The Girl Scouts add 23 STEM and nature badges to encourage little leaders of tomorrow

For more than a century, the Girl Scouts of America has been empowering little girls. And now, through new Girl Scout badges announced this week, the organization is teaching girls that not only can they be awesome at cookie selling, but also in outdoor activities and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

“Data shows Girl Scouts excel in life because of our innovative programming,” CEO Sylvia Acevedo said in the public announcement. “So we’ve expanded our offerings to include even more engaging, fun, and impactful activities for girls of all ages—including Daisies as young as 5 years old.”

And that encouragement goes a long way: Data collected in the recent Girl Scout Impact Study found kids in the program are already almost twice as likely as peers to participate in professions where women are traditionally underrepresented—and adding more STEM to the mix can only help.

The rollout of 23 new badges—in both STEM and the outdoor skills the organization is known for—marks the largest programming rollout for the Girl Scouts in almost 10 years. It also comes as the organization debuts it’s new digital platform for volunteers, which promises to make things easier for all the Scout-leading mamas out there.

With the addition of the new STEM badges, Girl Scouts will be designing robots and race cars and creating algorithms in addition to honing the more traditional skills like hiking and first aid.

Organizations including the Society of Women Engineers collaborated on the new badges, which is so cool when you think that some of the the Girls Scouts of today will grow up to join those ranks.

“Simply put, Girl Scouts is on the cusp of a leadership renaissance for girls,” said Acevedo, who hopes to see not just more girls, but more mothers, too, join the organization.

As she said, “We’re always looking for more go-getters, innovators, risk-takers, and leaders to enhance our ranks.”