Girl Scouts Stands Against Racism and Pledges to Work for a Just Society for All

At Girl Scouts of the USA, we build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.

In this moment of suffering in our nation, Girl Scouts commits to taking action to support Black girls, their families, and their communities.

We want to reiterate to all girls, volunteers, alums, supporters, families, and staff that we do not tolerate racial injustice and we know that Black Lives Matter.

We commit to doing all we can, using our collective power, to help create the change in our communities that is long overdue.

We will do our part to dismantle systemic racism.

We recognize that this is far from easy or fast work, but we are Girl Scouts—we believe in sisterhood, justice, and fairness—so we are in it for the long haul.

We take action when we see a need and we live by our Girl Scout Law, which demands we seek racial equity for everyone.

We teach girls to lead by example, and to that end, we are committed to doing the difficult work to become an anti-racist organization.

We are making an initial financial investment to partner with experts in the areas of race, inclusion, and equity, with a focus on girls and women. This will support the following actions we will take at all levels of our national organization:

1. Leadership. Girl Scouts of the USA is forming a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce at the national board level to help create an organization that works for all girls, including by ensuring that Black, Indigenous, Latina, and all girls of color feel supported, welcomed, and treated with dignity and respect. In addition, we will create a DEI/Racial Justice Steering Committee made up of national staff and Girl Scout council CEOs to help guide and prioritize our work.

2. Staff. This change starts from within, so Girl Scouts commits to strengthening hiring practices that help us reflect the communities we serve. We will also support and train all Girl Scout staff in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and pursue in earnest the ongoing work of recognizing and challenging our own biases and internalized racism.

3. Volunteers. The strength of our organization rests among our more than 700,000 dedicated volunteers. We will provide additional resources, training, and support to ensure these champions of girls are equipped to serve all girls equitably.

4. Most importantly, Girls. All girls’ voices must be heard. We will provide all girls a place where they feel heard, and where they have the resources and support they need to raise their voices and change their corner of the world.

We are asking for all Girl Scouts—girls, volunteers, alums, supporters, families, staff, and our suppliers and service providers—to commit to taking action to make the world a more equitable place.

We have a lot of work to do—join us. You can start by signing below.

Judith Batty
Interim CEO

Karen P. Layng
National President

Kathy Hopinkah Hannan
Past National President (2014–2020)