By: Joy Wheeler, CEO We celebrate a historic milestone; the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment providing women the right to have their voices heard and their votes counted. However, women of color were not assured the same right until 50 years later in the Voting Rights Act. Today, we support efforts to assure the voices of ALL women and girls are heard and their fair and equal representation and rights. Girl Scouts is proud to be a participant in our region’s collaborative commemoration of the 19th Amendment.  Visit https://19at100.org/ to learn more. Girl Scouts provides a comprehe ..read more

By: Joy Wheeler, CEO If you placed the 3,710 boxes of Girl Scout cookies Paige Thomas sold last year end to end, they would stretch over five-and-a-half football fields. Just imagine how many vanloads, door-to-door visits and frigid cookie booth sessions that took. This year, she and her super-volunteer mom, Maggie, are bound to do it again. Paige has been our top seller three years in a row, and she’s only 10 years old. Now, that’s a successful entrepreneur! Business lessons from a 10-year old leaderPaige has learned multiple lessons in her five years of cookie selling – ones we can all use ..read more

By Joy Wheeler, CEO They say the best leaders are always looking for their replacements. They share their strength, and they help pull others up. But examples of that are sometimes hard to showcase in what can sometimes be a divisive world. Strong mentoring programs and opportunities like the Mentoring Monday event today helps support and encourage the next generation of leaders. Bizwomen’s Mentoring Monday – February 24, 2020In that spirit, Girl Scouts was proud to be a national sponsor for all Bizwomen’s Mentoring Monday events across the country. Did you know that the Kansas City event is t ..read more

As a Girl Scout, you learn to shoot for the stars and excel in your passions. Girl Scout Senior, Alyssa R., a 10th grader in Olathe, KS, decided to go for the stars in an exciting Astronomy Destinations experience during the summer of 2019! Alyssa met 9 other Girl Scouts from around the country in Oregon to find out what it means travel like a Girl Scout. Alyssa began her Girl Scout experience as a Daisy Girl Scout in North Carolina before moving to Kansas City and joining the troop she’s still with as a Junior. “For me, Girl Scouts lets me meet a wide community of people who all think differe ..read more

When you’re an outdoor focused Girl Scout, there’s nothing more exciting than traveling halfway across the country to one of the most beautiful national parks in the world! That’s exactly what Girl Scout Ambassador, Autumn S. from Leawood, Kansas did when she was accepted into the Maine Wilderness Destination during the summer of 2019! Autumn applied for the Destination after learning about the awesome opportunities Girl Scouts offered for travel. Rather than preparing her answers separately, she sat down and completed the application and essay at once, really thinking about her answers and wr ..read more

By GSKSMO CEO, Joy Wheeler Holiday music, religious observances and all the lights tend to get most people thinking charitably this time of year. And while some organizations rely on extra volunteers and contributions during November and December, most of them need help year-round. Have you thought about where your own instincts to volunteer and contribute came from? I suspect many of you can trace your earliest philanthropy exposure to the Girl Scouts – whether you were a Girl Scout or watched your mom, your sisters or your classmates in action. I couldn’t wait for the holiday season to arri ..read more

By GSKSMO CEO, Joy Wheeler You’re likely to read a lot about today being Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. It’s a great way to celebrate the amazing contributions women-owned businesses make to our economy. Every day is Women’s Entrepreneurship Day for the Girl Scouts. Empowering girls to become leaders is what we’re all about. And it’s never too early to start. A few weeks ago, I watched as kindergarten and first-grade girls begin their entrepreneurial learning journey at our Daisy Cookie College. They practiced simple skills like how to count change, budget their snack money and talk with custom ..read more

Summer 2019 was one for the Girl Scout memory books for Girl Scout Seniors Parker V. and Emily N.! After traveling to Savannah, GA with their troop, then on the GSKSMO council-sponsored trip to Belize, Parker and Emily hopped on a plane back down to Central America for their Girl Scout Destination trip for two weeks of scuba diving, volunteering and working with sea turtles in Costa Rica and Panama! This trip was inspired by their Silver Award where they worked to eliminate plastic waste polluting the ocean and endangering sea turtles. Parker and Emily partnered with Kindcraft turning bags int ..read more

Raising girls to be the innovators of tomorrow! There is no limit to how big a girl can dream when she’s a Girl Scout and thanks to a special partnership with civil engineering firm BHC Rhodes, girls are getting a unique STEM troop experience during the summer! The power of these partnerships is that they open a world of potential to girls at a young age. As engineer Katie Bushong said, “I hope [this program] can inspire other Girl Scout troops to partner with companies so the girls can gain exposure to other industries at a young age.” This summer, Girl Scouts from around Kansas City joined a ..read more

By GSKSMO CEO, Joy Wheeler Why am I Excited for International Day of the Girl? Today is our opportunity to call special attention to major issues happening right now that supports this 100% youth-led movement for gender justice and youth rights. Gender inequality is a reality we can’t ignore and the issue isn’t confined to developing countries. The World Economic Forum ranks the United States 51st in terms of gender equality out of 149 countries!  The United Nations established the official “International Day of the Girl Child” to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm fo ..read more