Today is International Women’s Day! We are incredibly excited to be celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and girls from around the globe.

While reflecting on this year’s theme, we are reminded that Girl Scouting is a community effort that motivates and unites friends, colleagues and the Middle Tennessee community to #PressforProgress.

Did you know there are more than 50 million Girl Scout alums in the United States? Or that more than 50% of our elected female officials in the Unites States are Girl Scout alumnae?

We continue to be inspired by those who have come before us to encourage and motivate Girl Scouts, specifically those of us here in Middle Tennessee. We recently highlighted Josephine Holloway, founder of Camp Holloway, who truly believed in camp for all girls.

International Women's Day 2018

We’ve also been lucky enough to be lead by visionary women – from Girl Scouts’ founder Juliette Gordon Low to Sue Peters, Executive Director for Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee for 22 years. Under Sue Peters’ leadership, the Nashville Service Center was designed and built, an undertaking unheard of for any nonprofit of the time.

This stays relevant to our leadership today, under Chief Executive Officer Agenia Clark. Clark makes sure Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee is, “Operat[ing] at the pace that is of interest to girls and their parents.”

Here is an achievement your fellow Girl Scout, Bria, has to share!

After completing my Gold Award project, a 5K walk to spread awareness about childhood obesity, it led to several opportunities in my undergraduate career. The time management and project management skills I gained helped me plan the first large, arena-based concert my university ever has seen.

Connecting with your community organically is what Girl Scouts is all about. This element helped me connect the university to the city for the time in years during our homecoming celebration. Girl Scouts not only built the foundation for me to make a lasting impact on my community, but for my future as well.

We look forward to continuing to be the largest girl leadership development organization and can’t wait to hear what achievements you will have to share with us on future International Women’s Days.