Women's & Girls' Leadership

Events:

Spring 2010 Speaker Series Lineup:

February 23rd

Stacey Blake-Beard, PhD., Oscar Holmes, IV, Todd Jenkins, and Crystal Daugherty 

“Insights from the Intersection of National Culture and Gender: Exploring the Mentoring Experiences of Indian Women”   

Time and Place: 4:30pm – 5:50pm, with a reception following. Room M222, Simmons School of Management Building *Validated parking is available on site for $9

April 29th

Elisabeth Kelan PhD., King's College London  

“The Binary Logic and Performing Gender at Work”  

Time and Place: 4:30pm – 5:50pm, with a reception following. Room M222, Simmons School of Management Building *Validated parking is available on site for $9  

May 18th

Laura Morgan Roberts, Ph.D., Faculty Affiliate, Center for Gender in Organizations Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Managerial Sciences, Georgia State University 

"Race, Gender and the Construction of Positive Identities at Work."   

Time and Place: 4:30pm – 5:50pm, with a reception following. Room M222, Simmons School of Management Building *Validated parking is available on site for $9

Projects:

To learn about specific projects on any of the following themes, please visit the CGO website at http://www.simmons.edu/som/centers/cgo/index.php.

Leadership

CGO is unpacking the topic of leadership to illuminate under-researched and under-recognized aspects of leadership and to give voice to the experiences and knowledge of women leaders of varied racial, class, ethnic, national, and sexual identities, largely marginalized until now. In particular, several projects on Latina leaders are underway or being developed.

Institutional Transformation/Gender Equity and Organizational Effectiveness

Rather than seeing gender as a problem that individual women confront at work, we see gender as embedded in an organization's culture. CGO helps organizations deal with these subtle gender dynamics by identifying the work practices that contribute to the bias and inequities that hinder organizational effectiveness. Recently CGO faculty edited the Reader in Gender, Work and Organization (Blackwell Publishers, forthcoming) that presents an alternative conceptual approach to gender in the workplace. by considering classic and newer topics in management education - leadership, negotiation, human resource management, organizational change, diversity, and globalization - from fresh perspectives.

Virtual Work

Given the speed and scope of technological change in workplaces, CGO is exploring the implications for gender equity and whether the embedded gender dynamics observed in more traditional organizations are replicated as organizations move into virtual work or are founded as virtual organizations.

Working with Differences

Building on the theme of addressing the intersection of race, class, sexual identity, and gender, CGO has been exploring the possibilities and challenges of building alliances among different social identity groups in order to support and sustain organizational change.

Globalization

CGO is developing both conceptual and applied work in the area of global diversity. We are also conducting focused research on the impact of globalization on the dynamics of gender, race, class, sexual identity, and ethnicity within domestic work organizations.

Kolb, Deborah M., Judith Williams, and Carol Frohlinger. 2004. Her Place at the Table: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success. Jossey-Bass.

Ely, Robin J., Erica Gabrielle Foldy, Maureen Scully, and The Center for Gender in Organizations, Simmons School of Management, eds. 2003. Reader in Gender, Work, and Organization. Blackwell Publishing.

Kolb, Deborah M., and Judith Williams. 2003. Everyday Negotiation: Navigating the Hidden Agendas in Bargaining. Jossey-  Bass.
 

Working Paper Series. Designed to disseminate recent developments in research, theorizing, and practice related to gender and organizational effectiveness.

CGO Insights. Written for both practitioners and scholars, these short, briefing notes are on topics relevant to promoting organizational effectiveness through strengthening gender equity.

CGO Speakers Bureau. Faculty give talks regularly on the themes of gender, leadership, power, negotiation, organizational change, and organizational effectiveness to diverse academic and organizational audiences.

CGO in the Media. Faculty are frequently asked by the popular press for insights and analysis on issues of women, leadership, and management. This is an important mechanism for influencing public discourse on gender, work, and organizations. CGO Consulting Services. CGO engages in consultations and action research projects with organizations interested in examining the ways in which their work norms, values, and practices are gendered and introducing changes that will foster greater equity for both men and women as well as improve organization performance.
Customized Educational Programs. CGO faculty work with the Simmons School of Management to design and deliver programs that help women understand the systemic nature of gender issues, increase their knowledge and skill in navigating their organizations with confidence, and help them to develop more successful careers. Customized programs include Executive Education courses held at Simmons School of Management and courses conducted onsite at the organizations for which they were developed.

Fellows at IRW

Visiting Scholars:

Since the IRW interdisciplinary research seminar began in the 1996-1997 academic year, the IRW has hosted more than 45 visiting scholars and Rockefeller Resident Fellows in the Humanities. Take a moment to discover who's been at the IRW and find out about their subsequent publications, as well as their IRW projects during their terms at Rutgers. We welcome updates to this growing database.

Rutgers Faculty Fellows:

The Ms. Foundation for Women is dedicated to building women's collective power to ignite change. We seek opportunities to both proactively and reactively inform public policy, and obtain policy wins at the local, state, tribal and national level, with the ultimate goal of transforming the systems that govern women's lives.

We also aim to change the language, beliefs and behaviors that continue to hold women's oppression in place-particularly at the intersection of race, class and gender-and to shift public debate on key issues so that the perspectives of, and impact on, low income women and women of color are visible and addressed.

We support both cross-issue organizing and organizing within four broad areas of impact:

Women's Health

Reproductive Justice organizing and advocacy
Sexuality education organizing and advocacy
Women and HIV/AIDS policy advocacy and organizational capacity building
Access to health care coverage

Ending Violence

Community-based strategies to prevent child sexual abuse and violence against women and LGBTQ people
Strategies to engage men and boys in ending violence
Public education and media literacy
Youth-driven strategies

Economic Security

Organizing for better wages and working conditions, especially in female dominated sectors
Paid leave (including paid sick days and paid family leave)
Affordable, accessible quality child care
Access to health care coverage

Building Democracy

Building the infrastructure of organizations working for a progressive vision of democracy
Amplifying the voices of women of color, with a special emphasis on the Gulf South
Voter/civic engagement
Just immigration and refugee policies
Criminal Justice reform
Media Justice

Examples of funding initiatives across these broad and interconnected issue areas include:

Katrina Women's Response Fund: The Ms. Foundation responded immediately to the destruction and massive displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina by creating the Katrina Women's Response Fund. The Fund provides strategic support to meet the immediate needs of women of color and low-income women in the Gulf Coast region and ensure that their leadership and priorities are central in both short and long-term recovery and rebuilding efforts. By making grants to organizations throughout the region, the Katrina Women's Response Fund invests in the crucial infrastructure that promotes the health, safety, and economic well-being of women, their families and communities.

The Women and AIDS Fund: The Ms. Foundation for Women created the Women and AIDS Fund (WAF)to support organizations that advocate for policies and services that meet the needs of women with HIV/AIDS. WAF remains the only national fund that supports advocacy and self-determination by and for women living with this disease. By providing grants, technical assistance and networking opportunities to community-based organizations led by and for women who are HIV-positive, we contribute to the development of model approaches for women's HIV/AIDS advocacy that can be shared across the country. Our work has also helped create a national network of HIV-positive infected and affected women, called the National Women and AIDS Collective (NWAC), who strive to influence the ways in which policies are determined at the federal level.

The Reproductive Rights Coalition and Organizing Fund: The Ms. Foundation for Women's Reproductive Rights Coalition and Organizing Fund (RRCOF) has been a strong, responsive resource for state reproductive rights organizations across the United States since 1989. RRCOF provides grantmaking, technical assistance, and networking activities to strengthen state-level infrastructures and build critical, broad-based support for reproductive rights. RRCOF aims to increase the capacity of state and local reproductive rights organizations so that they can: 1) expand and mobilize their base of support; 2) reach a broader and more diverse audience; 3) frame reproductive rights and health in a broader health and social justice context; and 4) more effectively advocate for positive - and avert restrictive - reproductive health policies and programs.

Join our movement for social justice and help to bring the experience and solutions of women and girls to the challenging issues that impact women and their communities most. Learn more about how you can show your support. 

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Stir It UP: Lessons in Community Organizing and Advocacy. Written by activist and trainer Rinku Sen, this publication examines the work of economic justice organizations funded by the Ms. Foundation and applies the lessons they learned to other community organizations. Sen also provides models and tools that any organization can use to successfully create social change and influence public policy.

Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies that Work for All of Us . Most Americans believe a job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it. Raise The Floor shows us how we can translate that belief into reality by raising the minimum wage. In addition to telling workers' stories, presenting original data, and proposing comprehensive policies, Raise The Floor spotlights businesses large and small that demonstrate how good wages are good business-in good economic times and bad.

Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs: How Eleven Women Escaped Poverty and Became Their Own Bosses. This publication tells the inspirational stories of eleven low-income women who have marshaled the creative energy, confidence, and capital necessary to start their own small businesses. These women, who have used their entrepreneurial skills as a route out of poverty, give an American face to an economic empowerment tool that has enjoyed great success in developing countries.

Ms. Foundation. 2009. Creating Connections, Igniting Change: Annual Report 2007-2008.

Ms. Foundation. 2009. Building Momentum to Sustain Social Change: Evaluation of the Katrina Women's Response Fund.  

Grants

Archives

Mapping Women's Achives Project Directory. Begun in 2001 with initial funding provided by Professor Emerita Irene Tinker, this directory represents an ongoing effort to identify archival repositories in the United States with significant collections relating to women. Its purpose is to aid potential donors in more easily identifying archival repositories to which their papers could be donated. An equally important benefit is to aid researchers in locating primary source materials of relevance to women's studies. The database is searchable by organization name, city, state, or keyword. A form is available for electronic submission of new or updated repository information. The Directory is available on the Women and Leadership Archives website: http://www.luc.edu/orgs/gannon/archives/

Summer Research Grants to support and encourage research on women and their contributions to society. Up to three research grants are awarded to Loyola University Chicago graduate students each summer for research utilizing the holdings of the Women and Leadership Archives.

Business -- Business Leadership and Leadership Development

Annual Women in Business Conference. The topic for the annual conference to be held on October 4, 2002, is "Connecting and Connections: What Has Changed for Women in Business Today?" (See Women in Business Conference archives at www.luc.edu/orgs/gannon)

Leadership and Leadership Development -- International Development

Women and Leadership Archives. The WLA collects, preserves, organizes, describes, and makes available materials that advance original research on women and their roles and contributions to society, with a particular emphasis on women as leaders. Among the collected materials are records and papers in the areas of educational, civic, religious, and business life, primarily in Chicago and the Midwest.

Institute of Women and Leadership. With a mixture of practical and visionary opportunities, the institute initiates creative programming that supports, strengthens, and enhances women's leadership. From developing leadership skills to interacting with acknowledged leaders, offerings are structured for university students, faculty, and staff, as well as outreach to off-campus women. The Institute also provides for two Gannon Faculty Fellows each Spring Semester.

Gannon Scholars Leadership Program. The Gannon Scholars Leadership Program is a four-year women's leadership program administered by the Gannon Center for Women and Leadership.

Visiting Scholar Program. The Visiting Scholar Program brings researchers from around the world to Loyola for periods ranging from one month to a year to study issues of concern to women. The primary purpose of the program is to provide research support for scholars conducting research on women's issues.

Science and Technology

The Women in Science Enabling Research (WISER) program offers freshman and sophomore women an introduction to laboratory research and creates an environment for them to communicate with fellow women scientists, as well as to learn about and be encouraged toward scientific careers.

Women's Studies

Women's Studies Program. The Women's Studies Program offers a wide range of degree options: an undergraduate minor, an undergraduate major, a Graduate School certificate or concentration, and an M.A. Degree. (See www.luc.edu/depts/women-stu)

Annual Women's Conference. This event, to be held March 22 in the year 2003, is organized around Life and Arts: Women's Experience. The conference will continue to establish the practice of presenting a stimulating topic of interest to women that encourages the process of raising consciousness, educating, and working for social change.

Linkage. Gannon Center newsletter

Institute of Women and Leadership

Health and Healthcare

Linking Agriculture and Nutrition: Institutional Lessons Learned. ICRW recently completed studies on ways to improve nutrition through the strengthening of women's roles and contributions to household food security in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Findings indicate that collaboration among institutions is critical in maintaining proper nutrition and national food security, and that although these collaborations may already exist, they need to be operationalized in a more efficient manner. Thus, ICRW is launching an initiative to support the USAID's Greater Horn of Africa Initiative Linking Food Security and Nutrition. ICRW aims to demonstrate how agriculture and nutrition linkages can reinforce institutional capacities to incorporate gender and strengthen women's roles in achieving food security.

HIV and AIDS. ICRW was one of the first organizations to focus on the rapid spread of HIV and AIDS among women in developing countries. Our first research program on women and AIDS in the early 1990s examined the social, economic and gender factors fueling the spread of HIV and AIDS among women. Today we continue to push the AIDS agenda forward.

International Development

Promoting Women in Development. ICRW and the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) are working in partnership on a grants program, Promoting Women in Development (PROWID). Funded by the Office of Women in Development at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), PROWID is a four-year program currently in its third year. The program supports innovative interventions, research, and advocacy activities that help reach women and enhance their full participation in the development process. PROWID aims to improve the lives of women in developing countries and economies in transition by promoting development that is based on practical insights gained from field-tested interventions.

Women in Development Technical Assistance Project (WIDTECH). WIDTECH is funded by the USAID and consists of a consortium of five development organizations. The program provided technical assistance and training services complementary to those being provided by USAID's Office of Women in Development (G/WID); the WIDTECH team works to support those efforts made by G/WID to identify and develop innovative approaches to enhance the effectiveness of the USAID development efforts by addressing women's roles and contributions to the development process.

Reproductive Rights

Adolescent Reproductive Health in Nepal. In a recent project, ICRW is implementing and testing the effectiveness of a community-based, client-centered participatory approach to improving adolescent health in Nepal. The study is being conducted in a project and control site on the outskirts of urban Katmandu and the rural district of Newalparasi and will include quantitative and qualitative data. This project is funded by the Mellon Foundation and in joint collaboration with AVSC International and Nepali partner organizations, New ERA and BP Memorial Health Foundation.

Factors Affecting the Safe Provision of IUDs in Resource-Poor Settings. In 1995, with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, ICRW and AVSC International, the Population Council and the Pacific Institute for Women's Health initiated a set of closely linked projects to research what is needed to provide IUD devices in a safer manner. Targeted areas for research are Asia, Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. In June of 1999, ICRW held an event to disseminate the information gathered from these studies and to highlight the need for increased information and availability of IUDs in these parts of the world.

Population and Reproductive Health Policy Communications. In preparation for the 1999 UN Conference, ICRW received funding to accomplish the following: promote International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) dialogue and consensus among the public through educational forums that address population and reproductive care issues; produce an ICPD position paper aimed at policymakers that provides issue background, reviews progress on ICPD objectives thus far, and provides guidelines for what still needs to be accomplished.                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                               Violence Against Women

Violence against women is a global epidemic with serious health and development impacts on women and girls, their families and their societies. It takes many forms including domestic violence, femicide, harmful traditional practices, rape and sexual coercion, and trafficking. ICRW works to end violence against women by addressing its root cause: gender inequalities.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Adolescence

ICRW has studied how best to improve the life options of adolescents for more than two decades, beginning with research on factors that affect young girls' school attendance. Our research today focuses on areas such as child marriage, son preference and adolescent reproductive health.

Click here to learn more about ICRW's research areas.

International Development
Adolescents and Girls

Vulnerability and Opportunity: Adolescents and HIV/AIDS in the Developing World: Findings from the Women and AIDS Research Program, Ellen Weiss, Daniel Whelan, and Geeta Rao Gupta. Argues that the factors that influence sexual risk among youth, such as the lack of information and services, are social, cultural, and economic forces that result in gender differences in sexual experiences, expectations, and the ability to adopt HIV/STD preventive behaviors.

The Costs of Adolescent Childbearing in Latin America and the Caribbean, Mayra Buvinic. A working paper exploring the social and economic impacts of adolescent childbearing on mothers and children and the degree to which adolescent childbearing contributes to the perpetuation of poverty in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

The Nutrition and Lives of Adolescents in Developing Countries: Findings from the Nutrition of Adolescent Girls Research Program, Kathleen M. Kurz and Charlott Johnson-Welch. A synthesis report summarizing findings from ICRW's Nutrition of Adolescent Girls Research Program, which supported 11 research projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Behavior: A Review of the Evidence from India, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy. Documents the existing research on sexual and reproductive behavior, and explores sexual knowledge and attitudes among adolescents in India.

Employment Issues

Research Reveals Gender Divides of Globalization: Impact on Women's Employment. Examines globalization and the transition to market economies that has triggered dramatic changes in patterns of women's employment and earnings that are occurring worldwide.

Women Workers in a Globalizing Economy. Six papers presented at a series of ICRW policy forums held in Washington, New York, and The Hague that demonstrate the positive and negative effects of globalization and underscore the importance of gender-based research in order to understand the differential impact of global economic policies on women and men.

Environment

New Directions for the Study of Women and Environmental Degradation, Michael Paolisso. Reviews the available literature on the costs to women of environmental degradation and recommends more multi-disciplinary, gender-desegregated research that integrates concerns about the effects of environmental degradation on women into a wider range of environment and development initiatives.

Women's Responses to Environmental Degradation: Poverty and Demographic Constraints, Case Studies from Latin America, Michael Paolisso and Sarah Gammage. Case study research with partners in Chile, Ecuador, and Honduras on the environmental contributions of women to managing the negative effects of natural resource decline and environmental pollution on family welfare.

Family

Women's Roles in Household Decision Making: A Case Study in Nigeria, Sarah Gammage. Report presenting findings from a study carried out with a sampling of households in three states in Nigeria to examine women's role in household decision making and the factors associated with their level of participation and influence in this process. The study also explored the hypothesis that where women are able to influence the decision making process, they are able to achieve welfare improvements for themselves and their children.

Health and Health Care

Working Paper. Modelling the Impact of Stigma on HIV/AIDS Programmes: Preliminary Projections for Mother-to-Child Transmission. Charlotte Watts, Cathy Zimmerman, Traci Eckhaus and Laura Nyblade. 2010.   

Knowledge of HIV status, sexual risk behaviors and contraceptive need among people living with HIV in Kenya and Malawi.  Aberle-Grasse, John M; Diaz, Theresa; Anand, Abhijeet; Shiraishi, Ray W; Bunnell, Rebecca E; Jacobs, Krista; Solehdin, Nadia; Abdul-Quader, Abu S; Marum, Lawrence H; Muttunga, James N; Kamoto, Kelita. 2009.  

Gender Differences Among Children 0-5 Years: An Opportunity for Child Survival Interventions, Kathleen Kurz and Charlotte Johnson-Welch. In an examination of mortality, health, and nutritional status, and psycho-social development, this report describes how bias against girls was shown consistently for health care utilization, feeding patterns, and attention from health care providers.

Health Consequences of Adolescent Childbearing in Developing Countries, Kathleen Kurz. A working paper focusing on indicators that include maternal morality and morbidity, physical growth during pregnancy, and birthweight and prematurity in infants. A discussion of programmatic efforts to reduce poor health consequences of childbearing by adolescents is also included.

Human Rights

Innovation for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality. Anju Malhotra, Jennifer Schulte, Payal Patel, Patti Petesch. 2009.

Recasting WID: A Human Rights Approach, Daniel Whelan (1998). A working paper discussing the premise that economic and social development is the realization of all human rights.

Leadership and Leadership Development

From Beneficiaries to Change Agents: The Rise of Women's Leadernship in International Development. Gill, Kirrin; Warner, Ann; Weiss, Ellen; Rao Gupta, Geeta. 2009.  

Global Women's Leadership: Lessons From Advancing Women, Jill Merrick with Virginia Clarke-Laskin (1998). Summarizes the discussion at a four-day session organized by the ICRW and the Salzburg Seminar to study progress made worldwide in advancing women's leadership, and highlights the observations made by the participants.

Increasing Women's Involvement in Community Decision Making: A Means to Improve Iron Status. This report summarizes the findings from the intervention research project implemented by the Center for the Study and Promotion of Nutrition (CEPREN) in Peru, which explored the use of participatory methodologies to engage women members of community kitchens in peri-urban Lima in the design, implementation, and evaluation of a trial intervention to reduce iron deficiency among women of reproductive age.

Poverty

Household Response to Soil Degradation: Gender, Poverty, and Demographic Dynamics in Honduras, Linda Casey and Michael Paolisso. Discusses how rural families in Honduras, most of whom are poor with few resources, are affected by and respond daily to increased resource degradation and changing economic conditions.

Socioeconomic Status of Women
Statistics on Women

ICRW's Global Fact Sheet Series includes fact sheets on women and credit and on women's health.

Women . . . A World Survey (2nd ed.), Ruth L. Sivard. Discusses indicators of women's progress in the last 10 years in the areas of education, the economy, health services, political participation, and legal rights, as well as data on historical trends in the global gender gap.

Quality of Life
Socioeconomic Status of Women

Communiqué to the Second Summit of the Americas. The Women's Leadership Conference of the Americas' recommendations for action to enhance opportunities for women in the Americas.

Improving the Quality of Life of Girls, Kathleen M. Kurz and Cynthia Prather. Explores the constraints limiting the quality of life of girl children, especially related to their health, education, and social well-being.

Investing in Women: Progress and Prospects for the World Bank, Mayra Buvinic, Catherine Gwin, and Lisa M. Bates. A review of World Bank projects that included measures to address the needs of women.

Taking Women Into Account: Lessons Learned from NGO Project Experiences, edited by Rekha Mehra, with Mayra Buvinic, Charlotte Johnson-Welch, Michael Paolisso, Ellen Weiss, and Daniel Whelan. A series of four case studies of the field-based projects of U.S. NGOs that offer replicable lessons learned on working with women, the Regional Oils Project of Appropriate Technology International (ATI) in Tanzania and Zimbabwe; the Warmi and Women-Child Impact (WCI) Projects of Save the Children (SC/B) in Bolivia; WID Initiatives in Agroforestry of CARE in Guatemala; and the Northwest Thailand AIDS Awareness Project and Women's Empowerment Project of the Chiangmai Provincial Centre for Non-Formal Education (CNE) and Laubach Literacy International in Thailand.

Women, Land and Sustainable Development, Rekha Mehra. Examines the linkages between women's land rights, development, and sustainability; demonstrates how restrictions to land rights undermine women's productivity and earnings, and their incentives and ability to sustain land and other natural resources; and suggests ways to strengthen women's land rights.

Reproductive Rights

Determinants of Contraceptive Acceptance Among Cambodian Abortion Patients. McDougall J, Fetters T, Clark KA, and Rathavy T. 2009.

Unmet Need for Family Planning: Reflecting Women's Perspective, Nancy V. Yinger (1998). Discusses the results from a three-year research program in three countries, Guatemala, India, and Zambia, that used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to examine unmet family planning needs.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Violence Against Women

Jobs and Fellowships at ICRW

Vacancies in Washington D.C.:

• ICRW President
• Program Associate, Population and Development
• Administrative Assistant to the CFO

Vacancies in India/ Asia Regional Office:

• Research Associate
• Senior Technical Specialist

Consultant Positions:

• Short Term Business Development Consultant

Fellowships:

• Gender and Population Post-Doctoral Fellowship

The Girl Scouts have a program with age appropriate and progressive resources based on four program goals for girls. Every girl who particpates in Girl Scouting benefits from the following four program goals:

Developing to her full potential.

Relating to others with increasing understanding, skill and respect.

Developing values to guide her actions and to provide the foundation for sound decision-making.

Contributing to the improvement of society through the use of her abilities and leadership skills, working in cooperation with others.

Below is a sampling of the kinds of newer initiatives that are adjuncts to the core program:

Community Service

All Girl Scouts are encouraged to perform community service projects. Once girls reach the age of nine, and through the age of 17, they can take on projects of increasing complexity and can receive nationally-recognized awards for their achievements.

Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Diversity

Thinking Day. Held annually on February 22, the Girl Scouts celebrates girls and the diverse cultures in which they live by learning more about sister Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from neighboring countries. Girls at every Girl Scout age level engage in many activities that foster respect for others and respect for themselves.

Environment

The Elliot Wildlife Values project is the environmental education unit of the organization. Under its umbrella, a variety of projects take place. Some examples are:

Linking Girls to the Land. In cooperation with various environmental agencies, Girl Scout Councils plan outdoor recreational activities and environmental education programs, including service projects in natural areas for local Girl Scouts groups.

EarthPACT (plant and animal conservation team) supports partnerships between Girl Scout councils and local environmental education, nature, or science-related institutions to involve girls in field conservation activities and provide career exporation activities.

From Sidewalks to Treetops- Neighborhood Environmental Exploration workshops in Spanish and English teach council staff and administrative volunteers how to use the streets of their own communities as outdoor learning centers for girls. The workshop is also available as a training video in English and Spanish for leaders.
As part of a collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, young adults are provided with ongoing ocean science and exploration experience, including working in the field with scientists, designing projects to continue at home, and an e-mentoring project between girls and NOAA ocean scientists.

Financial Literacy

A curriculum that promotes financial iteracy, an e-learning web site, and grants for locally-administered projects have been launched to teach girls the skills they need to become fiscally responsible.

Girls and Adolescents

The Girl Scout Research Institute (GSRI) is a center for research and public policy information on the healthy development of girls as they mature toward adulthood. The GSRI, through synthesis of original research and existing material, is building a body of knowledge on girls and key issues affecting them and encourages practical use of the information by policy makers, educators, youth-serving organizations, volunteers, parents, and girls. Girl Scouts has completed a national research study focused on girls ages 11-17 and, based on this research, has designed new ways for girls in this age range to participate in Girl Scout activities. With a new line of resources and new opportunities to connect with other girls and adults, this project gives girls the benefits of belonging to a larger youth organization while individualizing the program to suit specific needs and interests.

Health -- Sports and Fitness

GirlSports 2000. Initiated to encourage healthy living, GirlSports creates opportunities for girls to engage in various sporting events and to cooperate with others to develop leadership and healthy living habits. National participating organizations include the Ladies Professional Golf Association, American Youth Soccer Organization, Amateur Softball Association/USA Softball, US Swimming, United States Tennis Association, USA Volleyball, Women's National Basketball Association, Women's Sports Foundation, and the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sport.

Literacy

Follow the Reader, a Girl Scout/White House Family Reading Project, is a series of activity books in Spanish and English that girls and families use together to explore the world of reading. Local community projects based on the activity books extend the scope of this initiative.

Mentoring

The Mentoring Girls Project, made possible by the Metropolitan Life Foundation, is specially designed to link adults with girls between 11 and 17 years of age.

Science and Technology

The Intel Fair Play Camp Initiative provides project mentoring, career exploration, and assistance with science fair projects to girls at sites across the country.

The Lockheed Martin Science Career Exploration Fund gives girls and young adults experiences in science, ranging from space journey simulations to paleontologist digs.

GirlFACTS (Girls, Families, and Communities Together in Science) encourages girls' interest in science by involving their families as well.

Violence Against Girls

Project Anti-Violence Education (PAVE the WAY). A major federally funded project for Girl Scouts to work with local communities on prevention and intervention to stem the tide of violence in children's lives on both a personal and community level. The project was started in Missouri, and extensive national development is planned to end the current trend of the violent victimization of youth.

The Girl Scout Research Institute produces original research studies, research reviews,and outcome measurement guides focused on issues for girls ages 5-17. For the latest information on these publications, see the GSRI (www.girlscouts.org/about/ResearchInstitute/GSRIMain.htm).

Other publications of interest include:

Girl Power! With the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Girl Scouts offer constructive resource guides for 9-14 year olds and the adults who most influence them. These guides promote creative problem-solving techniques and practical communication strategies in order to influence positive and healthy decision-making (1998).

Just for Girls Web Pages (jfg.girlscouts.org). Receiving awards for excellence of content, these pages include the extremely popular "Ask Doctor M" column, in which girls can ask questions about their concerns and hear from both a developmental psychologist and her daughter. The web site also contains information on Girl Scouting, updated activities for girls, links to the Girl Scout Virtual Museum, badge work, and profiles of high-achieving contemporary career women.

Videos:

Valientes y Fuertes (Courageous and Strong). Produced in Spanish, the video is an effort to urge adults to support girl-adult interactive partnerships in Spanish-speaking communities (1998).

Grants/Scholarships

* Employment

"Navigating a Consumer Marketing Career" panel discussion: A panel featuring consumer marketing careers, which attracted over 180 male and female students to hear four alumnae panelists discuss strategies and tactics on how to break into the consumer marketing field.

"Decisions in My Corporate Career": An event featuring four highly-successful corporate women and the choices they made throughout their careers.

"Career Strategies: A Woman's Perspective": A half-day student event focused on a variety of career-related panel presentations including; The Interviewer's Point of View, Executive Presence: The "It" in "She's Got It". Creative Strategies for Success in a Tough Market, Job Transition Success Stories and " How Do You Do It?" Work-Life Balance.

* Entrepreneurship

"Women in Family-Owned Businesses" (August 2003) : This ground-breaking first look at what makes woman-owned family businesses different was led by CWL and sponsored by MassMutual Life Insurance Company. The study compares and contrasts the businesses owned by women versus men. Highlights of the study show that woman-owned family businesses: h ave increased by 37% in the last five years, to 15.6% across the U.S; tend toward higher rates of productivity as well as philanthropy ; a nticipate a positive future for their companies (by a two-to-one ratio among respondents), despite a continued poor economy.

Gatekeepers of Venture Growth: The Role and Participation of Women in the Venture Capital Industry: Office Depot Women represent less than 10 percent of high-level venture capitalists, and they have been leaving the industry at twice the rate of men, according to a first-ever study released by the Kauffman Foundation at the Small Business Administration's entrepreneurship conference in Washington , DC . The study, Gatekeepers of Venture Growth , is the latest report of the Diana Project, a multi-year, multi-university study of women business owners and business growth opportunities. The research, coauthored by Undergraduate Dean Patricia Greene, ultimately seeks to determine whether having more women in decision-making roles in the venture capital industry would provide greater access to women entrepreneurs who seek funding.

The Top Woman-Led Businesses in Massachusetts : 2002 Results (November 2003): Research on over 225 woman-led businesses shows these firms leading the economic recovery:

* Revenues among the Top 100 woman-led businesses in the state exceeded $6.5 billion in 2002, with permanent employment of over 32,300 people.
* Woman-led businesses continue to thrive in professional services, high technology, and construction, industries that drive economic development.

* Growth at woman-led businesses has outpaced the general economy

"Women Building Businesses": a co-sponsored event with the Babson Entrepreneurial Exchange that brought dynamic female entrepreneurs to campus who discussed their journey and growing ventures.

* * Institutional Change

"Women Leading Change" Conference: A full-day conference focused on providing attendees with the tools they need to drive change, shape change, and lead change in their personal and business worlds.

* Work and Family

"Both Sides of Work and Family": A panel discussion with dual career couples on how they have achieved work/life balance.

New Research

CWL Newsletter: This monthly newsletter is available for online subscription at http://www.babson.edu/cwl/newsletter. It includes information about upcoming events, research, and Center news.

CWL and The Commonwealth Institute. The Top Woman-Led Businesses in Massachusetts: 2008 Critical Issue Survey.

Allen, I. Elaine, PhD, Nan Langowitz DBA, and Maria Minniti, PhD. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2006 Report on Women and Entrepreneurship.

Grants and Scholarships