THE COUNCILCOURIERNovember 2008
1
Girl Scouts of Western New York, Inc.
Troop Numbers
Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) is imple-
menting a national membership database for Girl
Scout councils. The Girl Scouts of Western New
York, Inc. will go live on the new system in early
2009. To prepare for the change, all troops will be
assigned additional identifying numbers. At this
time, it is not necessary to display the extra num-
bers on uniforms. However, they will be required
on registration materials, financial transactions
and all business conducted with council service
centers. Troops will receive specifics about the
new numbers through their service units later this
year. Please contact your Membership Manager
with questions.
Girls Want a Different Kind of Leadership
The Girl Scout Research Institute (GRSI) works hard to stay abreast of the needs and
characteristics of school-aged girls. GRSI released a study recently titled: Change It Up!
What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership. Over 4,000 girls (and boys!) were surveyed to
find out their answers to questions like: What kind of leadership does this generation of girls
aspire to and connect with? What drives today’s girls to be leaders? What inhibits them? What
do we need to know in order to support the next generation of girl and women leaders?
Information gleaned from the survey includes:
• Girls are clearly saying that we need to “change it up” in how we define and think
about leadership.
• Over nine out of ten of girls say they want to be or would not mind being leaders.
• Girls would aspire to a different kind of leadership focused on personal principles,
ethical behavior, and the ability to affect social change.
• Over 90% of girls believe that no matter who they are, girls can learn to be good leaders
and 67% of girls say they have had some opportunity to be a leader.
• A relevant and successful leadership program for girls must address their “aspirational”
or preferred definition of leadership, their need for emotional safety, and t