Girl Scouts Selected Grand Champion of the 2012 Social Media Leadership Awards

Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has been selected an Overall Grand Champion and Category Champion in the Large Business division in non-profit category of the 2012 Social Media Leadership Awards, the first global competition to honor organizations that have overcome challenges through the use of social media. The Social Media Leadership Awards, presented by Knowledge@Wharton and Social Strategy1, and supported by Ernst & Young, announced the category winners and overall grand champion of the competition, which honored 18 organizations that demonstrated success in overcoming a challenge through the use of social media, including Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, The Vanguard Group Inc., Adobe, and others.

“This award is wonderful acknowledgement of GSUSA’s increasing efforts to utilize technology and social media to further engage girls, and I am so proud of our team and their work,” said Anna Maria Chávez, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. “We know that girls are deeply invested in the digital space, and social media enables us to foster a greater sense of community among Girl Scouts around the country and globe.”

Not only are today's girls actively engaged online, they also aspire to someday be at the forefront of the rapidly evolving technological business landscape. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute study Generation STEM: What Girls Say aboutScience, Technology, Engineering, and Math, 74 percent of teen girls are interested in STEM subjects and the general field of study. Further, a high 82 percent of girls see themselves as "smart enough to have a career in STEM."

During its monumental 100^th anniversary year, GSUSA has committed itself to building girl leadership in the next century. This year, GSUSA launched ToGetHerThere, the largest, boldest advocacy and fundraising cause dedicated to girls' leadership in the nation's history. To match, Girl Scouts has launched a $1 billion philanthropic campaign for girls to fuel this effort and to fund opportunities that enable girls to lead.

"In 2012, we decided to step up our social media strategy," said Philip Bae, director of interactive marketing at GSUSA. "During our 100^th Anniversary year, we consolidated our efforts, expanded our engagement in the digital space, and used social media to increase membership and start a national conversation about our girl leadership program."