GirlScouts of Orange County reports that nearly 150 Orange County business and
community leaders came together recently for a lively discussion on the
strategic case for women’s leadership.
Voice for Girls 2013, hosted by Girl Scouts of Orange County and
sponsored by UnitedHealthcare, featured a keynote address by acclaimed author
and leadership expert Sally Helgesen, an interactive panel with Orange County
girls, and voices of local leaders.
This
is the second year that Girl Scouts has hosted Voice for Girls to rally the
community around the support for girls and their leadership potential. This year’s event honed in on the unique
strengths women bring to the workplace and why those strengths are critical to
the success of today’s organizations.
Five
Orange County Girl Scouts participated in an interactive panel, sharing with
Orange County business leaders how they
are already using skills like building and leveraging relationships,
organization, and goal-setting to make a difference in their community. Urmila Janardan, a 12th grade Girl Scout, is
working to bring back the journalism program at Trabuco Hills High School. She found that the school newspaper brought
her community together, and she recruited other students, lobbied the school
administration, and found a teacher interested in teaching the journalism
class. Although Urmila won’t be at
Trabuco Hills High School next year to participate in the program because
she’ll be attending UCLA as a freshman in the fall, she is committed to
bringing the program back because she believes it’s critical for students
approaching voting age to be able to express their thoughts and concerns about
the world around them.
After
the panel, the girls posed questions to Orange County leaders to glean insight
into the local leadership landscape.
Business and community leaders then had the opportunity to ask questions
of the future leaders and learn more about what they need to be successful in
the workplace. The girls shared their
perspectives on everything from education (girls need more opportunities to
explore STEM fields) to their personal challenges with taking on leadership
roles.