Girl leadership development program:girl scouts is the best girl leadership program in the world. Our program centers on the girl scout leadership experience, or gsle, where girls gain important skills in four areas that form the foundation: science, technology, engineering and math (stem), outdoors, life skills, and entrepreneurship. River valleys continued to prepare girls for a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success through in-person (serving 821 girls) and virtual programming (serving 4,759 girls). In 2021, river valleys offered 32 stem program events, reaching 2,000 girl scouts. We engaged with our community partners and girls experienced hands-on learning with women engineers and participated in trades programming, including how residential electricity works and exploring that in their homes. During fiscal year 2021, river valleys provided $1,842 in financial assistance for program events. This amount has been recorded as a reduction from event program fees reported on form 990, part viii, line 2b.In summer 2021, river valleys welcomed girls back to camp. To ensure safety of the girls and staff, we hosted camps in new ways (small group activities, social distancing, face coverings, etc.). 2,263 girls attended summer camp and were happy to see the return of their favorites like horse and water-based camps, as well as new programs for troops and older girls. Mountain bike camp and power girls, where girls practice trades skills like construction, learn from female mentors, and see themselves in trades careers, are emerging as new favorites. In addition, girls participated in camps throughout the year like adult & ME: winter robotics at camp edith mayo in rochester, MN and mea week day camp at camp elk river. During fiscal year 2021, river valleys awarded $57,291 in financial assistance for our members to attend summer camp. This amount has been recorded as reduction from camping fees reported on form 990, part viii, line 2a. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion includes a commitment to providing adaptable, culturally relevant programming that meets the needs of girls and families. The community engagement team works to increase visibility, build trust, and create long-term investment in the girl scout leadership experience by families and girls of color by cultivating authentic and holistic relationships with communities of color and community organizations that serve people of color in minnesota. These partnerships form mentored troops and connectz troops, where girls can develop a sense of belonging and sisterhood with one another as they experience girl scout programming with girls and troop leaders who look like them and reflect their lived experiences. In 2021, the community engagement team served 640 girls through the connectz and mentored troop pathways. 74% of leaders were troop leaders of color.The gold award is the highest achievement in girl scouts and is the most prestigious award in the world for girls and the most difficult to earn. The gold award is only open to girls in high school. Grounded in real-life problems, girls develop a deeper understanding of their community, master time management, and practice financial planning. Girls tackle an issue locally or globally and make the world a better place. They establish a lifetime network and create their community legacy with a sustainable solution to a problem. Young inspiring leaders are impacting the worlds of science, technology, engineering, and math (stem), education, agriculture, medicine and many more through their sustainable gold award projects. Elizabeth link set out to educate her community about type 1 diabetes (t1d). When the pandemic hit, elizabeth reassessed the community's needs and developed a public online video series to decrease the isolation already felt by families after their initial diagnosis of t1d. She recruited children, parents, and health professionals to share their t1d experiences. During the year, 131 girls earned their silver and gold award. The girl scout cookie program provides an important ingredient for leadership by helping girls develop five key skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics. The program also raises public awareness about the value of girl scouting and supports local programs and membership services for over 28,000 girls and adults. With a re-engineered contactless cookie program and a variety of participation options (online ordering, cookie booths, contactless payments, etc.), Girl scouts brought their grit, entrepreneurial spirits, resourcefulness, and fun to this year's cookie program. Through the cookie donation programs, river valleys' donated almost 93,000 packages of cookies. River valleys' girls sold almost 3.4 million packages of cookies in 2021.

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