The Girl Scouts of Champaign has been serving the Champaign-Urbana and extended service areas for 70 years. Over the changing course of organization development and membership growth since the organization’s birth in 1912, the Girl Scouts have stayed true to their mission of building girls of strong courage, confidence, and character who are ready to lead their communities and be prepared for the future.

History

The first Girl Scout troop was organized by Juliette Gordon Low on March 12, 1912 in Savannah, Georgia (Facts). Today, nearly a century later, there are over 3.2 million girl and adult members and more than 50 million U.S. women are Girl Scout alumnae (History). The mission which guides the Girl Scouts has remained relatively unchanged through the years: “to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place” (Facts). The Girl Scouts have continued to grow and prepare to serve future generations of girls. Today, “about 80 percent of America’s female business owners and senior executives, along with an outsized majority of women leaders in virtually every field, are former Girl Scouts” (Annual Report 2010, 5).  

Technology may not be a term typically associated with Girl Scouting in the early years. But in fact, kitchen technology played a major role in the launching of what is now a world icon—not to mention the Girl Scouts’ biggest fundraiser project to-date. In 1917, a troop in Oklahoma held the first ever Girl Scout cookie sale, and just five years later the cookie sale fundraiser had become a national event.

Today, Girl Scout cookie technology has moved out of the kitchen and onto the Web: “Girl Scout cookies have their own Web site, Facebook page, and mobile app, and cookie sales are now designed to teach girls practical goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics” (Annual Report 2010, 6–7). Hence, despite changing times and expanding technologies, the mission for GSUSA has not changed. The Girl Scouts continue to adopt new technologies in order to empower girls and benefit the community. For example, “in 2011, for the first time, some Girl Scouts accepted credit card payments [for cookies] with their smartphones” (Annual Report 2010, 6). Other programs also exhibit the Girl Scouts’ willingness to embrace technology to better the livelihoods and education of girls. The LEGO program is one such example, with a robotics league that introduces girls to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) (Program).

The Girl Scouts of Champaign

The Girl Scouts of Champaign is a nonprofit company under the national Girl Scouts USA organization. The Champaign service center was established in 1941 and has been serving the Champaign-Urbana and extending areas for 70 years (Manta Media Inc.). At the service center on Devonshire Dr. is the Trefoil Boutique where Girl Scouts can buy uniforms, patches, supplies, gifts, and toys. The Trefoil Boutique is also online which provides access to people who do not live near a service center. The online boutique gives just one example of how the Girl Scouts are using technology. The Girl Scouts in Champaign utilize technology to promote their organization and to make accessing information easier for the girl scouts and their families. The Girl Scouts of Champaign have a Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube channel, blog, flicker, and Pinterest. The Girl Scouts have also improved registration through the use of technology. Troops can publicize their events on the eRegistration page and Girl Scouts can search for events by geographic area or by interest categories; then girls and their parents can register for events that interest them online. Similar advancements in programing have taken place at the local level as on the national level. The Girl Scouts of Champaign, for instance, also have a LEGO program, and training videos for the cookie program are available online.