Along
with special guest hosts and lifetime Girl Scouts Robin McGraw and Jessica
Minhas, Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Anna Maria Chávez is hosting the
2015 National Young Women of Distinction event on Wednesday, October 7,
2015. The event, which will take place at Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff
Manor, New York, and will be livestreamed,
will honor 10 incredible young women who were chosen to receive the highest
Girl Scout honor because their Gold Award projects demonstrated extraordinary
leadership, have had measureable impact and sustainability, and addressed a
local, national, and/or global issue.
Meet
Girl Scouts of the USA's 2015 National Young Women of Distinction:
Pooja
Nagpal, Girl Scouts
of Greater Los Angeles
Pooja's
project focused on ending violence against women worldwide by teaching
self-defense to women and girls in rural villages in Himachal Pradesh, India,
and battered women's shelters in Los Angeles, California. As a second-degree
black belt in Taekwondo who is also trained in street fighting, Pooja created a
two-part curriculum that not only successfully strengthened girls' and women's
physical abilities but also exercised their mental acuity through discussions
and activities around leadership, community service, confidence, and education.
This past year, Pooja founded For a Change,
Defend, a non-profit organization, and spoke at
numerous events to raise awareness around domestic violence and female
empowerment.
Hadiya
Harrigan, Girl Scouts of
Western Ohio
Hadiya
created a web development handbook, available
online, that contains more than 20 lessons to help students and the public
learn ASP.net and MySQL. As a member of the Cincinnati Black Data Processing
Associates and a participant in the High School Computer Competition, Hadiya
understood the importance of developing a resource that is constantly updated
and that keeps useful information about web development in a centralized
location. As a passionate advocate for greater girl involvement in STEM fields,
Hadiya hopes that her handbook will bring more girls and young women into the
world of STEM and help bridge the STEM gender gap.
Julie
Kapuvari, Girl Scouts of
Nassau County— New York
Julie's
Gold Award project—a collaboration with the Homecoming Farm, an organic
community-supported farm on the property of the Sisters of St. Dominic convent,
and the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County—channeled her passion
for environmental science and her concern over the worldwide decline of
honeybee populations. In an effort to assuage the sisters' fears about
beekeeping, Julie enrolled in the Long Island Beekeeping Association apiculture
class to become more fluent in the nature of honeybees and learn how to dispel
common behavioral misconceptions and highlight the benefits of a beekeeping
program. As a result of Julie's actions, she received a grant from the Long
Island Beekeepers Club (LIBC) for a nucleus of 1 queen and 5,000 honeybees. As
a novice beekeeper and member of the LIBC, Julie continues to give
presentations to members of her community on the impact of her project and how
it has resulted in a local, sustained pollination source that will help with
food production on the farm for years to come.
Rebecca
Pober, Girl Scouts
of Southern Alabama
Rebecca
produced, filmed, edited, and narrated a documentary on domestic human sex
trafficking called "Project P.A.T.H.—People Against Trafficking of
Humans" that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) now uses
for training purposes. In order to make the documentary, she conducted research
with the FBI and local law enforcement, interviewed victims, their families,
and elected officials, and secured sponsorship to cover costs. She also created
adocumentary
website that included information about human trafficking and
helplines for victims. Once the documentary was completed, Rebecca traveled
throughout her region to build awareness of and spread the message about human
sex trafficking.
Elizabeth
Martin, Girl
Scouts of Peaks to Piedmont—North Carolina
Elizabeth
addressed bullying by focusing her Gold Award project on helping pre-school
children develop a strong sense of self-worth and positive relationships with
others as well as developing resources for teachers and parents. She created a
"Shine Your Own Way" box that included a brochure with positive
parenting tips, a series of childhood books featuring various bullying
scenarios, an activity booklet teaching children better ways to express their
feelings, costumes children can use to role play the activities and concepts
from the books, and a video for new teachers informing them how to use the
program. The role-playing scenarios help children understand how it feels to be
a bully, what it's like to be the bullied victim, and how to stop a bullying
situation. Elizabeth has distributed her boxes throughout her community and has
positively impacted hundreds of students.
Liza
Villanueva, Girl
Scouts of Orange County—California
Liza
established iDREAM Express, a nonprofit organization that creates mobile
learning centers around the world. iDREAM is an acronym for imagination,
discovery, research, education, art, and music, all components of the program
(which also includes hygiene and nutrition). Liza launched iDREAM Express in
the Philippines, knowing that poverty and the lack of education are prevalent
issues there. She partnered with several church volunteers in the Philippines
to ensure the program's sustainability, as well as the Department of Social
Welfare and Development. Currently, the learning centers travel to two
locations—Bacolod and Silay—weekly. At these locations, children of all ages
are washed, provided slippers, taught several subjects, and fed. They also
treat wounds and are given the opportunity to participate in fun activities. In
the near future, Liza plans to expand her project and create more learning
centers in other countries and eventually across the globe.
Jamielee
Buenemann, Girl
Scouts of Eastern Missouri
Since
the general public is wary of introducing alternative energy into their homes
due to concerns over high costs, lack of knowledge about alternative energy,
and fear of complex machinery, Jamielee embarked on a mission to demystify
renewable energy and make it tangible for the average citizen. Jamielee
designed and constructed a residential-scale wind turbine—constructed almost entirely
from previously used materials from her home—in an effort to promote new
sources of energy. She was selected to represent the Regional Science and Art
Fair at the International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environmental
Project Olympiad and the International Science and Engineering Fair, where she
presented her project to students, community members, scientists, engineers,
and other young high school researchers from around the world.
Annie
Cai, Girl Scouts of
Northern California
Annie
created Imaginarium, a career development conference that teaches students
about public speaking and entrepreneurship, in addition to building their
confidence. In an effort to bridge the gap between what the career world
expects from students and the education system that is preparing students for
that world, she wanted to develop a resource that would strengthen students'
entrepreneurial skills around business management, finance, and communications.
At the conference and with guidance from industry professionals, students
transformed their creative ideas into business plans for an array of products,
from apps that promoted driving safety to entire bathrooms that reused water.
Imaginarium participants made their dreams into reality and the program is
cultivating our future business leaders.
Alexa
Iannace, Girl Scouts of
Eastern Pennsylvania
Alexa
addressed the issue of child pornography through a documentary featuring
experts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the
Pennsylvania State Police. To create her documentary, she partnered with
several members of law enforcement and the district attorneys who investigate
child pornography crimes and advocate for the victims. Through several
presentations of the video, Alexa equipped her audiences with information to
help them make a difference in the life of a victim and cleared up many
misconceptions about child pornography. She also provided viewers with a
comprehensive list of sources they could use to further educate themselves on
the topic and information on how to report incidents of online child
exploitation. Her audience included several students who are studying criminal
justice and social work at different universities, as well as a Cyber Crimes
Taskforce, which represented 10 law enforcement agencies including the US
Department of Homeland Security and her county's bar association for district
attorneys.
Sarah
Schurr, Girl
Scouts of Greater Atlanta
Sarah's
project focused on providing useful tips and techniques to help professional
and familial caregivers better communicate with elders suffering from dementia,
Alzheimer's, or social detachment, and it had three parts—an educational
booklet, a toolkit, and a website. This project was inspired by Sarah's
personal experience watching her extended family struggle as her grandmother
demonstrated signs of dementia. By consolidating information on the sensory
changes that come with aging and detailing techniques for facilitating
meaningful communication, Sarah hoped to build others' understanding of the
physical changes elders face and help them more effectively connect with those
suffering from or at risk for social detachment. Along with a copy of her
booklet, her toolkits—called "Talk to Me" treasure boxes—hold
resources such as sensory mats, conversation starter cards, and photo albums,
each designed to begin and sustain conversation. The finished boxes were donated
to a local hospital and multiple assisted living centers.
This
year's National Young Women of Distinction entries were reviewed by Girl Scouts
of the USA staff and an external selection board made up of funders and
partners, including the following: Kappa Delta, Techbridge, Peace First Prize,
Prudential Spirit of Community, Alpha Phi Omega, AIG Investments, Rockefeller
Philanthropy, Toyota Financial Services, Dell, Met Life Foundation, Change.org,
and many others.
Definitely
livestream the
event today!