The Girl Scout Leadership Experience provides girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade with a wide variety of leadership opportunities. The program encourages increased skill-building and responsibility, and also promotes the development of strong leadership and decision-making skills. All program activities are grade-appropriate.

Areas of focus include:

• Leadership and Self-Esteem
• Community Outreach and Education
• Environmental Awareness
• Financial Literacy
• Health and Wellness
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
• The Arts
• Travel

No matter what age, girls learn the value and the fun of sharing experiences in an all-girl environment, with caring, trained adults to serve as mentors and models. All activities are designed with girls in mind to spark their interests, address their concerns, build their skills, and explore the world around them.

Pathways

Across the country, the Girl Scout community is hard at work on a new approach to making sure that all girls can participate in Girl Scouting in the ways they want to! With the development of Girl Scout Pathways – the ways that girls participate in Girl Scouts – there are now several flexible ways for girls to get involved:

Camp

Girls participate in day or resident camps with a focus on the outdoors and/or environmental education.

Events

Girls participate in events (e.g., career day).

Series

Girls participate in a series of programs with the same group of girls relating to a specific theme or purpose (e.g., high-adventure teen group, completion of the “It's Your World—Change It!” journey over a six-week period).

Travel

Girls plan, earn money, prepare, and participate in regional, national, and international trips.

Troops

Girls participate in a series of programs with the same group of girls over the course of an academic year.

Virtual

Girls participate in interactive, high-quality program activities in a safe, secure, online environment supplemented by live events.

Girl Scout Levels

Girls can join Girl Scouts at different grade-levels:

• Girl Scout Daisy, grades K–1
• Girl Scout Brownie, grades 2–3
• Girl Scout Junior, grades 4–5
• Girl Scout Cadette, grades 6–8
• Girl Scout Senior, grades 9–10
• Girl Scout Ambassador, grades 11–12

As girls progress through the levels from Daisy to Ambassador, they attain new and higher levels of knowledge and skills, and ultimately a deeper understanding of what it means to be a leader who makes a difference in the world.

Who Can Join?

Girl Scouts is open to all girls, grades K-12 who accept the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Dues are just $25/year per girl: national dues are $15 and our council service fee is $10. Women and men over 17 can join as adult members. The Girl Scouts value diversity and inclusiveness and, therefore, do not discriminate on any basis.

The Big Picture

Founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low, Girl Scouts' membership has grown from 18 members in Savannah, Georgia, to 3.4 million members throughout the United States, including U.S. territories, and in more than 90 countries through USA Girl Scouts Overseas.

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950. Through membership in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), GSUSA is part of a worldwide family of 10 million girls and adults in 145 countries. Girl Scouts of the USA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.