Your local Girl Scout troop may be training the next Fortune 500 CEO.
Eight female leaders of Fortune 500 companies say they were once Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, or older. luck staff.
“It’s no surprise that so many women in leadership positions are former Girl Scouts,” said Bonnie Birchkowski, CEO of the Girl Scouts of America. luck When asked about the results.
Current Fortune 500 CEOs who are Girl Scout alumni include General Motors’ Mary Barra, Centene’s Sarah London, Oracle’s Safra Katz, General Dynamics’ Febe Novakovic, Bath and Body Works’ Gina Boswell, and Edward. They include Penny Pennington of Jones Investments and Kathleen Mazzarella of Graybar Electric. .
Famous for its seasonal selection of delicious desserts like Thin Mints, Trefoils, Tagalongs, and Caramel Delights, Girl Scouts actually runs the world’s largest girl-led entrepreneurship program, generating over 200 million yen annually. They say they sell more than a box and generate about $1 billion. Barchkovsky.
“This is a period where they engage in financial education and learn how to promote their cookie business as young entrepreneurs,” Barchikowski said.
Many of these CEOs said: luck That experience was really important to their career.
“Being a Girl Scout has given me the opportunity to explore new ideas and step outside of my comfort zone,” said Mazzarella, who has been at the helm of Graybar Electric since 2012. It helped me get that.” luck in a statement sent via email. “The timeless life lessons I learned as a Girl Scout have influenced my entire career and continue to shape the way I live my life today.”
Pennington, who joined Edward Jones in 2000 and became managing partner in 2019, spent several years as a Girl Scout in the early 1970s.
“The Brownies and Girl Scouts left a lasting impression on me: their confidence in learning new things, the joy of working as a troop, and the dedication of the adults who guided us.” Pennington said in an emailed statement. “These are values I still talk about and continue to carry in my life decades later.”
The list also includes former members of Fortune 500 executives, including former IBM CEO Ginny Rometty, former Lockheed Martin CEO Marilyn Hewson, and former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg. . Other business leaders include former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, former JCPenny CEO Jill Soltau, and former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
The 2023 Fortune 500 ranking marks another milestone for women leaders, with more than 10% of America’s largest companies ranked by revenue being run by women for the first time.
In the past year, recent departures include Roz Brewer of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Elizabeth Barr of Rite Aid, Julie Sloat of American Electric Power, and Barbara Smith of Commercial Metals. In the end, things changed. Still, newcomers like MDU Resources’ Nicole Kivisto, Levi Strauss & Co.’s Michelle Gass and Chemours’ Dennis Dignam ensured that 52 of the 500 companies remain female-led. . (And 8 of her 52 members are from Girl Scouts, a higher percentage than Fortune 500 female CEOs (15.3% vs. 10.4%).)
The 2024 Fortune 500 rankings will be released in June. Last year, the top 10 companies alone generated $3.7 trillion in revenue, and the combined list accounted for two-thirds of U.S. GDP.
on my honor
One in three women in the U.S. has participated in Girl Scouts at some point, but the CEO herself was not a member of the group, according to Barchkowski.
“The microphone always drops when I tell people I’ve never been in Girl Scouts,” Balchikowski said.
Girl Scouts of the United States was founded in 1912 with a mission to teach young girls valuable skills such as camping, community service, and first aid, and has since grown to more than 1 million active members and 50 million alumni. has grown to.
“When I meet women across the country and ask them about their experiences with Girl Scouts, whether they have been a Girl Scout for one year, three years, 10 years, or 13 years, they all have memories and experiences that connect them to Girl Scouts. “It affected their lives,” Barchkowski said.
The organization’s influence extends to 111 councils across the country and even into space. Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, said that as a young corps member, she made it a priority to “put on a sash” her badge.
The group’s influence extends to politics as well. The halls of the Capitol and the White House are filled with former members. According to the Girl Scouts, 56% of the female members of the 117th Congress (2021-2022) are known to be alumni. Additionally, all female secretaries of state in U.S. history, including Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, and Hillary Clinton, were Girl Scouts or Girl Guides graduates.
“The majority of female astronauts were once Girl Scouts, and the majority of senators and congressmen were once Girl Scouts,” Barchkowski said.
Hollywood also has a roster of Girl Scout stars, including Carrie Fisher, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Reese Witherspoon. Music superstar Taylor Swift is a Girl Scout in her home state of Pennsylvania, specifically donating free tickets to a 2018 concert. reputation tours to troops in New Jersey and Connecticut; Plus, Girlfriend Scouts can count on actual royalty as former members. meghan markleDuchess of Sussex, Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco.
“When you think about the leaders of nonprofits, businesses, foundations, all these organizations, they are former Girl Scouts,” Balchikowski said. “Again, it’s not surprising to hear that the skills they developed from a young age carry over into this great career.”
badges and business
Fortune 500 and Global 500 companies partner with GSUSA to fund new programs and curriculum for young girls. These programs have themed badges.
Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar said: luck A former Girl Scout, she was a “huge fan of badges” and still remembers her first camping trip with her troop.
“Badges have given me the curiosity to try and learn new things, given me confidence that I can acquire new skills and gain knowledge, and taught me to be responsible for myself. ” Almodovar said in an emailed statement. “I also learned about teamwork and working with other girls.”
GM CEO Mary Barra, a former Brownie, said: luck Being a Girl Scout “exposes girls and young women to new experiences and opportunities they never imagined,” she said, and helped introduce a new STEM-themed badge.
In 2020, her company announced a $1 million grant to help organizations develop STEM programming and teach members about vehicle design, engineering, and manufacturing.
“We are proud to work with the Girl Scouts of the USA to support the launch of a series of STEM and automotive badges,” GM CEO Barra said in an emailed statement. “We need more women in STEM fields, and Girl Scouts is a great organization that inspires the innovators of tomorrow.”
That’s a sentiment echoed by fellow Fortune 500 boss Gina Boswell, CEO of Bath & Body Works. The company provided seed funding for the construction of a 220-acre immersive STEM and leadership campus in Galloway, Ohio.
Boswell said. luck She was “a proud Girl Scout from the age of 6 until her freshman year of high school.”
“One of the biggest lessons I learned from my Girl Scout experience was the importance of community, service to others, and fostering a sense of belonging,” Boswell said in an emailed statement. “When you become a Girl Scout, you realize for the first time that there is more to life than just your individual self. You realize that you are part of a larger group.”
But along the way, it seems like selling these cookies actually taught me some business lessons.