Girl Scouts Ring in the Trading Day

The Girl Scouts of America were on Wall Street this morning, but they weren’t selling cookies. At 9:30 a.m., sixteen Girl Scouts ranging from Kindergarten through 12th grade participated in the Opening Bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange.

The cookies that introduce thousands of girls to the world of business.

If you know nothing else about the Girl Scouts, you probably know about their cookies. That’s great marketing. But the organization does more than train pint-sized entrepreneurs; they create leaders. The nearly 100-year-old Girl Scout Movement sets the gold standard for leadership training for girls. In the new Girl Scout Leadership Experience, girls are taught to lead based on the model of self/others/service. The program encourages Girl Scouts to learn to know and trust themselves, develop healthy relationships with others, and join together to make their world a better place.

“It’s particularly appropriate that the girls make this appearance on Wall Street,” said Chief Marketing Officer Laurel Richie, “since a very familiar Girl Scout tradition has much in common with the world of business. The $700 million dollar Girl Scout Cookie Program is far and away the most successful entrepreneurship program for girls–and only girls–in the world. Many female business leaders got their start selling cookies. In fact, some 80 percent of American, female executives and business owners are former Girl Scouts.”

Steven Grasso, Managing Director, Stuart Frankel & Co. Inc., and father of one of the Girl Scouts participating in The Opening Bell ceremony, said,

“From the time I began my career on Wall Street, I felt that women were underrepresented in the financial sector. As a Girl Scout dad, I am confident my daughter is building a solid foundation to excel in any sector she chooses.”

Image Credit: antigone78, Flickr