howto put their feet down in just
the right way so their kids getto where they hope they will be
able to get to, and and it canbe exhausting, obviously. One of
(25:01):
the tensions that I thinkparents struggle with is, giving
kids freedom to be outdoors andto explore the outdoors in the
way you were describing, becauseit's a big scary world out
there, and the media is full oflots of terrible stories, and
girls are especially vulnerable.And so parents think about all
(25:23):
of that.
And then there are the otherpriorities that come up in our
society. And you mentioned STEM,which arguably has gotten a
disproportionate amount ofattention over the course of the
last couple of decades. And andI loved your story about the the
girl and the robotics and thecoding program because that's
(25:45):
sort of the positive expressionof technology. The negative
expression is social media andthe whole online world, which
absorbs so much of our kids'time, and for a long time felt
like the safer alternative toletting them be running around
outside on their own. What we'renow learning, of course, through
the work of sociologists likeJonathan Haidt and others is
(26:07):
that that is actually terriblefor our kids' mental health.
And I'm curious as Girl Scoutsthinks about all these things
you're putting together, sotechnology and the outdoors. How
are you managing the balance ofthose worlds and helping parents
navigate these very complicatedchoices?
Carol Dedrich (26:28):
Such a complex question, and so important right
now. So there's a variety ofthings that we're looking at and
doing, and one of them iseducating. So we held most
recently a panel, with,individuals that are focused on
child psychology, right? And,they came in and shared with a
(26:50):
group of, a lot of parents, someof our donors, some of our board
members about what social mediais doing to the the child brain,
you know, the youth brain andhow it is disrupting their sense
of of wonder and their curiosityand their growth in a way that
(27:10):
is not adult.
Grant Oliphant (27:12):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (27:12):
Right? Right. Because they're getting exposed
to content that is adult Right.And not necessarily child. So,
through those kind ofconversations where, you know,
we're doing more of that toeducate the parents.
The other component of that isto, I think, take away the
stigma of mental health so thatcaregivers and parents can lean
(27:35):
into learning more. Because thefirst thing that a lot of us are
finding out in reading thesestudies is that being on the
screen is not the best way toraise a child, right, or to have
a child come into the world.Some of it's going to have to be
there, but how do they do lessof that? The significance of the
(27:57):
amount of time that they'respending on it, and they're just
now studying the effects on thebrain. And how do we get that
out to the parents?
Because it's really the parentsthat are gonna help with that.
To take it a step further is howdo we equip the parents to know
that, these mental healthchallenges that are that are
(28:18):
occurring with their children,their daughters, and those of
their friends, it's it's walkinginto a conversation and being
available to them withoutworrying about what to do or
what to say or all of that. Andthe way that we're doing that is
through the money that wereceive from Prebys, which is
youth mental health first aidand opening up that subject so
(28:41):
parents and caregivers andadults can learn about what do
you say, how do you react, whatdo you not say, what do you not
do in situations, And how do youidentify the signs and symptoms
that a child could be instruggle? Right? And hopefully
identify before they go intocrisis mode.
(29:01):
Right? So we all have a part toplay in that, and being able to
teach that and train that inadults would magnify, and also
spread a ripple effect thatcould change our community for
the better as people step intoit.
Grant Oliphant (29:19):
Well and, thank you for the shout out about
Prebys. We're actually pleasedto support this work. We think
it's, important and in a really,invaluable context because of
the connection that you havewith with young people. If it's
successful, what do you hopewill come from it?
Carol Dedrich (29:38):
I hope that, parents and caregivers and
adults will lean into more ofthis understanding and building
this awareness so that they- youknow, was part of it. I'm hoping
that they'll understand the thedetriment of social media.
They'll understand how play andgetting, kids more active and
(29:58):
involved with each other inactivities is more important
than having them spend time on ascreen. Right?
Grant Oliphant (30:06):
Yeah. Yeah.
Carol Dedrich (30:07):
So it's all of that. And and also the
understanding of when is theright time to introduce social
media and a phone to a child.When it what is the timing of
that? And the fact that ifadults and caregivers are on
their phone all the time, who'swatching them?
Grant Oliphant (30:25):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (30:26):
Our kids are watching us. Right? So we can
say, you can't be on the phone.Take it away. But then they're
watching us do it.
And where is that connectionthen that we have with our
youth? And where is thatconnection we have with each
other
Grant Oliphant (30:39):
That's right.
Carol Dedrich (30:40):
If we're modeling that behavior that we're trying
to get them to stop doing?
Grant Oliphant (30:44):
Right. Right. Such an important and powerful
question, and I think one that'sgoing to be part of a long and
uncomfortable social reckoning,I'm afraid. But I've gotta ask
you what it's like. I want youto talk for a moment about girl
scout summer camp.
And how do you help girls detoxfrom technology and social media
(31:06):
in that context?
Carol Dedrich (31:07):
You know, it's so simple. It's really getting them
out of what they do on a dailybasis and taking them to a
beautiful place like we do, youknow, at our camps, Winnetka and
and Whispering Oaks, and havingthem be with other girls in in a
variety of activities. So goingon a hike, you know, going
(31:28):
stargazing, learning about theenvironment, planting a tree,
going surfing, all of thosegoing into a pool with your
friends and, again, jumping inand jumping out, going into the
dining hall. Right? So when weset up for lunch, each of the,
groups will have a turn atpreparing not preparing the
(31:50):
food, but preparing the, thedining hall for the other
campers to come in and eat.
Right? Putting out thecondiments, putting out the
spoons and the knives and theforks and all of the things.
Right? Setting it up. And so allof that gets them away from
their they don't miss theirphone then because they're doing
all of these fun things, andthey're out in nature.
(32:11):
And nature, come on. Let's faceit. It's a magical place.
Grant Oliphant (32:14):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (32:15):
Being away from, the cements, being away from the
screens, and being out there andlooking around, and my goodness,
we're in a one of the mostbeautiful parts of the world.
Getting them outside andenjoying it with others who are
also having a good time, that'show we do it.
Grant Oliphant (32:33):
I so appreciate that vision and your
description. I, part of what youhave just described is that if
we trust kids to theirrelationships with each other
and to a relationship with thenatural world, then they will
find their path, and that theydon't need to be hiding behind
(32:55):
screens. And I think that's sucha powerful notion.
Carol Dedrich (32:59):
That's a beautiful way of putting it, and
it's so true. I mean, don't weall feel that way too? I mean,
take a moment and go for a walk.
Grant Oliphant (33:06):
Yeah. I think we do. I mean, we know that it's
one of the best things you cando is hit the reset button by
going and taking a walk when youneed to sort of check-in and
and, yeah, get a hold ofyourself, and it's powerful. I
think it's powerful for adultsin the same way as it is for
kids. But somebody needs to tellthem about that and give them
(33:27):
exposure to it.
So I appreciate that you'redoing it in such a thoughtful
way. I still wanna I still wannareflect on the the difference,
and similarities between theGirl Scouts that those of us who
are older may hold in our mindsand the Girl Scouts of today.
When you think about the girlsthat you're working with in
(33:50):
today's group, how do you seethem facing different challenges
and different opportunities thanwhat you faced?
Carol Dedrich (34:00):
That's such a great question. So I think part
of this is the fact that we keepevolving the program and the
experience based on whatbecomes, you know, relevant in
today's world. So to give anexample of that, our highest
award is the gold award, andgirl scouts in in high school
(34:20):
earn this high achievement, andit takes about 2 years to earn
it. And they have to take on a aproject, a cause that makes a
sustainable, not just adifference, but a sustainable
difference in the community.
Right? So I'll give you anexample of a gold award project.
Alright? So a girl scout whosefamily is from India goes to
(34:44):
visit family in India. And inthe community in which she's
visiting, she sees some of thegirls not going to school.
And she asked the question, whyare they not going to school?
And they say, because we'reafraid. What are you afraid of?
We're being afraid we're afraidof being attacked. So they don't
wanna go to school becausethey're afraid of being
(35:04):
attacked.
They want to go to school, butthey're afraid. So what does she
do? She comes back, and she, sheshe learns martial arts. And not
only does she learn it, shelearns to train it. And then she
goes back so this is her goldaward project.
She goes back to India to trainthe girls on martial arts. And
what makes it sustainable,because it's not just about
(35:25):
that, what makes it a gold awardproject is that she's training
the girls who are becomingseasoned in it as trainers so
that they can train the nextgrades coming up so they don't
have to be afraid to go toschool. Wow. That is a gold
award, girl scout.
Grant Oliphant (35:41):
Yeah. What a great example. As you think
about projects like that, andthe opportunity to help girls
develop through, throughdeveloping projects like that,
you have set an intention to bethe leading partner for the
development of leadership amonggirls in in San Diego. Tell us
(36:05):
how you got to that and whatthat looks like for you.
Carol Dedrich (36:08):
Another really good question, and I appreciate
you asking it because leadershipand leadership development has
been a part of Girl Scouts andthe movement for about 10 years
now. Mhmm. And when we firststarted using that language, our
parents pushed back on itbecause leadership at the time,
if you can think back about 10years ago, meant, like, CEO.
Grant Oliphant (36:30):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (36:31):
It meant something different than it
means today. Right? It's muchmore broader in scope today. So
what we did here when we weregoing through our strategic plan
and looking at it, we thoughtit's not just about being a
leader. It's about the howbehind that.
Grant Oliphant (36:50):
Mhmm.
Carol Dedrich (36:50):
And part of it is it's it's beyond traditional
leadership. It's about buildingthe well-being and fostering the
well-being in each of the girlsso that they can be the best
possible self as they handle thechallenges. So it's a little
nuance, but I thinksignificantly different. Because
in today's society, what do weneed more than anything right
(37:13):
now? We need our young people togrow up with a sense of self
that is is full of courage,confidence, character, but also
a strong self esteem, right?
And so to just focus onleadership, good, important, but
without that component, are wedeveloping the type of leaders
(37:36):
that we want in this world?Right. Right? Right. One that
have stronger EQs, one that areare leading by example with
compassion and sensitivity andcultural sensitivity.
Ones that, can step out of theircomfort zone to show how it can
be done if you have a little bitof courage and you bring people
(37:57):
along and you collaborate.
Grant Oliphant (37:59):
Yeah.
Carol Dedrich (37:59):
Right? Yeah. So it's more than just leadership.
It's about the how ofleadership. It's about the the
the essence of it.
Grant Oliphant (38:07):
Yeah. I I think that is huge, and and incredibly
powerful. I mean, really, whatyou're describing is leadership
not as a positional authority,but leadership as a behavior.
And, yeah, anybody can be aleader in that sense. What they
need is a sense of agency andpower and confidence as you
said.
So, and so when you think aboutthe role of girl scouts in being
(38:34):
the leading partner in helpingdevelop that, how do you how do
you orient your organization tobe that?
Carol Dedrich (38:43):
Yeah. Yeah. I think a large part of it is
looking at what we're not doingwell. Mhmm. Right?
So, you know, when we look atour demographics, it doesn't
mirror the demographics of SanDiego. Mhmm. We can do better.
Right? And so why doesn't it?
Like, let's look at that. Whydoesn't it mirror it? Right? And
(39:04):
so it's our delivery model. It'sit's
Grant Oliphant (39:06):
I was gonna ask, does it track the what you were
saying earlier about thevolunteers and the and the
community representation.
Carol Dedrich (39:13):
That's a that's a big component of it. And it's
also like, what I was talkingabout earlier is how do we do a
better job of getting into thevariety of communities that are
out there working with partnerslike the school districts,
right, who already have them andthey're struggling with, you
know, kids and attendance andbehaviors and things like that
(39:33):
that we deal with. We build thatagency of what's the what's the
way that you respond and reactto, you know, your your peers
and your friendships and thingslike that. Right? And do it in a
way where they're also learning.
Right? But having fun too.
Grant Oliphant (39:50):
Right.
Carol Dedrich (39:50):
I mean, that's a big component of it. So, yeah,
it's it's a big challenge. Theother the other way is to look
at what and who are the partnersout there that we should be
working closer with. Right? Wedon't we're not gonna be doing
everything right.
We know girls. Right? We knowthat. But maybe we don't have
the cultural sensitivity of ofone of the many cultures or
(40:13):
several of the many cultureshere. But there's communities
and there's organizations thatdo.
How do we learn from each other,and how do we share resources
and leverage that so that webuild a stronger community?
Grant Oliphant (40:25):
I think that's such well, it's an invaluable
question for a nonprofitorganization to be asking, and
it's the essence of howcommunity can work together. So
I appreciate you doing that. Iwonder if there are lessons,
this is a bit of a digression,but are there lessons in how
you're, approaching the work fororganizations that work with
(40:47):
boys? Are there less Do you everdo you ever get asked about
about how boy scouts, forexample, can learn from girl
scouts?
Carol Dedrich (40:57):
Not usually. Mhmm. You know, usually, we get
compared between the 2organizations, and, boy scouts
has recently, changed theirmodel to include both boys and
girls. And we looked at that,and we stand firm on the
importance and the relevance ofbeing a girl only organization.
(41:19):
If you look at, like, the CDCreport that came out and and
shared that 5 out of, or 3 outof 5 girls felt hopeless or
persistently hopeless and sad, Imean, that's a significant
number.
That's the double the rate ofboys. Right? So there's
something different betweengirls and boys. I mean, come on.
(41:39):
Let's face it.
There's a lot of things that aredifferent. Right. The
developmental stages of a girlis different from a boy. There's
many things that, we need totake care of and focus on, and
we that's that's our that's whatwe do. And so standing firm and
being a girl only organizationthat serves girls is really
(42:01):
important to society.
Because if you look at it rightnow, you have a handful of
organizations that are singlegender. Right? And there is a
challenge with our girls rightnow, and they need our support
more than ever.
Grant Oliphant (42:15):
Yeah. Well, I have to say I appreciate the
clarity of that answer, and Ithink the fact that you've
investigated it and come to theconclusion that you have,
expresses your commitment toyour mission. So, and to what
you're seeing with the girlsthat you're working with. So I
appreciate that. You have thisfabulous luncheon called the
(42:37):
cool girls luncheon.
Carol Dedrich (42:38):
Cool women.
Grant Oliphant (42:39):
The cool women luncheon. I was referred to in
my office as that. And, I haveto say the the folks who went to
that luncheon came back withsuch enthusiasm and such so many
smiles on their faces. How didyou come up with that as a model
for how to build communitysupport, and why is there such
(43:01):
it appears to me that there'svery strong community support in
San Diego for Girl Scouts. Howdid that come about, and and how
did the luncheon come about?
Carol Dedrich (43:10):
Well, I will say that I stand on the shoulders of
greatness. There have beenseveral CEOs before me that have
paved the way and set a strongfoundation for this
organization. And when I, hadthe, the blessing of taking over
this organization and beingselected as the CEO, I looked at
(43:32):
many of the things that we weredoing here and thought, okay.
This cool women event is isawesome. And yet, I want every
event that we do focused on thegirl, and how do we do that,
right?
So the cool women event, as itsays in the name, cool women, is
(43:54):
focused on honoring 5 incrediblewomen in our community that get
nominated and selected. And thenthe, we have something called
emerging leader girl scouts, andthese are high school girl
scouts that apply to be a partof the emerging leader girl
scout program.
Grant Oliphant (44:12):
Mhmm.
Carol Dedrich (44:12):
And so we marry the 2. So the the emerging
leader girl scouts go throughorientations. They learn things
about self branding. They learnabout information interviews.
They learn about askingquestions.
They learn about networking. Didyou ever learn about networking
when you were in high school?How to walk into a room, how to
go up to somebody and and ask aquestion, how to reach out and
(44:35):
shake their hand and say
Grant Oliphant (44:36):
Lord, no. And I wish I had. Right? It would've
saved me a bunch of years.
Carol Dedrich (44:40):
That's what girl scouts is doing for these
emerging leader girl scouts. Wewanna prepare them so that when
they go into the cool womenevent, this is their event. So I
think it's that reason that it'sabout the girls. It's about the
mission. And everyone in thatroom, we want them to tap into
why this organization iscritical to San Diego and to and
(45:02):
to the world.
And they get that experiencebecause they get to see these
girls in action. They get to seethem networking. They're the
ones that are going up on thestage and introducing the cool
women because they went and metwith these amazing women. Okay.
So here's the other thing.
They're meeting with CEOs whoare in prominent positions in
(45:23):
the community, and they're inhigh school doing that.
Grant Oliphant (45:25):
Yeah.
Carol Dedrich (45:26):
Think of the courage and the confidence that
they're building out of thatexperience. And then they go up
on stage with over 500 people inthe audience, and they introduce
that woman to everyone else.Right?
Grant Oliphant (45:38):
Yeah.
Carol Dedrich (45:38):
So that I think that's the magic of why so many
people love that event becausethey get to bear witness of
strong women who we all look upto, and they're great role
models, but then have the hopeof the future because of these
women these young women comingup.
Grant Oliphant (45:57):
Yeah. That's fantastic. When you, when you
think about, the support thatyou get in San Diego outside of
that luncheon, how manyvolunteers do you have would you
say?
Carol Dedrich (46:09):
So we have about 9,000 volunteers.
Grant Oliphant (46:11):
Wow. And that's extraordinary. I mean, that
number is is significant rightthere. And and then, when you
when you look at the financialsupport you get from the
community through that lunch andand other mechanisms, and, of
course, everybody talks aboutthe girl scout cookie drive.
And, why is it important still?
(46:32):
When you're talking to peopleabout here's what I want you to
know about the girl scouts andwhy it matters that we are a
target for your philanthropy.What do you want them to know
as, you know, in your 30 secondelevator pitch about why
philanthropy for Girl Scoutmatters?
Carol Dedrich (46:49):
The most important thing is that they are
the next generation that isgonna take us into the future.
And if you look at how manywomen are in the workforce, it's
over 50%. Right? So if we're nottaking care of this next
generation of girls to step intothose roles, we're not doing our
(47:10):
society and our future justice.
It is our responsibility, all ofours, to feed, nurture, care
for, mentor, support, andchallenge this next generation
so that they are ready for thefuture and taking on the
challenges of the future.
Grant Oliphant (47:26):
It's a fantastic message. You know, I wanna I
wanna honor the fact that youwere a leader and you are a
leader obviously, but you were aleader also in the military and
going into the roles that youwent into. I know from having
spoken to other female US armycaptains that that is not an
easy role, especially in acombat position, and you were a
(47:50):
pioneer. Many of the girls thatyou're working with not be
pioneers, they will be, I'm surethey'll be pioneering in their
own ways, but they'll be walkingin a pathway that you and others
have helped create for them. Andsometimes the messages that we
get about young girls and andwomen and children, young people
in general in our society isabout the challenges they face
(48:14):
and about the the the kind ofthe negatives.
I would love for you to concludeby just saying something about
what inspires you about thisgeneration of young people and
young girls, and what you hopethe rest of us will will take
away as a memory of thisconversation.
Carol Dedrich (48:33):
I think the biggest thing is just see them
for who they are, appreciatethem, and allow them to step
into their potential. Right?Because they have so much to
give and they are so thoughtful.And this generation coming up
wants to make a difference. Theywant to help.
(48:54):
They want to serve. We just needto be there as guides and just
offer, you know, ourselves as asas mentors and those that can
help to serve them so that theycan step into whatever, life
holds for them. And I think the,the most important thing for us
(49:15):
to know is that when we when welook at this next generation
coming up, the hope and promisethat they are is is within them,
and it's our responsibility tohelp them to explore it,
experience it, and not be afraidof it.
Grant Oliphant (49:32):
I love that. That's beautiful. Alright. Well,
thank you so much. I've reallyenjoyed this conversation.
It's been a it's been apleasure.
Carol Dedrich (49:41):
Thank you for having me. This was wonderful.
Yeah.
Crystal Page (49:46):
Yeah. I want to be a dress code.
Grant Oliphant (49:49):
Yeah. That was that was a pretty incredible
conversation. I there's so muchhere, and I I think important
takeaways for all of us in thecommunity, even those of us who
weren't a Girl Scout and nevercould have been. I was struck by
Carol's reflections, first ofall, on her own military
(50:12):
experience and what she sawsimilarities with what girls get
from the from the girl scoutexperience. You know, a sense of
community, a sense ofconfidence, a, a sense of their
power together, and their, youknow, the that collective agency
and individual agency. Shetalked about leadership as a
(50:35):
behavior.
I loved all of that and reallycame away with a sense that, the
the mission of the modern girlscouts is really about
empowerment of young girls in ain an age that may feel very
different from when theystarted, but they've learned how
to adapt their mission overtime.
Crystal Page (50:57):
Yes. And the piece that she talked about where she
talked about 3 to 5 girls felthopeless or sad, imagine taking
those folks and then helpingbuild the confidence that you
were just talking about. And itseems like those outcomes for,
hopefully, a lot of those girlswho become young women who
become women, are a lot better.You know, we won't know what's
(51:19):
what. Was it the Girl Scoutsthat did it or some other
opportunity?
But I I think it's a beautifulvision and, execution.
Grant Oliphant (51:26):
Yeah. Well, I'm so when you said I wanna be a
girl scout, tell us why.
Crystal Page (51:31):
You know, I went to sea camp in middle school and
it was life changing for me, seacamp at Catalina Island. But if
someone had told me that I couldhave focused on having fun, one,
I was too serious of a child.But if someone told me I could
have fun and go to camp in thesummer, I don't think I put 2
and 2 together. So the fact thatshe takes, young women to,
(51:52):
Julian and they get to camp andjust be friends and have a good
time, I think sometimes I thinkI'm of that the the eldest
millennial who it's aboutaccomplishments. What are we
accomplishing?
What degrees are we getting? Andit's like, oh, you can still
learn stuff and have fun. Imean, you know how I feel,
Grant. Even at this job, youremind me to have fun. And I was
like, oh, I didn't know.
(52:13):
Wait. What? Yeah. So it it justdoesn't compute. And I think
that's sometimes where we loseour humanity.
We treat ourselves like robots.
Grant Oliphant (52:19):
Right. Yeah. We that's exactly right. And you
know what? For me, I begin tonotice themes that begin to
emerge, from interview tointerview, and here we're
talking with the head of thegirl scouts who's talking about,
mental health for young girls,and how resonant it was with the
(52:42):
interview we did with doctor BenMaxwell where we were talking
about youth mental health.
And you know some of the commonthemes were around getting off
of screens and getting off ofsocial media and getting a break
from your technology. Gettinginto nature and getting, in the
case of the girl scout girlscouts, a sense of mastery over
(53:03):
nature by being able to actuallyinteract in it and operate in it
in a way that maybe many didn'tknow that they could when they
started. And, yeah, that themearound fun, you know, that we we
live in this time where we takeourselves so seriously, and and
everything's supposed to beobligation and duty and
responsibility and getting thejob done. But really without
(53:26):
that sense of wonder and awe andexploration that fun opens up
for us, we really can'taccomplish much of anything. And
I so I was really struck by that
In this interview.
Crystal Page (53:39):
Well, you're reminding me too. Right? This
episode harkens back to doctorBen Maxwell. It also hearkens
back to Irwin Jacobs because hetalked about, you know, as
people as we evolve in our timeand our work, we're gonna have
more free time, and what do wedo with that free time? And
Carol was very much on it aboutmaking sure that we are
volunteering and committed toour communities and services
(54:01):
just as part of being in thecommunity.
And I know some folks are stillout there volunteering every
day. I can't say I do it as wellas I used to, so I love the
community and culture that she'stalking about with girl scouts
and and how we use that freetime that Irwin has referenced
or doctor Maxwell has talkedabout. You know? Because we're
(54:22):
just using our cell phones tofill that void. Right?
Carol Dedrich (54:24):
So
Crystal Page (54:24):
yeah. Yeah.
Grant Oliphant (54:25):
And she's really pointing in that thank you for
bringing that up because she'sreally pointing in that too to a
phenomenon that we're seeingacross the board in the in in
the nonprofit sector, which isthe challenge that organizations
face to get volunteers, and thechallenge that civic
(54:45):
organizations face to getmembers. And it's you know I
referenced Robert Putnam inBowling Alone, but we really are
in this new era where people'stime is much more fragmented and
our interests are much moreatomized. And so we're just
disconnected and theseorganizations that bring us
(55:06):
together suffer from that, andthen they face very real
challenges, the girl scouts doas do many similar volunteer
dependent organizations, to tobe able to get a share of their
parents' time, because theydepend on that to help work with
the girls in the way that theydo, and then to train them,
(55:28):
which is a challenge they facein getting into all the
communities that they need toget into so that they actually
reflect and represent San DiegoCounty. So we're we're we're
operating at a at a reallychallenging time for models like
theirs, but I loved the way thatshe talked about putting those
pieces together and figuring outand making it work.
(55:52):
And you were commenting on thisafterwards, but they they may
face challenges working withvolunteers and yet they have
9,000. So they're doingsomething right. I I also was
really struck, you know, to comeback to the mental health piece
of the conversation that theyare engaging parents and
training them in, in workingwith girls and young women and
(56:17):
helping them see the signs andrecognize the signs of mental
health challenges and knowingwhat to do about that and also
using girl scouts as a vehiclefor a healthy preventative
response.
Crystal Page (56:29):
Yeah. What I love about that is she point Carol
pointed out that parents canintervene sooner. Right? They
see their kids every day. So ifthey know how to identify it and
they're just available.
They're not feeling the pressureto have the all the right
answers, but how to have thoseconversations. We know that that
won't just benefit that parentand their kid, but it's gonna
(56:49):
benefit the kids around thatcommunity. Right? Right. I'm
sure many of us had parents whowere that parent for other kids.
So I think that vision wasbeautiful and also how she
frames what the youth bring interms of the assets. Right?
Instead of just saying, youknow, kids these days or or
whatever, old saying we use,it's much more like this is our
(57:11):
future, and when we give themopportunity and potential, look
at all the beautiful things thatcan happen. And and that's
hopeful and energetic andinspiring, and, hopefully, that
inspires some of us to volunteerwith these folks and get more
involved.
Grant Oliphant (57:25):
Yeah. I was taken by that too and I, well,
we were talking a moment ago,before, as we were saying
goodbye to her about the examplethat she gave, on the gold
award, of the young woman whotaught martial arts and trained
(57:47):
teachers in martial arts, backin India so that her her fellow
girls could go to school andfeel comfortable going to
school. You know what you whatyou realize is there's so much
ingenuity, and creativity stillwaiting to be unlocked in every
(58:09):
generation. And I think I thinkone of the mistakes we all make
is to- I loved your friend, youknow, the way you describe kids
these days. One of the mistakeswe all make is we we sort of
reach a point where we think wehave learned all the things
there are to learn, and we knowall the answers.
The problem is the questionskeep changing, and the and the
generations keep changing. Andin a way, each generation has to
(58:33):
keep inventing the model thatworks for them. And I what I
what I really enjoyed about thisconversation was how Carol
talked about how they're helpinggirls of this generation respond
to today's challenges. Becauseit would be so easy to sort of
see them as a creature of adifferent generation in a
(58:54):
different time. And by the way,on that score, I give her a lot
of credit.
I give the Girl Scouts a lot ofcredit for being able to,
improve by learning what's notworking. And she used that
phrase that, you know, they'rewilling to learn.
Crystal Page (59:09):
Yeah. I think there's empowerment in one, I
love the gold awards story, butthe idea that the young woman
looked at that situation and shedecided that she could actually
do something about it. Like, howpowerful I don't care if you're
9, 14, 45. But if you can lookat a situation and say, I'm
gonna do something about this,and she built out her 2 year
(59:31):
plan and got her gold award andmade a sustainable difference.
And I think in the same way,whether it's with the adults
training the adults or, youknow, as you just talked about
her saying, let me look at myorganization as a team and
figure out where we can bebetter and grow from that.
Those are all positions ofpower. She's choosing to look
(59:52):
and be better and stronger forthe future. So I I think it's
all beautiful. I think you did agreat job in this interview. You
covered so many topics, Grant.
Grant Oliphant (59:59):
We covered we covered a lot.
Crystal Page (01:00:01):
But, yeah, I think it's worth a worth a few
listens. So I think we have lotsto think on, and hopefully we
can tie it with future episodesas well.
Grant Oliphant (01:00:07):
Well, thank you. And as always, thank you for
doing it with me. It is apleasure.
Crystal Page (01:00:12):
Likewise. Thank you, Grant.
Grant Oliphant (01:00:17):
This is a production of the Prebys
Foundation, hosted by GrantOliphant, and co hosted by
Crystal Page. The program is coproduced by Crystal Page and
Adam Greenfield, and it'sengineered by Adam Greenfield.
Production assistance isprovided by Tess Karesky, and
(01:00:39):
our new theme song is by misterLyrical Groove, a local San
Diego artist. Download episodesat your favorite podcatcher or
visit us at stop and talkpodcast.org. If you like this
show, and we really hope you do,the best way to support it is to
(01:00:59):
share, subscribe, and review ourpodcast.
Thank you for your support, yourideas, and most of all, for
listening. This program has beenrecorded at The Voice of San
Diego Podcast Studio.
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