It’s February! If you’re going by the Girl Scout calendar, it’s time for the largest girl-run business in the world, the Girl Scout Cookie Program! The cookie program is one of my favorite times of the year - not because I get to enjoy my favorite cookies (Thin Mints are the best!) but because I know that this experience teaches our girls critical skills, like goal setting and budgeting - skills she will use now and in the future.

Girl Scouts have been using their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit almost since the start of our organization. The sale of cookies to finance troop activities began as early as 1917, five years after Juliette Gordon Low started Girl Scouts in the United States. As a colleague recently pointed out, this means that Girl Scouts established a sustainable revenue source at a time when women couldn’t vote, open their own bank accounts, or even attend many private colleges and universities.  

While tremendous progress has been made over the past 100 years, women still face hurdles in entrepreneurship and business, among other areas of their life. The Girl Scout Cookie Program taught me critical business and leadership skills that have helped me in my career. It continues to evolve from year-to-year to remain relevant while providing girls with the skills and benefits they need today, as well as the resources to power their Girl Scout adventures.

In this issue, you will meet a girl who has big goals for her cookie business and big plans for the proceeds. You’ll also hear about a former Girl Scout and current supporter who used what she learned as a Girl Scout to open her own successful business today. Finally, you’ll read about the commitment of the Western Ohio team to ensure the Cookie Program teaches girls those essential entrepreneurial skills.  

Together with support from generous donors like you, we can continue to bring one-of-a-kind experiences, like the Cookie Program, to girls in every corner of our council.  

Thank you for continuing to invest in girls. 

Yours in Girl Scouting, 

Aimée Sproles

Chief Executive Officer

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio

Meet Torie and her lasting cookie business

As mouths start to water in January for the taste of Thin Mints, many Girl Scouts across our council are preparing to participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program. From identifying their goals, writing and practicing a sales pitch, to deciding how they will sell, girls have many important decisions to make.

Torie, an 8th grader from St. Mary's, Ohio has been a Girl Scout for 9 years. Thanks to the Girl Scout Cookie Program, Torie has learned everything from how to set a goal and identify a plan to achieve that goal, to how to budget the proceeds for troop activities. Most exciting to Torie is the self-confidence she has gained when approaching people.

Over the years, her goals for the cookie program have moved from earning stuffed animals to saving for a troop trip to Kings Island. And this year, the goal is even bigger as she and her troop hope to go to Hocking Hills this summer.

Do you want to help girls like Torie reach their goals? Join our email list and you will be the first to know when cookie booths are available in your area!

As an 8th grader, Torie is not only a Girl Scout. She works part-time at her local McDonald’s, participates in Track and Field, and takes dance classes. Her favorite part of Girl Scouts is going to resident camp each summer.



Local Entrepreneurs Share Skills with Girls

On Thursday, January 12th, Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors - our sixth through twelfth graders - participated in a free virtual event, "An Evening with the Experts". During the event, girls met with local entrepreneurs and businesswomen to complete the various Cookie Business Badges. Girls had the opportunity to learn from speakers with a wide variety of backgrounds and get inspiration for their businesses!

Girls learned how they could sell a product by telling a story and how businesses can be both profitable and socially responsible. Our future entrepreneurs also learned how they can market to different customers while hearing about the benefits of a business plan.

"An Evening with the Experts" was an exciting event where girls not only walked away with concrete business skills and the inspiration of seeing female entrepreneurs, but the girls were able to share their goals for their cookie businesses.

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio is grateful for the participation of our experts: Allison Murphey, owner of The ABC Market; Stephanie Ross, owner of Project Warmth; Chelsie Walter, the Co-Founder of Women of Cincy; Karen Harshaw, the Founder and principal consultant of Spark Philanthropy; and Sarah Hewlett, General Manager of Joseph-Beth Booksellers.  

A Girl Scout, a Troop Leader, and now an Entrepreneur. Meet Karen Harshaw.

Lifelong friends. Ongoing service and volunteering. Finding a need and meeting it. Women changing the world. These words describe Karen Harshaw and her Girl Scout experience.

Karen started as a Girl Scout when she was a Brownie, continuing with her troop for 12 years and forming lifelong friendships. As a college freshman at Ohio University, she was called to serve with Girl Scouts, and she quickly accepted the position of troop leader, mentoring 42 girls. Karen stayed with those girls until she graduated, but didn't stay away from Girl Scouts long. Her daughter showed interest in Girl Scouting. When she was a 3rd-grader and a troop leader needed to step aside, Karen stepped in to support the troop.

Her original troop from her childhood, troop 853, is still a tight-knit group of friends. Not only did Girl Scouts provide Karen with lifelong friends, but it also gave her the skills needed to launch her career and current company, SPARK Philanthropy. Seeing that there was an imbalance among the nonprofit organizations in Cincinnati regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion, Karen took the leap and started her own nonprofit consulting business, which became the first and only Black and Black woman-led fundraising consulting firm in Cincinnati. SPARK Philanthropy’s goal is to help nonprofits develop the resources, skills, and know-how to build a more effective organization and achieve their goals.  

Karen is a living example of the Girl Scout mission of building girls of courage confidence, and character who make the world a better place. Her passion for Girl Scouts remains steadfast; she continues to be an advocate and supporter of the mission as a Leadership Circle donor and volunteer. Karen is inspired by a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Never allow a person to tell you no who does not have the power to say yes."

“The confidence I gained through Girls Scouts was critical to my success as a fundraiser and ultimately in starting my own nonprofit consulting business.” - Karen Harshaw

Thank you for investing in girls, and supporting the visionary leaders, doers, innovators, creators, and thinkers of tomorrow. 

Did you know that you can easily double your donation to Girl Scouts of Western Ohio! On our donate page, scroll to the bottom to search for your company and see if they match your donations!