Organization

Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana

Chicago, IL
Mission

Part 1: the organization's mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. - Part 3: girl scouts builds girls of courage, confidence, & character who make the world a better place. We prioritize creating fun, safe spaces where girls of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves. Progressive girl scout experiences, designed for girls ages 5-17, challenge girls to discover their strengths, learn new skills, build resiliency, & innovate creative solutions to life's challenges. They learn to make new friends, help others, embrace leadership, & discover their voices as they advocate for change on issues most important to them. Creating safe spaces also means girl scouts embraces the support of partners & donors who specialize in equity, and all aspects of personal wellness, including mental, social, emotional, & physical. All experiences are funded by a balance of philanthropy & fundraising & are delivered by caring adults, both volunteers & staff. We prioritize safety, leadership development & using a trauma-informed, equity lens to support all girls.

Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana
20 S Clark 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60603
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All Programs

The organization provided activities to 28,791 girls and 13,723 adults in troop/group settings located in greater chicago and northwest indiana. Our girl scout leadership experience is where girls: discover a strong sense of self; connect to develop healthy relationships; and take action in identifying community needs. Girls actively engage in a variety of activities including those in steam (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), financial literacy, healthy living (which reflect the connection between physical health, emotional health and self-esteem), arts, travel and the environment.

Girl scout troops and groups used camps and program centers in wisconsin, illinois and indiana for camping and outdoor activities. Girl scout camp gives girls of all backgrounds an opportunity to grow, explore, and have fun under the guidance of trained adults. Through camp and outdoor activities girls discover leadership abilities, build skills, and develop a deep appreciation for the environment. Covid-19 related challenges continued to impact our in-person engagement and other programmatic activities. We operated our summer resident camp program at a reduced level to safely provide the camp experience. The reduction included cancellation of all summer programming at one of our camp properties. As covid-19 restrictions began to be lifted we carefully returned to in-person outdoor and other programming when safely possible.

The product sales program is an integral part of our business and financial literacy initiative, which helps girls learn life skills such as goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. Such programs include the cookie program and the fall product sales program. 6,319 girls participated in our fall product program in which girls sell candy, nuts and magazines generating revenues of $1,838,615 against costs of $1,157,409. 18,798 girls participated in the cookie program selling 2,889,747 boxes of cookies. Gross revenues amounted to $14,448,735. Costs incurred in running this program amounted to $6,387,029. The council maintains 5 retail shops for the purposes of selling girl scout merchandise and program materials for all levels of girl scouting. Revenues associated with these shops were $786,007 and costs of merchandise were $447,801. Gross revenues and expenses related to these program services are shown on form 990, part viii, lines 10a & b.