Changing Our Workplace Culture to Attract and Retain a Diverse
Staff: We’re investing in continuing education for our staff and
leadership on issues of cultural competency, structural racism, white
privilege, and other topics related to equity. We aim to be a
welcoming organization that values diversity and has staff and board
members who are reflective of the communities we intend to
serve.
Diversity & Equity
Diversity and equity are core values of Girl Scouts of Western Washington.
We aim to empower every girl—girls of every race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, ability, gender identity, religion, or geographic location—to make the world a better place.
We also recognize that gender is not binary – people don’t identify only as boys or girls. We welcome children from across the gender spectrum: those who identify as transgender, agender, androgynous, etc., and those who are in transition or questioning their gender identity. Because the Girl Scout mission is to specifically hold space for girls to build courage, confidence and character, Girl Scouts would not be an appropriate space for those who identify as cis gender boys (those whose gender identity is boy, and the sex assigned at birth is male.)
Yet many girls in our region, especially those of color, LGBTQ+ youth, or those from low-income backgrounds, face barriers to success in school, living-wage careers, and long-term economic opportunity.
As an organization, we’re working to make our programs more accessible to girls who haven’t historically been served by Girl Scouts. To make progress toward this goal we are:
Creating Culturally-Responsive Opportunities for Girls: We’re
working to create fun, flexible program opportunities that reflect the
needs and voices of girls across diverse communities. We aim to be a
reliable and trusted partner for community organizations across our
region.
Learning from Past Success: For many years we’ve offered staff-led community outreach programs to girls who may face obstacles due to limited resources in their communities and other factors. As we grow efforts to serve diverse communities of girls, we intend to build on what we’ve learned through our continued work to intentionally create more accessible opportunities—both within staff-led troops and throughout our other Girl Scout programs.
Participating in Regional Coalition Work: We’re members of School’s Out Washington’s Expanded Learning Coalition and the Youth Development Executives of King County. Our efforts help sustain high-quality, accessible youth development programs in our community.
